Hurricane Isaac strengthens, Tropical Storm Joyce forms in the Atlantic Ocean
The busy Atlantic hurricane season continued Friday with Isaac strengthening into a category 1 storm in the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Forecasters said the storm could cause dangerous waves in the Azores.
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Joyce formed and is not threatening land.
Isaac was about 1,080 miles west of the Azores, with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph. It was heading east-northeast at 18 mph. Forecasters said Isaac is expected to strengthen before gradually weakening by the end of the weekend.
Joyce is located about 1,325 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands and has maximum sustained winds of 40 mph. It was moving northwest at about 13 mph.
Forecasters said the storm was expected to strengthen gradually through Sunday before weakening early next week.
While there are no coastal watches or warnings in effect for either storm, the waves from Issac could cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions in the Azores, the Miami-based U.S. National Hurricane Center said Friday.
The storms are churning in the open ocean after Hurricane Helene made landfall in northwestern Florida as a Category 4 storm before weakening early Friday. It has left flooding, damage and power outages. More than 20 deaths have been blamed on the storm.
Officials have released videos of raging floodwaters, smashed boats and entire neighborhoods submerged in water as rescue efforts continue. The Coast Guard released a video of a man and dog being rescued after Helene disabled their sailboat about 25 miles from Sanibel Island
