Hurricane Isabel, weakened to a tropical storm, moved inland yesterday leaving in its wake 13 people dead, flooding, downed trees, nearly 4 million homes and businesses without power and the US capital shut down for a second day.
Seven people died in Virginia, four in vehicle accidents and three from falling trees, according to a spokesman for the state's Department for Emergency Management.
PHOTO: AFP
Four traffic deaths were blamed on the storm in North Carolina, Maryland and Pennsylvania.
New Jersey state police reported that a weather-related fatality occurred around sunrise yesterday when a tree fell on a car. The storm also killed a utility repairman in North Carolina who was trying to restore power in coastal Carteret County.
Isabel peaked with sustained winds of 160 kph as it hit the Outer Banks islands of North Carolina on Thursday. Its eye came ashore near Ocracoke Island at midday.
The storm traveled northwest toward Pennsylvania yesterday and left day-after fears of widespread flooding as it was downgraded from a hurricane on Thursday night.
The federal government shut down on Thursday as the storm bore down on Washington and remained closed yesterday. Most of Congress left town before Isabel arrived. The capital's Metro subway and bus system, however, reopened yesterday.
The storm toppled trees, left homes and businesses without power and flooded parts of Reagan National Airport and the Old Town section of nearby Alexandria, Virginia. But Isabel did not hit the capital with as much force as expected. Heavy rain and high winds held off until early Thursday night, when winds gusted to 84 kph.
Across Isabel's path, evidence of widespread and costly damage was mounting.
In all, at least 2.8 million homes and businesses had lost power from the Carolinas to Pennsylvania and nearly a quarter of a million people were forced from their homes as Isabel sent a storm surge of up to 3.3m into the North Carolina and Virginia coasts.
While Isabel had weakened, it remained a very dangerous storm.
States of emergency were declared in North Carolina, Virginia, Washington, Maryland, West Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)