A gunman killed at least nine people on a terrifying rampage across two Alabama counties, burning down his mother’s home, killing members of his own family and shooting apparent strangers on their porches as he drove by, authorities said. He then fatally shot himself at a metals plant.

The large eye of a weakened Hurricane Isabel crossed the coastal islands off North Carolina today as the storm pounded the coast.

An explosion followed by a raging fire ripped through a plastics factory in Kinston, North Carolina tonight, killing at least eight people and sending black, acrid smoke pouring across the countryside. Others were feared trapped in the burning ruins.