US braces for Hurricane Isabel

All along the US East Coast, people made contingency plans, as the US Navy ordered dozens of vessels out to sea to ride out the storm.

Long lines of cars, pickup trucks and SUVs flowed inland in waves Tuesday as authorities ordered the evacuations along the North Carolina coast.

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"We're leaving. Everybody's leaving," said Nick Napolitano, the owner of the Ocean Side Court vacation cottages, whose occupants sometimes ride these things out.

"This one had 160 miles-per-hour winds and they were talking about 40-foot waves. We get something like that and the Outer Banks are going to end up in Raleigh."

An Isabel now downgraded to Category Two on the Saffir-Simpson scale from a top level Category Five at the weekend, was still nonetheless packing maximum sustained winds close to 177 kilometres (110 miles) an hour with higher gusts.

Little change in Isabel's strength is forecast prior to landfall, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said at 0300 GMT Wednesday.

"Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 145 miles (233 kilometers) from the center... and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 260 miles (418 kilometers)," it added in a statement.

Isabel is expected to make landfall early Thursday, according to the Center.

Forecasters said it would pack its first punch in North Carolina and then sweep up the seaboard towards Washington. Nearly 50 million people live in the path Isabel is expected to take.

North Carolina and Virginia both declared a state of emergency.

About 23,000 people in North Carolina's Dare county were affected by the evacuation order. In summer the Dare population swells to 150,000 but Frank Pierce, a state public safety spokesman, said there were few tourists in the county now.

North Carolina Governor Mike Easley urged people to "stock up on needed supplies such as gasoline and water, and tune to news broadcasts to hear the latest updates from emergency management personnel."

Easley Tuesday declared a state of emergency to accelerate relief, as officials warned more than 150,000 people to retreat inland.

Thousands of home and store owners from South Carolina to Virginia and Maryland rushed to board up windows and buy emergency food, batteries and first aid kits. Several hardware stores reported shortages.