Isabel leaves 15 dead in trail of destruction

HURRICANE Isabel left 15 people dead and knocked out power to more than 4.5 million people before weakening into a tropical depression yesterday as it raced toward Canada swamping some tidal communities along Chesapeake Bay.

The storm was blamed for at least 15 deaths: nine in Virginia, two in Maryland and one each in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Rhode Island.

The storm ploughed into North Carolina's Outer Banks on Thursday with winds of about 100 mph and moved across Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania yesterday as its winds eased to around 35 mph just below the threshold for a tropical storm. Isabel dumped up to four inches of rain in Pennsylvania before moving toward Ohio, and was expected to dissipate in Canada by Saturday.