19/09/2003

Hurricane Isabel claims 12 lives

The residents of the US East Coast emerged from their homes today to survey the damage wrought by Hurricane Isabel as the storm continued north into Canada.

Canadian emergency services were preparing today to face the onslaught of the storm, as the force of the hurricane was still considered sufficient to bring down power lines and raise concerns that the heavy rain could cause serious flooding.

On the eastern seaboard of the US, authorities were reporting 12 dead on Friday. Millions of people were left without power as the storm tracked north inland of Washington. Though local forecasters had warned of 70mph winds in the Washington area, it appears that by the time the storm reached the region of the US capital it may not quite has been as savage as predicted.

Tearing off rooves and and ripping up trees, the 90 mile-an-hour (150kph) winds that hit parts of North Carolina and Virginia caused structural damage to homes and property - the bill for the damage is already thought to exceed half a billion dollars.

The storm which hit the North Carolina coastline on Thursday travelled inland through Virginia and was continuing north into Canada on Friday where it is expected to dissipate on Sunday.

While the storm was off the US coast, meteorologists classified the hurricane as a Grade 5 with winds in excess of 120mph.

US President George Bush who had left early for his weekend retreat in Camp David, Maryland, and has declared parts of Virginia and North Carolina as major disaster zones.

(SP)

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