VERO BEACH, Fla.— Bands of heavy rain from Isaias lashed Florida’s east coast Sunday, with the tropical storm strengthening slightly in the evening on its way up the Eastern seaboard.

Officials dealing with surging cases of the coronavirus in Florida kept a close watch on the storm that was weakened from a hurricane to a tropical storm Saturday afternoon, but still brought heavy rain and flooding to Florida’s Atlantic coast.

The National Hurricane Center advised at 8 p.m. EDT Sunday that the storm was about 55 miles (89 kilometers) off the east coast of Central Florida, and about 385 miles (620 kilometers) south of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.