Yeah, says you in PA...what about us down here in NC and VA that are digging our way out of things...many counties are flooded and we have a lot of clean up to do...trees and powerlines down, lot's of people still with out electicity...:(

Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C. seem to have been badly hit also. Last I heard over 2 million are without electricity. Take care, WhiteDaisy and everyone in the impacted areas. :)

DWAlphaGam, I'm appalled that you had the nerve to say that the hurricane was "overrated." I'm sure if you had sustained more property damage then a "scratch on your car" you'd be a little more considerate of your neighboring states. Or perhaps if you actually knew one of the people who died during the storm, you'd feel differently. I seriously hope you meant to say overexposed as someone mentioned earlier.



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Isabel Kills 17, Cuts Power to Millions


By BOB LEWIS, Associated Press Writer

RICHMOND, Va. - Hurricane Isabel knocked out power to more than 4.5 million people before weakening into a tropical depression Friday as it raced toward Canada, swamping some tidal communities along Chesapeake Bay but breezing inland with less rain than expected.

The storm was blamed for at least 17 deaths: nine in Virginia, three in North Carolina, two in Maryland and one each in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Rhode Island.

A day after plowing into North Carolina's Outer Banks with 100 mph winds, Isabel moved across Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania on Friday as its winds eased to around 35 mph _ just below the threshold for a tropical storm. The storm dumped as much as 4 inches of rain in Pennsylvania before moving toward Ohio, and was expected to dissipate in Canada by Saturday.

The light of day brought the first good look at the damage along the Outer Banks. Power was out along the entire 120-mile barrier island chain, and the main road was impassable in several stretches, covered with sand, debris and downed power lines.

At least two fishing piers were destroyed by the crashing waves, and storm surge flooding also wrecked several beach houses, sending washers, dryers, trash cans and other debris floating into the street. Federal officials were checking on about 4,000 people who refused to evacuate.

Farther inland, residents worked in the brilliant sunshine to repair damage from waist-deep floodwaters that rushed in and quickly receded.

"It kind of looks like they misplaced the bomb for Saddam and dropped it here," said Brooks Stalnaker, 72, whose home collapsed in the inland community of Harlowe. "We just got totaled."

In the Baltimore area, tidal flooding forced rescue crews to take out 400 people, some by boat, as waters rose to the second story of some buildings in low-lying areas. Thirty-four people and a dog were removed from homes in the city as rescue crews worked their way down Thames Street in an inflatable boat.

In Washington, the federal government shut down for a second day Friday. Offices and monuments were all but abandoned, frustrating tourists. Some were surprised that monuments and museums were closed Thursday, hours ahead of the storm.

By 11 a.m. Friday, Isabel was 50 miles northeast of Cleveland, moving north at around 30 mph.

The storm spared many areas the worst. West Virginia got up to 5 1/2 inches of rain _ but far less than the original forecast of a foot. Flood advisories for parts of the state were canceled.

Delaware, too, was spared much of the damage that officials feared. Rainfall amounts averaged 1 to 2 inches, about half of what forecasters were predicting.

Michael Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, cautioned that residents in Isabel's path should keep their guard up, with flood waters moving into tributaries throughout the day. "So people just because they see blue skies should not think, 'Oh this storm is gone and the aftermath is over with,'" he said on ABC's "Good Morning America."

Some of the worst flooding Thursday was along the Chesapeake Bay, where an 8.2-foot storm surge sent water into low-lying areas, particularly in Norfolk and Portsmouth.

About 1.6 million customers lost power in Virginia alone, and more than 16,000 people filled evacuation shelters. An official at Dominion Virginia Power said it would take days to restore power.

"Virginians need to realize that they're in for a tough couple of days," said Gov. Mark R. Warner.

In Virginia Beach, Ed Barry, 61, spent Friday morning picking up shingles from his roof from his yard in the resort city's north end. He also lost part of his wood fence in his back yard.

"That's the price you pay for living on the coastline," Barry said.

Water service was lost or diminished in many areas because pumping stations lost power; residents were advised to boil water before drinking it.

