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Hurricane Isabel in Perspective/CRC 0165-05
Downtown Annapolis, Alexandria, and Fells Point in Baltimore under water; piers and docks
destroyed, cars parked several hundred yards inland inundated; year-plus frustrations with federal and
personal insurance recoveries for storm damage. What was so different about this hurricane versus others
that have blown over the Bay?
In fact, Isabel was not a hurricane when she arrived but a tropical storm, yet she still caused devastating
damage in the tidal areas of the Bay and its tributaries. Why, with the best hurricane projections possible,
was the region caught unprepared? Why was there so much damage when everyone knew the storm was
approaching and where she would track?
These questions have motivated managers, local government officials, and the scientific community
since Isabel visited in September 2003 and inspired a cross-community conference, “Hurricane Isabel in
Perspective” held at the Maritime Institute in Linthicum, Maryland in November 2004. Sponsored by the
Chesapeake Research Consortium (CRC) and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental
Science (UMCES), the conference encouraged participation by scientists, managers, and many emergency
responders to explore the reasons for the devastating impacts of the hurricane and to discuss openly why
the advanced forecasting tools and preparedness teams were unable to protect property throughout the
region.
The conference topic raised sufficient interest in the region that several institutions and organizations
co-sponsored the meeting: CRC, UMCES, the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the MD Department of Natural Resources (MD DNR), the Chesapeake
Bay National Estuarine Research Reserves, and the Keith Campbell Foundation. Over 160 participants
met for two days to listen to technical presentations by leading national and regional scientists and to
participate in open discussion among state and county government officials and emergency response
personnel.
Isabel was not unique; she mimicked a hurricane that traversed the Chesapeake Bay in 1933. The
fundamental property shared by Isabel and the earlier storm was that both tracked northward along the
western side of the Chesapeake, resulting in counterclockwise winds that drove water up the Bay and its
tributaries. The storm surge from Isabel, coupled with tide- and wind-induced waves, reached far inland,
particularly in the low-lying regions adjacent to the Bay. Even with advanced warning and media-delivered
predictions of storm-surge height, the regional population did not grasp the storm surge concept. As a
result, citizens did not fully prepare for the flood waters that accompanied the storm’s passage.