Tropical Storm in Maryland, September 18 to 19, 2003

On September 18, 2003, Hurricane Isabel made landfall on the North Carolina Coast. Its huge wind field was already piling water up into the southern Chesapeake Bay. By the time Isabel moved into central Virginia, it had weakened and was downgraded to a tropical storm. Isabel's eye tracked well west of the bay, but the storm's 40 to 50 mph sustained winds pushed a bulge of water northward up the bay and its tributaries producing a record storm surge. The Maryland western shore counties of the Chesapeake Bay and along the tidal tributaries of the Potomac, Patuxent, Patapsco and other smaller rivers experience a storm surge reached 5 to 9 feet above normal tides. In many locations, Isabel's surge was higher than the previous record storm known as the Chesapeake-Potomac Hurricane of 1933. For coastal properties below 10 feet MSL exposed to wave action, much damage was wrought. Over 2000 people were evacuated from their homes. Maryland saw 472 homes and buildings destroyed, 3260 with major damage and over 3600 more affected. Extensive damage occurred to Maryland's shoreline which rarely sees storms of this intensity. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation estimates that 43,000 tons of silt and millions of pounds of nitrogen and phosphorus and millions of gallons of raw sewage washed into the bay during Isabel.Water surrounded many of the buildings on the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis. The flooding caused $116 million in damage. FEMA was estimating up to $500 million in total damages to Anne Arundel County from the storm. In Dundalk (Baltimore County), a 27-year-old man was found drown floating in the flood waters. In Baltimore County alone, $3 million in damage is estimated to have occurred from erosion of the shoreline. Residential areas of Millers Island, Edgemere, North Point, Bowley Quarters and Turners Station were hard hit with more than 400 people being rescued from their homes and over 300 buildings destroyed. Marinas were also destroyed or severely damaged. Water flooded Baltimore's Inner Harbor and Fells Point area causing millions of dollars damage to waterfront property. The Baltimore Museum of Industry alone received $1.5 million in damage. The two hardest areas hit in Harford County were up the Bush River and the waterfront at Havre de Grace. About 55 people were evacuated from Abingdon, Edgewood and Perryman along the Bush River and about a dozen people were evacuated in Havre de Grace. The 12.5 million dollars in damage to Harford County does not include damages sustained to Aberdeen Proving Grounds. Those figures were unavailable at this time. In Calvert County, 4 to 5 foot waves crashed into the towns of North Beach and Solomons. In North Beach, a house was moved off its foundation. The pier at Solomons Island was lost with the storm surge causing extensive damage to the shoreline. In St Mary's County residents saw 6 foot waves crashing onto shore and some homes were literally flattened. Estimated damage to wharves and piers is 2500 destroyed and 1000 with moderate damage costing $10.25 million. Damage to Point Lookout State Park is $3 million. Damage to "shore revetments" was $53.4 million. Damage to residential property is estimated at $16.95 million and businesses $1.5 million. Most of the damage was from storm surge, but some was from wind. On St. George Island, 20 homes were destroyed and water covered much of the island at high tide for a week. The bridge to the island washed out as early as 3:45 pm on Thursday. Charles County had $2 million in damage to roads. Cobb Island was hit hard with two homes destroyed and others damaged. Other areas hit included Chigger City, Port Tobacco, Woodland Point, Swan Point, and Morgantown. Fifty-two dwellings were flooded with damages estimated at $1.1 million with another $600,000 to commercial property. Prince Georges County had high water on the Patuxent, Potomac and Anacostia River fronts. Much of the shoreline has a good rise protecting it from flooding, but three roads were closed from flooding and some property may also have been impacted.Hurricane Isabel's wind field extended for hundreds of miles from the storm's center. Winds were highest along the Chesapeake Bay and Tidal Potomac where the warm waters and smooth surface helped mix down the strong winds from above and blow onto the coastline. Inland, the air at the surface was relatively cool. Temperatures had been in the 60s during the day and the strongest winds came at night. The high winds came with bands of showers that would mix down to the surface causing streaks of damage that sometimes appeared as though a tornado had moved through instead of a strong narrow ribbon of wind. Wind damage to structures was limited with the greatest damage reported in St. Mary's County where on one property winds blew the roof off a structure. and knocked down 70 trees. Unofficial wind gust readings of up to 110 mph have been reported, but not confirmed. Patuxent Naval Air Base recorded wind gusts to 69 mph at midnight and Quantico Marine Base recorded a wind gust of 78 mph near the same time. Andrews Air Force Base also recorded a wind gust of 69 mph around 1 am EDT. Wind damage to trees in the area was extensive and widespread to the region. Soil moisture was high from previous rains making it easier for trees to uproot. Also, the trees were still in full canopy which acted like a sail to catch the wind. Trees feel on electrical and utility wires taking out power and phone. Trees fell on roads, cars, and homes. In Anne Arundel County, 196,000 out of a possible 211,000 customers lost power. In Baltimore, 220,000 out of a possible 273 customers lost power. Baltimore County was estimating 3189 tons of debris to be hauled from the storm. 118 trees fell on school grounds. In Baltimore City, 70,000 customers were without power. Calvert County had 22,400 customers without power. Charles County had 32,000 customers lose power. Harford County saw 51,600 of its 88,000 customers lose power. Prince Georges County had nearly 200,000 customers lose power and 5000 tons of debris to haul. There were at least 15 buildings with major damage and 53 more buildings that were affected. St Mary's County had 27,092 customers lose power. While most people had their power back in a week, some locations took up to two weeks. Many injuries and 3 fatalities occurred from carbon monoxide poisoning from people improperly running generators in their houses. Other injuries were related to chain saws and the clean-up of debris. Calvert County Hospital said they were seeing an extra 130 patients per day.