THE US: Americans are accustomed to hear of hurricanes threatening Florida and the Carolinas. But Washington? And New York? Forecasts that Hurricane Isabel, the biggest storm to approach from the Atlantic in years, will churn up Chesapeake Bay and then head northwards have sent waves of alarm through major north-eastern cities.
After crossing land, a hurricane is inevitably downgraded to a tropical storm, but Isabel is so big and potent, it could cause massive flooding. Disaster plans are being put into effect all along the mid-Atlantic seaboard.
Yesterday, the storm was downgraded from Category 5 to Category 2 (with sustained winds of 105 miles an hour), but forecasters warned it could strengthen again before making landfall sometime tomorrow on North Carolina's Outer Banks. The White House has been put on alert for possible extreme weather conditions. In New York, on the outer rim of the predicted course, Mayor Bloomberg urged people to stock up on batteries, flashlights and extra canned food and water.
Isabel is the first major hurricane to threaten the mid-Atlantic since Floyd screamed ashore in September 1999 causing 56 deaths.
Virginia Governor Mark Warner has declared a state of emergency, putting the National Guard and police on full alert in case the entire 450,000 population of Virginia Beach has to be evacuated.
Authorities mostly fear a storm surge which could sweep a wall of water ashore. Evacuation orders have been issued for over 100,000 residents of the low-lying Outer Banks islands.
At 2.00 p.m. yesterday, Isabel's maximum sustained wind had slowed to near 105 mph, down from Sunday when it hit 160 mph.
Hurricane centre meteorologist Eric Blake said: "Hurricanes are notorious for gaining strength as they cross the Gulf Stream" and "even at a Category 2, there's still a lot of potential for danger".