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Isabel kills 15, leaves 4.5 million without power(Bay floods Balt.downtown-damage assessment thread)
USA Today ^ | 9/19/03 | AP

Posted on 09/19/2003 8:28:30 AM PDT by Diddle E. Squat

Edited on 04/13/2004 1:41:10 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]

RICHMOND, Va. (AP)

(Excerpt) Read more at usatoday.com ...


TOPICS: Breaking News; News/Current Events; US: Delaware; US: District of Columbia; US: Maryland; US: New Jersey; US: North Carolina; US: Pennsylvania; US: Virginia; US: West Virginia
KEYWORDS: deathtoll; flooding; hurricane; hurricaneisabel; isabel
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To: Diddle E. Squat
Road closing map in VA: http://www.virginiadot.org/comtravel/eoc/eoc-main.asp

Richmond-Hampton roads area: http://www.virginiadot.org/comtravel/eoc/Hampton_Roads.asp\

VDOT text report on road conditions: http://www.virginiadot.org/comtravel/ct-alerts-details-hp.asp

Midtown tunnel in Norfolk is flooded, estimated to take 24 hours to pump it out.
21 posted on 09/19/2003 9:12:33 AM PDT by Diddle E. Squat
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To: Diddle E. Squat
This is interesting:

http://www.whtm.com/showstory.hrb?f=n&s=103258&f1=loc

PA Opens Isabel Rumor Hotline
Friday September 19, 2003 10:59am

Pennsylvania's Isabel rumor hotline is open to answer questions. The rumor control number gives residents accurate information about the storm..and correct any half-truths circulating. PEMA says its very easy for false information to spread. The number to call is 1-800-932-0784.


22 posted on 09/19/2003 9:20:28 AM PDT by Diddle E. Squat
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To: Diddle E. Squat

A combo picture taken before Hurricane Isabel on September 17, 2003 (TOP) and just after the Hurricane passed on September 18 shows the destruction of highway 12 on the outer banks of North Carolina. Hurricane Isabel screamed ashore in North Carolina on Thursday with furious winds and torrential rains that forced evacuations throughout the U.S. mid-Atlantic region, canceled nearly 1,000 flights and shut down the federal government in Washington. REUTERS/Jason Reed

23 posted on 09/19/2003 9:41:46 AM PDT by Diddle E. Squat
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To: Diddle E. Squat
Would you say that damage is typical or unusual for your neighborhood/town?

Pretty typical for my neighborhood. A couple miles down the road wasn't too bad. I have generator running, so I can do the essentials!

Power is off everywhere (except the chinese restaraunts....generators! The line is out the door...)

24 posted on 09/19/2003 9:52:10 AM PDT by HalfFull (1Thess 5:21)
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To: HalfFull
Power is off everywhere (except the chinese restaraunts....generators! The line is out the door...)

Reminds me of 'A Christmas Story', dag burned no good Hurricane Bumpus Hounds...

25 posted on 09/19/2003 9:59:23 AM PDT by Diddle E. Squat
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To: Diddle E. Squat
FNC reporting that Chowan County, NC is estimated to have 3/4 of its homes damaged.

Largest power outage ever for VA.
26 posted on 09/19/2003 10:03:39 AM PDT by Diddle E. Squat
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To: HalfFull
Saw some chimneys in those amazing photos. Lots of firewood for a few seasons!

Glad to know everyone is safe.

27 posted on 09/19/2003 10:22:32 AM PDT by NautiNurse
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To: Diddle E. Squat
My kiddo in Stafford called finally. He is still without power and his two year old doesn't understand why the TV doesn't work.
I did ask for him to drink bottled water for a couple of days. It would be way to easy for someone to tamper with the water system right now.
28 posted on 09/19/2003 10:27:51 AM PDT by armymarinemom
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To: HalfFull
So sorry to see all that damage to you and your neighbors. Do you live in Northern Virginia? I live in a relatively new neighborhood (15 years old) so our trees aren't as tall as the ones that seem to be toppling. We came out relatively unscathed -- minor limbs, branches, leaves all over. The worst for us will be having no water for up to 72 hours or until Fairfax County can get power to the water treatment plants.
29 posted on 09/19/2003 10:40:52 AM PDT by EverOnward
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To: Diddle E. Squat; joanie-f; snopercod; SAMWolf
 
At Arlington National Cemetery, soldiers who guard the Tomb of the Unknowns were given -- for the first time ever -- permission to abandon their posts and seek shelter, Superintendent John Metzler said. But they stood guard anyhow.

