Hurricane Isabel, weakened to a tropical storm, moved inland yesterday leaving in its wake 13 people dead, flooding, downed trees, nearly 4 million homes and businesses without power and the US capital shut down for a second day.
Seven people died in Virginia, four in vehicle accidents and three from falling trees, according to a spokesman for the state's Department for Emergency Management.
PHOTO: AFP
Four traffic deaths were blamed on the storm in North Carolina, Maryland and Pennsylvania.
New Jersey state police reported that a weather-related fatality occurred around sunrise yesterday when a tree fell on a car. The storm also killed a utility repairman in North Carolina who was trying to restore power in coastal Carteret County.
Isabel peaked with sustained winds of 160 kph as it hit the Outer Banks islands of North Carolina on Thursday. Its eye came ashore near Ocracoke Island at midday.
The storm traveled northwest toward Pennsylvania yesterday and left day-after fears of widespread flooding as it was downgraded from a hurricane on Thursday night.
The federal government shut down on Thursday as the storm bore down on Washington and remained closed yesterday. Most of Congress left town before Isabel arrived. The capital's Metro subway and bus system, however, reopened yesterday.
The storm toppled trees, left homes and businesses without power and flooded parts of Reagan National Airport and the Old Town section of nearby Alexandria, Virginia. But Isabel did not hit the capital with as much force as expected. Heavy rain and high winds held off until early Thursday night, when winds gusted to 84 kph.
Across Isabel's path, evidence of widespread and costly damage was mounting.
In all, at least 2.8 million homes and businesses had lost power from the Carolinas to Pennsylvania and nearly a quarter of a million people were forced from their homes as Isabel sent a storm surge of up to 3.3m into the North Carolina and Virginia coasts.
While Isabel had weakened, it remained a very dangerous storm.
States of emergency were declared in North Carolina, Virginia, Washington, Maryland, West Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
RSS