Isabel Draws Closer To Wary Coast

Isabel appears to be on a course to hit Thursday on the North Carolina coast and up through the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia, forecasters said.

School systems along the North Carolina's barrier islands either planned for only teachers to report to work Tuesday or to end their day after serving lunch.

All 921 residents of Ocracoke Island, south of Manteo along the state's vulnerable Outer Banks, were ordered to begin evacuating Monday afternoon. A line quickly formed at the ferry dock.

In other islands on the outer banks, residents started boarding windows, moving their vessels inland and checking up on their generators.

As CBS News Correspondent Lee Cowan reports, some 25 million people on the eastern seaboard are watching and worrying about the massive storm.

"We really want people from North Carolina all the way to southern New England to pay very close attention to this hurricane. It will likely do extensive damage over a large portion of the northeastern United States," the National Hurricane Center's Max Mayfield told CBS.

Military installations were also taking precautions.

In Virginia, 40 ships based in the Norfolk area were ordered to head to sea Tuesday to avoid being battered against piers by high winds. Also Tuesday, the Air Force planned to fly about 60 planes from Langley Air Force Base in Hampton to Grissom Air Force Base in Indiana, officials said.

About 74 F-15E Strike Eagles at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro, N.C., were expected to leave Tuesday for Tinker AFB in Oklahoma City, the Air Force said.

Kay Burros and Anne Troutman decided it was time to check their 5,000-watt home generator at Surf City.

"We've had it about 3 years, but haven't cranked it up in a while. It's been so long, we have to read the instructions," Burros said.

Isabel weakened Monday to a Category 3 storm, the National Hurricane Center said. At 5 a.m. EDT Tuesday, Isabel's fastest sustained wind had slowed to near 115 mph, down from about 125 mph at 5 p.m. Monday. On Sunday, Isabel's top wind hit 160 mph, making it a Category 5 storm.

But forecasters said sustained winds would not likely dip lower. "We aren't forecasting too much more weakening for the next 24 hours," said Krissy Williams, a meteorologist with the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

The storm was moving northwest at around 7 mph and was about 660 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras in North Carolina, the hurricane center reported.

Large ocean swells and dangerous surf conditions were already being felt along portions of the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic coasts.

Williams said the Carolinas could begin to feel the storm's fury Wednesday evening because the tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 200 miles.

Eric Blake, a meteorologist with the center, said people on the East Coast should not let their guard down even if the storm is weakening.

"Hurricanes are notorious for gaining strength as they cross the Gulfstream," he said. "Even if it weakens to a Category 2 hurricane, there's still a lot of potential for danger. People need to be prepared."

At Taylor's Do-It Center hardware store in Norfolk, Va., assistant manager George Wolf said he was swamped with customers as soon as the doors opened at 8 a.m., and large batteries and flashlights were sold out.

"You would have thought we were giving stuff away," Wolf said. "I just sold my last 30 sheets of plywood."

Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner declared a state of emergency, putting National Guardsmen, state police and transportation crews on full alert.

Up the coast in Dover, Del., B.J. Whittaker snapped up 10 sheets of plywood at a Lowe's home improvement store. "I can't do anything if the roof blows off, but I can keep my windows from getting broken," he said.

Isabel is the first major hurricane to threaten the mid-Atlantic since Floyd wreaked havoc on the East Coast in September 1999, leading to 56 deaths.

Meanwhile, a storm swirling over the Pacific Ocean south of Mexico's Baja California peninsula reached hurricane strength Monday afternoon, the National Hurricane Center in Miami reported.

Hurricane Linda's maximum sustained winds reached 75 mph, with the storm centered 290 miles southwest of the southern tip of Baja California. The hurricane was moving northwest at 12 mph.