Bump.

30 posted on 09/19/2003 10:58:56 AM PDT by First_Salute
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To: HalfFull
Bump.
31 posted on 09/19/2003 11:03:05 AM PDT by First_Salute
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To: EverOnward
Do you live in Northern Virginia?

I live in Tidewater area of Virginia...

32 posted on 09/19/2003 11:37:44 AM PDT by HalfFull (1Thess 5:21)
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To: Diddle E. Squat
Three killed in N.C., thousands without power in Isabel's wake

By RUSS BYNUM, Associated Press Writer
September 19, 2003   12:09 pm

HARLOWE, N.C. -- About 400,000 houses and businesses in North Carolina remained without power Friday morning a day after Hurricane Isabel turned north, leaving flooding, snapped trees and some relief in its wake.

Most of the damage was in the northeast corner of the state and on the central coast, including tiny Harlowe in Carteret County, where homes were destroyed and entire communities lost power.

Three people died in North Carolina: A utility worker near Newport was electrocuted, a man drove into a downed tree in Franklin County on Thursday night and a person died in Chowan County, where a tree fell on a car.

A storm-tossed tree fell into a natural gas substation in Hertford County, breaking a valve and causing a leak that continued through Friday morning, the county emergency management office said.

Brooks Stalnaker, 72, and his wife, Carole Frances, watched flood waters flatten their home in Harlowe on Thursday afternoon.

"It kind of looks like they misplaced the bomb for Saddam and dropped it here," Brooks Stalnaker said Friday. "We just got totaled."

The couple stayed with neighbors on higher ground, but saw the storm surge come toward their home.

"The water was banging against the center pane (window panes) and I told my wife, 'It can't take much more of this,' Brooks Stalnaker said. "About 10 minutes later, she started crying and said, 'Oh my God, there it goes.' We saw it go. It looked like it just collapsed within."

Much of Elizabeth City remained without power Friday morning while up to four feet of water stood in parts of town. Emergency officials estimated that Isabel's winds caused severe damage to 75 percent of residential properties.

About an hour east on the Outer Banks, N.C. 12 remained impassable from Kitty Hawk to Hatteras. The main thoroughfare for the barrier island chain was covered with sand, debris and downed power lines.

The highway was breached for as much as a half-mile north of Hatteras Village, said Tom Midgett, a realtor on the island. He said damage there was extensive.

"There's houses out in the middle of the bay," he said. "You cannot leave Hatteras Village."

Midgett said the storm surge "created craters or sinkholes that gobbled up whole buildings in some places."

Coast Guard Petty Officer Shane Heagy said portions of the road near Oregon Inlet had as much as 8 inches of standing water Friday morning.

The road on either side of a bridge on the north end of Ocracoke Island had been cut through by the ocean.

"The bridge is still standing, but there's probably 15-foot craters on both sides where it washed out," said Andy O'Neal. He said power is still out on the village but water service returned Friday morning.

The 540-foot Jennette's Pier in Nags Head, most of the Kitty Hawk Pier and at least two beach houses were destroyed on the northern end of the Outer Banks, where storm surge picked up a washer, dryer and refrigerator and carried them about 500 feet down the street. A curfew was imposed on the barrier island chain until noon Friday.

Renee Hoffman, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Crime Control and Public Safety, said the state would begin a detailed assessment of the damage Tuesday. The state had no damage estimates Friday.

"The issues right now are public health and safety," she said.

Bryant Brooks of Dominion Power said 95 percent the company's customers lost service, and in some areas, the entire system must be rebuilt.

Bertie County manager Zee Lamb said every road out of the county had been blocked by fallen trees. Crews were in the final stages Friday morning of clearing U.S. 13 between Windsor and Ahoskie, he said.