Richard Staublein, 42, drove his family 13 miles for their first meal in a day, a breakfast at McDonald's in a Richmond suburb _ and waited 50 minutes in a line that spilled into the parking lot. Many in line had not eaten because they lost power and were unable to cook.

"I left the house around 8 a.m. and when I got here the line was already a killer," Staublein said.

President Bush declared major disasters in North Carolina and Virginia, ordering federal aid to both states. The governors of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey and Delaware declared state emergencies.

With mid-Atlantic states left sodden by an unusually wet summer, the winds toppled trees and rains flooded creeks and low-lying areas.

Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich said flooding, whether from storm surges on the Eastern Shore or heavy rainfall, was "the No. 1 danger." Officials said 1.25 million customers were without power in the state.

In Baltimore, the storm blew down three buildings that would have to be demolished and downed trees and utility lines. The storm knocked out generators at two water treatment plants and a sewage treatment plant in neighboring Anne Arundel County.

County Executive Janet Owens urged residents to be patient and conserve water until power was restored.

"Putting it bluntly, please don't flush," Owens said. "It buys us some time."

Though North Carolina's Outer Banks were hard hit, the storm spared much of the state the kind of damage it experienced in 1999 from Hurricane Floyd, which left 56 dead and a wide swath of the state underwater.

On isolated Ocracoke Island along the Outer Banks, about 15 people gathered at Howard's Pub to ride out the storm.

"Isabel's eye passed right over us," said Buffy Warner, the pub's owner. "It was so dramatic. The rain was actually driving horizontally with these incredibly dark skies and no visibility. Then, within about 60 seconds, the sky became bright white."

A utility employee in North Carolina was electrocuted while restoring power, and a man in Virginia drowned while canoeing. Most of the other storm-related deaths were from falling trees or car accidents.

In Middletown, N.J., Isabel sent a tree crashing through the roof of Jean Paul Zammit's house.

"It was a just a big bang and crack, and the ceiling falling down and everything falling down," said Zammit.

Well over 1,500 flights were canceled at airports in the major Eastern cities, said David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association.

www.comcast.net

I think I live in a bubble....NOTHING happened here, but everywhere around us got hit. We just have NO water. When the area flooded our water got contaminted with sewage....ewwww. So they have no idea when we'll have it back, we can't even shower here. The power didn't go out,just a little wind and rain. A few trees and branches are down, but nothing different from the storms this summer. They have postponed our formal recruitment......so who knows what they'll do about it. But i'm glad everyone is safe and this hurricane is behind us. Good luck with the clean up and all everyone.

My thoughts exactly. One of the people who died is in my family. You have NO IDEA what its like so dont feed your ignorance and pretend like you do!

did anyone see that reporter who was at the coast and he was doing that interview while trying to keep from flying away?

then he interviewed someone else and they had to hold on to eachother? it was hilarious.

nerds.

The part of Sterling, VA that I live in didn't get hit too badly. I never lost power, but I can't take a shower because our water may be contaminated :( Went over to my future in-laws' house in Fairfax city for my hygiene needs... their water is fine.

We were pretty lucky, no damage happened to our house. We spent half the day watching the pine trees in our backyard praying they wouldn't fall and crash into the pool. I was so excited when we got our power back on later that night! It was so nice to be able to fall asleep with my fan. It's crazy how the weather was beautiful today.... which just meant I got to wake up early and help clean up piles and piles of tree branches...We're just thankful that's all we had to do. A lot of people around us had several trees fall and hit thier houses.

In defense of my sister, I think some of you should lay off her.

I don't think you're justified in saying that she's ignorant just because she thinks the hurricane was overrated/overexposed/whatever. She probably is sympathetic that some of you lost family, lost power, had extensive damage to your property, some of y'all were just too freaking ready to jump down her throat that she probably didn't get the chance to explain what she really meant.

So...before any of you decide to jump down MY throat, YES I do know what it feels like to experience something like that. I do know how it feels to lose a freaking roof and spend months and thousands of dollars to rebuild.. My family lost our entire taro farm on Kauai because of Iniki 92, and I was watching Isabel closely and while it didn't directly affect me, I was keeping all of y'all in my thoughts.

