This year's Atlantic hurricane season could be one of the busiest on record, with as many as 25 named storms, forecasters said Thursday.

Due to atmospheric and oceanic conditions, "this year, we expect more, stronger, and longer-lived storms than average," said Gerry Bell, lead seasonal hurricane forecaster at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center.

Forecasters predict this season will see 19 to 25 named storms, of which seven to 11 will reach hurricane strength.

Of these, three to six will be major hurricanes, with winds of 111 miles per hour (180 kph) or greater.

The NOAA was updating a forecast from May that called for 13-19 named storms, with up to 10 of them growing into hurricanes.

The NOAA said this is one of the most active forecasts it has made in its 22-year history of predicting hurricanes.

The forecast includes the nine storms -- two of which became hurricanes -- that have formed so far in what the NOAA said could be an "extremely active" hurricane season.

People in the southern US and the Caribbean have already gotten a taste of violent weather in recent weeks.

Normally, at this time of year there have only been two named storms and the ninth does not come until early October. An average season has 12 named storms.

But Isaias, the ninth storm so far, just hit the Caribbean and the US east coast, leaving five dead as if drifted between hurricane and tropical storm status.

In late July, just days before Isaias, Category 1 Hurricane Hanna formed in the Gulf of Mexico and hit Texas, but without causing major damage.

At least five dead in US as downgraded Isaias reaches Canada
New York (AFP) Aug 5, 2020 - Tropical storm Isaias left at least five people dead as it pounded the US eastern seaboard with driving winds and heavy rain, leaving millions without power, before moving across Canada on Wednesday.

Isaias was downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone late Tuesday as as it streaked across the border into south-eastern Canada after wreaking havoc across several US states.

A tornado ripped through a mobile home park in North Carolina killing two people while two more died as trees fell on their cars -- one in New York and one in Maryland.

In Delaware, an 83-year-old woman was found dead under a large branch close to her home.

Forecasters warned of heavy rain across Quebec and wind gusts up to 50 miles (80 kilometers) per hour after the storm littered streets with debris and forced the cancellation of scores of flights in the US.

Video footage from New Jersey showed a roof being torn off a house as residents were told to stay indoors because of a threat of tornadoes.

About three million houses were without power by early Wednesday, utilities companies reported -- with New Jersey and New York worst hit by the outages.

Isaias quickly moved up the East Coast after slamming into the coast of North Carolina at hurricane strength.

"Isaias hit North Carolina head-on," Governor Cooper, adding that roads were being cleared and electricity restored.

"As clean-up continues, don't forget the pandemic is still with us. So help your neighbor, but do it safely by wearing your mask, keeping your distance and bringing your hand sanitizer."

New York authorities, ever-wary of the devastating damage caused by Superstorm Sandy in 2012, set up temporary flood barriers in Lower Manhattan in case of storm surge.

The orange flexible tubes known as "Tiger Dams" were put up in low-lying areas.

Public transport services were also briefly suspended including New York's famous Staten Island ferry.

But the rain turned out to be less heavy than feared.

"The storm has been much more of a wind event than flooding so far, thank God," New York mayor Bill de Blasio told local news station NY1.

- Tornado warnings -

At least 78 flights were canceled at New York's LaGuardia Airport. There were 55 cancelations at JFK.

Washington, Baltimore and other cities on or near the Atlantic coast experienced heavy rainfall.

The storm is expected to dissipate over north-eastern Canada late Wednesday or early Thursday.

It earlier dumped torrential rain on the Bahamas, felling trees and flooding streets, before emergency management officials on Sunday gave the all-clear.

At least one person died in Puerto Rico and the storm also lashed Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

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Four dead as tropical storm Isaias pounds US east coast
New York (AFP) Aug 5, 2020
Tropical storm Isaias left four people dead as it pounded the US eastern seaboard with driving winds and heavy rain, leaving millions of households without power Wednesday. A tornado ripped through a mobile home park in North Carolina killing two people said state governor Roy Cooper on Tuesday, while two more died as trees fell on their cars - one in New York and one in Maryland. The tropical storm was downgraded late Tuesday as it streaked into southeastern Canada, where forecasters warned of ... read more