Hurricane Isabel Effect

In response to the damage caused by Hurricane Isabel, Virginia Governor Mark Warner described it as, “Probably the worst storm in a generation” (Washington Post, Ambrose). This was certainly not an overstatement as the National Weather Service reported that Isabel created 925 million dollars of damage in the state of Virginia alone (Johnson). While Isabel was not the most intense storm once it reached the United States, the size of this storm and the population of the area it impacted was why it caused so much damage (Johnson). This paper will discuss the science behind the creation of this storm, the impact of the storm in Richmond, Virginia and its surrounding areas, and the efforts to decrease the effects of the storm along with what could have further prevented any damages.

It began to develop west of the Cape Verde Islands off the coast of Africa. Like many other hurricanes and tropical storms, Isabel began as an easterly wave which as according to Keller and Devecchio are, “troughs of relatively low pressure… and move westward with the tradewinds” (335). Isabel as an easterly wave then converged with westward moving winds. According to Keller and Devecchio, this would have caused this easterly wave to rise and begin forming storm clouds (335). As Cape Verde is located relatively far from the equator, the coriolis effect began to impact what would become Hurricane Isabel by giving it a counter-clockwise rotation. At this point, on September 6th, the National Hurricane Center reported that Isabel became a tropical disturbance (Beven and Cobb). On the same day, Isabel was upgraded to a tropical storm and given the name “Isabel” as wind speeds reached 35 miles per hour and pressure dropped to 1005 millibars (Beven and Cobb). As Isabel traveled westward over warm, Atlantic waters which fueled the storm, it became recognized as a category 5 hurricane on September 11th with wind speeds up to 165 miles per hour (Ambrose) and a pressure of 935 mb (Beven and Cobb). Although, The Washington Post stated that, “When Isabel approached the coast of North Carolina it encountered cooler waters, dry air and wind shear which helped to reduce its strength to a Category 2 hurricane. The storm made landfall near Ocracoke Island as a Category 2 hurricane” (Ambrose). Isabel eventually lessened to a tropical storm over southern Virginia and lost its tropical characteristics in Pennsylvania largely due to the lack of warm water and abundance of dry air in these areas at the time (Beven and