KILL DEVIL HILLS, North Carolina (AP) — Hurricane Isabel yesterday plowed into coastal islands off North Carolina with 160 kph (100 mph) winds and pushed its way up the United States’ Eastern coast, swamping roads and knocking out power to more than one million people but packing nowhere near the terrifying punch it had days earlier.

Isabel’s top sustained wind eased to 153 kph (95 mph) after it hit land, and it was expected to continue weakening. Hurricane-force winds — at least 119 kph (74 mph) — extended up to 185 kilometres (115 miles) out from the centre.

At 5:00 pm, the centre of Isabel’s “very large eye” was over North Carolina’s Pamlico Sound, between the mainland and North Carolina’s Outer Banks’ islands. It was moving northwest at around 38 kph (24 mph).

It is expected to move north across Virginia and cut through western Pennsylvania and western New York state before dissipating in Canada by Saturday.

President George W Bush granted North Carolina Governor Mike Easley’s request for a federal disaster declaration, ordering federal aid to the state. In anticipation of flooding and wind damage, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell issued a statewide “disaster emergency” declaration. The governors of West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia and Delaware had earlier declared emergencies.

Despite downed trees, snarled air traffic and widespread power outages — about 1.3 million in North Carolina and southeastern Virginia alone — there were no immediate reports of any deaths or widespread flooding.

But National Hurricane Centre director, Max Mayfield, said fast-moving Isabel still poses a threat because of its large size and its potential to bring 15 to 25 centimetres (six to 10 inches) of rain and flooding to an East Coast already sodden from one of the wettest summers in years.

“This is certainly not over for people experiencing Hurricane Isabel,” he said. “This hurricane will not be remembered for how strong it is. It will be remembered for how large it is.”

There were isolated areas of damage on the Outer Banks. The storm tore apart two beach houses in Nags Head, picking up the washer, dryer and refrigerator and carrying them about 150 metres (500 feet) down the street.

Wind blew out the windows of a storm shelter near Elizabeth City, injuring five people hit by flying glass. In the community of Harlowe, just inland from the coast, rescue teams were dispatched after about 130 people were trapped by floodwaters, possibly in their own homes.

The storm spread rain across North Carolina and Virginia and into Maryland, Delaware and parts of West Virginia and Pennsylvania.

More than 1,500 flights were cancelled at airports in the major eastern cities, said David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association. As the storm moved northward, all flights to and from the Washington metropolitan area’s airports were likely to be cancelled, he said.

The federal government shut down in Washington. Train services were halted south of Washington, and the Washington-area Metro system shut down all subway and bus services.

But, for many, the hurricane’s passing was merely a sightseeing event.

“For me, this is just like another little rainstorm, but you take what you can get,” storm chaser Warren Faidley said as he videotaped the frothy, 4.5-metre (15-foot) swells on Atlantic Beach, North Carolina.