I'm noticing some interesting Isabel aftermath. The states hardest hit can't seem to provide services. In addition, despite the fact that Isabel weakenend considerably, Virginia and Maryland got hit very hard and it looks like neither state was well prepared. In fact, some are arguing that deregulation may be a cause of the massive power outages. At Isabel's height, some eight million people from North Carolina northward through New York (and even some in Ontario) lost power. This from a storm that was relatively weak (winds onshore were 100mph, with scattered unconfirmed reports of 115 to 120mph along Hatteras Island.) The recent drought from last summer and this summer's near constant rain weakened a lot of trees. If another storm comes through, I suspect a lot of the trees I see when I look out my window will come over. They look fairly weak.

Delaware, New Jersey, and eastern Pennsylvania were largely spared although several hundred thousand lost power in Pennsylvania. However let this be a warning: one of these days sometime very soon, we're gonna get smacked down like they do down south.