Maybe I'm blind or something but I didnt post 2 seconds after she did. I dont think anyone needs "the chance" to start feeling sympathetic to other people's feelings. It was really offensive to see someone put that IGNORANT remark.

Perhaps some people could select their words a little more carefully.

It doesn't matter if it was 2 seconds, 2 hours, or 2 days.

I guess your definition of ignorance differs from mine. :rolleyes:

You can't expect everyone to feel the same way as you. And you shouldn't get pissed off when that happens.

If she thinks Isabel was overrated, she thinks Isabel was overrated. :rolleyes:

Maybe what she meant was that Isabel was overrated for her area. Like maybe the media hyped it up a lot in PA and then it turned out to be nothing in PA.

I can see where people could have taken offense to the comment. People who were dramatically affected are going to feel like that kind of comment is insensitive. I would never say 9/11 was overrated just because I didn't lose anyone. And I won't say that this hurricane was overrated just because none of my property was damaged.

So yes, perhaps words could have been chosen more carefully, but I doubt she meant it in a mean or offensive way.

Thats what I was thinking when I saw her post.. that she could have just thought it was overrated in her area.. sometimes people write something and it comes out wrong. We are just reading it.. its hard to really understand sometimes what people mean without hearing the way the say it is, etc.

Well back to about Isabel...

at my home my parents say its crazy... they have packed some stuff and are headed this way since we are fine on the other side of VA. Trees and power lines are down everywhere right now still. So you cant even drive around town. There is only place where you can get food bc they are using a generator I believe.. so like everyone in town has been eating there... Im sure they are loving it.

My parents had to go out in the middle of the other night too... they got a phone call from the police in the middle of the night.. the alarm was going off at my dad's work.. so he had to go there to check it out.. (he is the chief of probation and parole in Richmond)... they said it took them forever to get from our house to 95 bc of all the down trees and power lines.. once they finally got on 95 there was no one on there....

Still no power in Delta, PA. GRRRRRR!!!!!!!

Our power is back on!!!! but our cable is still out-damn Comcast!
Power went out Thursday night and we were told that it would be back on by 6am, then 8pm, then Sunday night, then Tuesday night......thank heavens it didn't take that long. PP&L said it was the worst power loss they've experienced in 83 years.

Isabel didn't really do that much physical damage in my area, except for some downed branches and a little bit of flooding-the electricity was the worst part. It really wasn't even that windy. But I'm glad that that's all that happened. Good luck to everyone who got hit really bad-your in my thoughts.:)

damn, can anyone have an opinion on this site without people's panties getting in a bunch? people on this site are way too sensitive about things. damn, if she didn't think isabel was too bad, oh well...live with it and call it a day. she's not trying to change anyone else's opinions. people take offense here when someone shits the wrong way.

In Central VA we were without power for about two days - it was turned back on/fixed this morning. It doesn't look like it was too bad around here other than that - no flooding, no downed trees. We were lucky to have our generator, which kept our fridge running, our water, and about three lights - but my dad was worried about running out of fuel for it, so we only ran it for a few hours at a time.

I don't think she meant to be offensive. At all.

We didn't have power for 2 days, it came on yesterday. It was really erie to be in complete blackness. I saw this one tree that grew in the sidewalk, the sucker pulled up the concrete!!:eek:

Well, now that Isabel has blown it self out, and at least all of the people (GCers) are safe, Let us get over the pissing contest of what we thought of someones idea of a female blow!

Remember in May, the Tornado that went through the K C Area.

It is more selective in scope, I know, I was at the edge (3) blocks away and lost nothing. My best Freind Book-Um was 1 block away and nothing, but for a 4 block on his area, all was gone.

Anytime something like a Hurrican, (Typhoon in the Pacifac) is bad just like Quakes in West Coast or Tornados in the Mid West, it is VERY BAD!:(

Just be Glad that We are alright and can typo about it!:)