At Least Nine Dead in Isabel Hurricane

19/09/2003| IslamWeb

Hurricane Isabel knocked out power to more than 3.5 million people as it weakened into a tropical storm and raced up the Eastern Seaboard early Friday, swamping tidal communities along Chesapeake Bay, uprooting trees, disrupting air traffic and shutting down the nation's capital. The massive storm was blamed for at least nine deaths: seven in Virginia, one in North Carolina, and another in Maryland. The storm plowed into North Carolina's Outer Banks with winds of about 100 mph Thursday and moved across Virginia early Friday as it continued losing strength. It was expected to cut through western Pennsylvania and western New York state before dissipating in Canada by Saturday. Isabel's top sustained wind had eased to around 50 mph early Friday. In Washington, offices, monuments and subway tunnels were all but abandoned and the federal government shut down for two days, frustrating tourists. Some were surprised that monuments and museums were closed Thursday hours ahead of the storm. With mid-Atlantic states left sodden by an unusually wet summer, the winds toppled trees and rains flooded creeks and low-lying areas. At 5 a.m., Isabel was 80 miles south of Johnstown, Pa., moving northwest at around 21 mph, down from 24 mph Thursday as it moved up the coast. Up to a foot of rain was possible in West Virginia's hilly Eastern Panhandle and 6 to 9 inches was forecast for parts of Pennsylvania. In Virginia alone, more than 1.5 million people lost power by late Thursday and more than 16,000 people filled evacuation shelters. Six people were killed in a pair of weather-related traffic accidents in the state; another was killed by a falling tree. Some of the worst flooding on Thursday was along the Chesapeake Bay, where an 8.2-foot storm surge sent water into low-lying areas, particularly Norfolk and Portsmouth. **PHOTO CAPTION*** A Kitty Hawk police officer crosses a flooded four-lane highway in North Carolina as Hurricane Isabel comes ashore. (AFP/Paul J. Richards)