Most of the county remained without power and hundreds of homes there had been damaged by trees, he said.

"There's no power in the county unless you have a generator. They're telling us it will be as much as two weeks before it's back on. We're hoping that's a worst-case scenario," he said.

Cleanup efforts started early on Roanoke Island near the Outer Banks.

David Dalton, 42, pastor of Wanchese Assembly of God, worked in front of his brick house Friday morning while water 2-feet deep stood in his yard.

"Everybody's self-sufficient around here," he said. He said he planned to help older parishioners clean up "if I can get my hands on a saw."

Bob Cowden, 60, of Oriental, sorted through the soggy items he had tried to protect in his basement. The 4 1/2-foot sawhorses he stacked them on turned out to be about a foot too short.

"I was telling my wife, 'We pay for this view,'" Cowden said as he looked out over Neuse River. "Clean it up, put it in the trash and go again."

The eye of the storm swept over the coast near Core Banks about noon with 100 mph winds and a load of rain. It moved northwest toward Halifax County before moving into Virginia.

Bob Dorrman, a boat builder who lives in Harlowe, spent Friday morning cutting away vinyl siding ripped from the side of his house. He also tinkered with two cars in his driveway that wouldn't start after water submerged their engines.

"And look at it today," he said on the clear, calm morning. "It's like God's apologizing. Well, too late, dude."

About 60 miles to the northwest, Kinston was among the cities hit hardest by Floyd four years ago. Flooded churches and businesses had to rebuild. Many residents sold their flood-prone homes in a government buyout.

The stretch of U.S. 70 running through Kinston had water so deep "we had fish swimming across," said Lenoir County Sheriff W.E. Smith. "We got lucky this time."

Princeville was another North Carolina town where many residents lost their homes to Floyd. One of them was Lossie Knight, who sat with her daughter, Angela Sherrod, Thursday night with her screen door open to let in the remnants of Isabel's winds.

"Most of the residents are opening their doors, looking out the windows to see what's happening," Sherrod said. "We've had a much better time of it."

33 posted on 09/19/2003 12:23:29 PM PDT by Constitution Day (*Avast! Today be Talk Like a Pirate Day!*)
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To: Diddle E. Squat
I rode out the storm at my home in Tidewater VA. The trees surrounding my house were bent nearly double in some of the gusts last evening. The worst was from about 8 PM til midnight, when the constant cracking of trees could be heard. The driveway to my house, about 1/3 mile through some pine and hard woods, was littered with fallen trees this morning. One, a huge 200 year old oak, had also fallen across the drive. Lots of work to do now to get it all cleared away. The devastation from the wind in terms of down trees is amazing.
34 posted on 09/19/2003 12:37:03 PM PDT by Cautor
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To: NautiNurse
Lots of firewood for a few seasons!

We saw an empty lot in Great Falls with a sign, "Free Firewood!" and trucks dumping wood, and other trucks picking up wood.

35 posted on 09/19/2003 4:32:21 PM PDT by CobaltBlue (Fairfax County near Fairfax City.)
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To: Cautor
We have a home on the Chesapeake Bay. The waves came over the rip-rap rocks, onto the lawn, and almost reached the house. No damage to the house, but my pier (and my neighbor's) are on my lawn. My other neighbors lost at least part of their piers, and three or four boats up on lifts were lost. Wow! we were lucky!
36 posted on 09/19/2003 6:36:06 PM PDT by expatpat
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To: Diddle E. Squat
Charlottesville VA checking in here. We fared very well. Heavy winds and rain but most surprisingly was the lack of lightening and thunder! Lots of trees down and still lots of power outages in the area. i prayed a great deal and give thanks to the good Lord above that we are safe.
37 posted on 09/19/2003 6:47:51 PM PDT by southriver4
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To: Happy2BMe
I dont have too long to hack this out, but I lost three trees, my fence, and had a tree crash into my deck. No one was hurt, but I had about 5000 dollars damage.

I hope you guys are well too.


Sincerely

J/M
38 posted on 09/20/2003 9:45:08 AM PDT by judicial meanz (All humanity is of one Author, and is one volume; <John Donne>)
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