Tropical Storm Isaias is churning across the Caribbean after forming near Puerto Rico Wednesday night.
Isaias became the earliest ninth-named storm on record in the Atlantic, eclipsing a nearly 15-year record set by Irene, which formed on August 7, 2005.
Tropical storm warnings are in place for much of the Caribbean, including Puerto Rico, U.S. and British Virgin Islands, St. Martin, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Turks and Caicos, and part of the Bahamas.
Heavy rains, flash flooding and strong winds are expected for the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico Thursday.
The current path of Tropical Storm Isaias could move the storm towards the southern US state of Florida by this weekend.
In anticipation of the storm, Florida’s Division of Emergency Management announced Wednesday that all state-supported coronavirus testing sites will close Thursday afternoon to keep both workers and those getting tested safe. The sites will reopen when it is safe, and the agency said it expects all to be open again by Wednesday next week.
