Atlantic Coast - 2003 Overview: Meteorology: On September 6, 1500 miles off the Senegalese coast, Isabel became the ninth of was the sixteen named tropical storms of the 2003 season. After quickly strengthening to a deadliest and costliest Category 5 (>155 mph winds), the storm remained above a Category 3 until the 16th. hurricane of the 2003 Quick Facts: season, killing 51 people U.S. landfall date: September 18, 2003 Max wind speed: 165 mph and incurring more than Category 5 duration: 36 hrs $5 billion in damages. Its Minimum pressure: 915 mb immense size allowed it to Max total rainfall: 20.20 in wreak havoc across a large

Total rainfall map. Courtesy David Roth, Weather Prediction swath of the East Coast, Center, Camp Springs, MD.

especially , Mary- Landfall of the storm coincided land and the District of with high tide, which increased the effects of the . Columbia. The storm surge This, along with rainfall deposited into the water- reached levels as high as shed reaching 20 inches resulted 9.5 feet on rivers that flow in widespread, intense flooding. into the Chesapeake Bay across Virginia, ,

Track of Hurricane Isabel, superimposed with satellite images from initial hurricane strength , and D.C. The on Sept 7, to Category 5 status on Sept 11 and 12, to landfall as a Category 2 storm at , NC on Sept 18, to its end in . Numbers in composite image correspond to date individual images were taken. Courtesy of Cooperative Institute of Meteorological Satellite Studies/University of Wisconsin-Madison.

(NWS) named it among “The response to this hurricane has been really great. The the top most significant planning for it has been great, the response during the hurricane was great, and the response after the hurricane hurricanes to hit the has been great.” – Pres. George Bush region since the devas- President George W. Bush briefed on Hurricane Isabel. Photo by Paul Morse. tating Chesapeake-Poto- “A bunch of houses pretty much lost everything. I’ve been through five hurricanes, but mac hurricane in 1933. this is the first time I've seen houses destroyed.” – Floyd Bullock, Volunteer Firefighter Impact: Although the storm was well-predicted, major • Over $5 billion in damage crashes, power loss, cleanup damage still occurred. Many cities were • Areas flooded up to 9.5 ft activities, etc. flooded, and some power outages lasted for • 15 million people lost power • States affected: FL, NJ, MD, PA, weeks. • 17 direct deaths due to VA, RI, NC, D.C. drowning, fallen trees, etc. • 42 indirect deaths due to car

Aerial photos of Cape Hatteras seashore before Hurricane Isabel (left), just afterward with the road missing (middle), and 10 years later with the Poster produced road repaired (right). Red arrows point to corresponding locations. The Flooding near Jefferson Memorial, Wash- Storm surge flooding in , MD. Pete White uses his boat in waters in by Caleb Sheehan road, Highway 12 (red line), was the only access to mainland for the ~200 ington, D.C. Courtesy of Associated Press. Courtesy of Maryland Historical Trust. Washington, DC. Courtesy of Baltimore Sun. residents of Hatteras Village, NC. Images courtesy NOAA Report “Hurri- University of Louisville cane Isabel Damage Assessment at Cape Hatteras” and Google Earth.