Isaias downgraded to tropical storm over eastern N. Carolina
By SARAH BLAKE MORGAN Associated Press
NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) — Hurricane Isaias has been downgraded down to a tropical storm after making landfall near Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina, according to an official with the National Hurricane Center. Robbie Berg, a hurricane specialist with the National Hurricane Center, told The Associated Press, “Now that the center has moved further inland into east North Carolina, the winds are now coming back down, so it has been downgraded back to a tropical storm.”  Ocean Isle Beach Mayor Debbie Smith told WECT-TV that the storm set off flooding and sparked five home fires. Duke Energy reported hundreds of thousands of power outages as heavy rains and winds battered areas including Wrightsville, Kure, and Carolina beaches in Wilmington, North Carolina.