At least 15 people were killed and power were knocked out to more than 4.5 million people as hurricane Isabel moved through US states along the East Coast and weakened into a tropical storm since Thursday.
Fifteen people were killed during the storm, nine in Virginia, two in Maryland, and one each in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Rhode Island.
The hurricane hit North Carolina's Outer Banks on
Thursday, with winds of about 160 km per hour, and moved across Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania early Friday when it downgraded into a tropical storm with winds about 64 km per hour.
The storm was moving toward Ohio, and was expected to dissipate in Canada by Saturday.
In North Carolina, more than 2.5 million customers were without electricity, and 8,400 people went to shelters. In Virginia, more than 1.6 million people lost power, six people were killed in weather-related traffic accidents and one was killed by a falling tree, with more than 16,000 people going to shelters.
President Bush declared major disasters in North Carolina and Virginia and ordered federal aid to the two states, and state emergencies were declared respectively in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey and Delaware.
In the nation's capital, Washington D.C., the federal government shut down Friday for the second day, schools kids had another day off, and subway and bus services remained suspended early Friday morning.
About 700 emergency work teams were busy restoring power and cleaning up the streets, which were littered with tree branches and power lines knocked down by gusty winds.
(Xinhua News Agency September 20, 2003)
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