Hurricane Isabel lashes US

HURRICANE ISABEL screamed ashore in North Carolina yesterday as furious winds and torrential rains forced evacuations throughout the US mid-Atlantic region, the cancellation of nearly 1,000 flights and shut down the federal government in Washington.

States of emergency were declared in North Carolina, Virginia, Washington DC, Maryland, West Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Nearly a quarter of a million people were ordered to leave their homes and about 800,000 homes and businesses lost electricity as Isabel downed trees and snapped power lines along the North Carolina and Virginia coast.

The storm was expected to wreak more havoc to the power grid as it moved inland.