More than 130,000 people were ordered to evacuate from barrier islands and coastal areas of North Carolina and Virginia or risk getting caught in flooding from storm surges up to 11 feet.

The governors of North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware, and the mayor of Washington declared states of emergency, enabling them to mobilize workers and activate the National Guard.

Schools closed in many coastal areas. On North Carolina's Outer Banks, fragile islands that jut into the Atlantic, stragglers fled before rising waters cut off the roads.

"When the water starts coming over the dunes, you don't want to be here," said Bill Wilson, shuttering the beachfront home in Nags Head, where his family has lived since 1911.

On North Carolina's Ocracoke Island, some who stayed behind after the last ferry left for the mainland drove their cars up onto dirt mounds to keep the engines dry as the water rises.

In the Virginia state capital of Richmond, Gov. Mark Warner said officials were most concerned with storm surges in coastal areas. "That's the true killer," Emergency Management State Coordinator Michael Cline told reporters.

But Cline and Warner said the storm's current westerly direction meant severe flooding in the mountainous western region of the state was also a danger.

"Literally 80 percent of the casualties in the aftermath of a hurricane are oftentimes caused by flooding," Warner said, urging people to be careful approaching flooded areas.

In the coastal resort of Virginia Beach, Police Chief A.M. Jacocks urged those staying behind to write their names on their forearms so authorities could identify their bodies and notify next of kin. "While we will not be forcing people to leave, it is highly recommended," he said.

10 INCHES OF RAIN

Isabel was a strong Category 2 storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale that measures hurricanes' destructive power, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Category 2 storms can badly damage mobile homes and roofs, rip down power lines and cell phone towers and block roadways with felled trees and utility poles. Widespread power outages are expected.

Isabel's hurricane-force winds extend 145 miles from its center, churning up massive swells and rip currents that closed beaches as far south as Amelia Island, Florida.

Forecasters said it could dump 10 inches of rain on a region saturated from months of above-normal rainfall and vulnerable to flooding. Washington ran out of sandbags as workers shored up the banks of the tidal Potomac River.

The House of Representatives planned to adjourn so members could get home before airports closed. Train service south of the capital was canceled for Thursday and authorities said buses and subways would stop when the winds hit 40 mph. Aviation officials met to consider halting flights on Thursday at the Washington area's three major airports.

The U.S. Navy sent 40 ships and submarines from Hampton Roads, Virginia, out to sea to ride out the storm, and warplanes were moved inland.