(CNN) -- Isabel was downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm after
knocking out power to nearly 2 million homes in North Carolina, Virginia and
Maryland and dumping heavy rain on much of the northeastern United States.

At 2 a.m. EDT Friday, Isabel was centered just north of Charlottesville,
Virginia, moving north-northwest near 23 mph, according to the National
Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida. Maximum sustained winds were 60 mph.

"The storm is expected to weaken and move on later to Washington -- which
already is experiencing 50 mph wind gusts," said CNN meteorologist Rob
Marciano. From there the storm's center is forecast to move into
Pennsylvania and make a straight path to Rochester, New York, Marciano said.

U.S. government offices in Washington will remain closed Friday, officials
from the Office of Personnel Management announced Thursday evening. (Full
story)

The Hurricane Center canceled all hurricane warnings and issued a tropical
storm warning north of Currituck Beach Light, North Carolina, to Moriches
Inlet, New York, including Chesapeake Bay, the tidal Potomac River and
Delaware Bay.

Isabel knocked out electricity to more than 1 million Virginia customers,
according to Dominion Virginia Power. "We've got a long night ahead of us,"
company spokesman Jim Norvelle said. Outages are growing and the damage will
be a "multi-day" repair, officials said.

In North Carolina, authorities said about 426,000 customers were without
power. In Maryland, about 430,000 customers had no electricity, according to
a state emergency official.

President Bush declared North Carolina a major disaster area, clearing the
way for federal aid to the storm-battered state.

The governors of Virginia, North Carolina, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania
and New Jersey have declared states of emergency.

In a news conference late Thursday, Maryland Governor Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr.
said schools and state government offices will be closed Friday.

"Flash floods will be our number one fear over the course of the weekend,"
Ehrlich said. "To the extent folks can stay off our roads, they will help
our local police, our state police -- all of our police agencies."

According to the governor, efforts to restore electricity will begin in
earnest once the storm has passed and its safe for repair crews to work.

3 deaths blamed on Isabel
Three deaths have been attributed to the storm. A motorist died on
Interstate 95 north of Richmond, Virginia, after a vehicle hydroplaned in
heavy rain, according to state emergency officials. Virginia officials at
the state's emergency operations center are checking reports of other
storm-related deaths.

An electrical worker, Harold Anderson Jr., was electrocuted after attempting
to make repairs at a substation in Morehead City, North Carolina. He died at
a hospital.

North of Annapolis, Maryland, one person was killed when a tree or power
line pole fell on a car, a state emergency spokesman said.

At least 16,000 residents had sought safety from the storm in Virginia
shelters, the officials said.

With 100 mph winds, the storm made landfall about 1 p.m. EDT near Drum
Inlet, in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, the hurricane center reported.

Tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 345 miles. Forecasters said
the storm could dump 6 to 10 inches of rain along its path, and warned that
hurricane-force winds could reach inland hundreds of miles from the North
Carolina landfall.

Isolated tornadoes over eastern Virginia and southeastern Maryland are a
threat throughout the night, forecasters said.

The hurricane center said a storm surge of 2 to 4 feet above normal, "along
with extremely large and dangerous battering waves," could still occur along
the Atlantic coast within the tropical storm warning area.

Other developments
.. The National Guard is attempting two rescues in the waters of Chesapeake
Bay, said Dawn Eischen of Virginia's department of emergency management. One
is a family of six who were stranded on a boat near Gloucester County.
Another rescue is under way near York County, she said.

.. On Pea Island, on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, three emergency
workers who were sent to rescue three stranded men trapped on the roof of
their vehicle became stranded themselves, a Coast Guard spokesman said. All
six men are now safe, U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Buddy Dye said. Officials said
the life-threatening situation could have been avoided if people had
followed days-old warnings to evacuate the barrier islands.

.. As many as 2,000 airline flights were canceled Thursday, and hundreds more
were rerouted around or over the hurricane. The Federal Aviation
Administration said Washington's two main airports, Reagan National and
Dulles International were closed. Also shut down were Virginia's Richmond
International Airport and Norfolk International Airport, FAA officials said.
(Full story)

.. In Calvert County, Maryland, south of Baltimore, authorities ordered
residents and businesses in several areas along Chesapeake Bay to evacuate.
Storm surges in Chesapeake Bay and some of the rivers that empty into it
could reach 4 to 8 feet above normal tides, forecasters said.

CNN's Patty Davis, Jeff Flock, Kathleen Koch, Beth Lewandowski, Bryan Long,
Barbara Starr and Gary Tuchman contributed to this report.



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Viaene Björn
http://users.telenet.be/weathersite

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