I can see what the original poster is getting at.

Most folk knew Isabel was on its way, they had been warned and they had enough time to get out and stay out, even if was just to a local shelter, they could have done so till the danger has passed. Its not like they were killed or injured inside a shelter, they were not.

But was this because they were ignorant to the dangers of Isabel, or was it because Isabel was 'disappointingly (from the reporters/news teams point of view) downgraded from a cat 5 to a cat 2 storm. Therefore they were led to believe the threat was not so serious?

I also think the damage was greater because these areas have not been hit by such a strong force for quite sometime, making older trees etc more likely to fall under such pressure.

Just a thought.

Joolz