Kill Devil Hills, N.C. ? After striking the North Carolina coast in broad daylight, the wet and blustery remnants of Hurricane Isabel swept toward some of America’s major cities Thursday night.

More than 2 million people in the storm’s path lost power as wind-whipped trees toppled, taking power lines with them. At least three people were reported killed — one was an electrical worker trying to get the lights back on.

Airline flight delays cascaded up and down the East Coast. Mountainous surf ripped apart beachfront homes, and thunderous winds destroyed scores of inland homes. An undetermined number of people were missing.

Injury reports arrived slowly from across hundreds of miles still under natural attack. Two of the dead were drivers of cars that slid off wet roadways, one on Interstate 95 near Richmond, Va., the other in suburban Anne Arundel County, Md., between Baltimore and Washington. And a power company crew leader, Harold T. Anderson Jr., 29, was electrocuted in Morehead City, N.C., while he was trying to restore power at a substation.

In Elizabeth City, N.C., flying glass hurt five people in a storm shelter, authorities said. Throughout the region, officials feared that toll of dead and injured would be many more.

National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield said fast-moving Isabel still posed a threat because of its dimensions — about the size of Colorado — and its potential to bring 6 to 10 inches of rain and flooding to an East Coast already sodden from one of the wettest summers in years.

“This is certainly not over for people experiencing Hurricane Isabel,” he said. “This hurricane will not be remembered for how strong it is. It will be remembered for how large it is.”

President Bush declared North Carolina a federal disaster area. Similar declarations were likely for other states, which would allow residents to apply for federal aid and low-cost loans to rebuild.

Sean J. Fayhey, 46, runs from the surf after viewing the storm at the beachfront in the Sandbridge area of Virginia Beach, Va. Hurricane Isabel arrived Thursday, downing trees, snarling traffic and knocking out electricity to more than 2 million people. The storm is expected to move through Pennsylvania and New York before dissipating by Saturday in Canada.

95 mph winds at landfall

Isabel’s eye came ashore at Drum Inlet, a break in the chain of North Carolina’s Outer Banks islands, at 1 p.m. Thursday. The storm then continued on a track that narrowly missed the Mid-Atlantic’s major cities.

Isabel’s sustained winds, which six days earlier topped off at nearly 160 mph, were 95 mph when it made landfall, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. By 9 p.m. Thursday, inland winds were down to 70 mph, and Isabel was downgraded to a tropical storm.

“We are fortunate that it didn’t come across as a stronger hurricane and hit the cities directly,” said hurricane center meteorologist Jorge Aguirre.

In Harlowe, a small community about 25 miles inland from the Outer Banks, about 30 to 40 homes were destroyed, either by winds, falling trees or flooding, said Jeremy Brown, chief of Harlowe’s volunteer fire department. He estimated about 200 homes were flooded.

Firefighters rescued a mother and her two children who were stranded by the floodwaters, Brown said. But the flooding receded quickly, said resident Joe Fernandez, who watched the water rise over his street and yard.

“It was like a toilet flushing. It just came up and went down,” Fernandez said.

Bobby Acker climbs out from under the roots of a 100-year-old oak tree toppled in Vanceboro, N.C., by high winds from Hurricane Isabel. The storm took down dozens of trees Thursday in the area.

As the storm moved inland, its forward speed more than doubled, hitting 24 mph before slowing to 20 mph. The increased speed added slightly to the punch from winds, but lessened rainfall slightly. The storm also started to lose its classic hurricane shape and became more elongated along the north and south, Aguirre said.

Still, Isabel was more than 600 miles across, sitting over much of the East Coast and pummeling some areas for more than 24 hours.

Wind, falling trees and swirling water destroyed at least 30 homes in the small inland community of Harlowe, N.C., according to Jeremy Brown, chief of Harlowe’s volunteer fire department. He said 200 homes were flooded.

Heavy flood damage was reported in the inland North Carolina counties of Craven, Carteret and Pamlico. And that was followed by looting.

“In my 40 years of living in this county, I’ve never experienced anything like this,” said Robbie York, administrative technician for Pamlico’s Emergency Management. She estimated that the flooding from Isabel was worse than those from hurricanes Floyd and Dennis, both in 1999.

So much water poured in, she said, that a casket was found floating along a road. Isabel also unearthed caskets in Craven County.

Power out, but game’s on

More than 1.3 million customers in Virginia and North Carolina lost power, in many cases hours before the worst of the storm roared overhead. About half of Virginia was without power by nightfall, Eischen said. Another 433,000 homes in Maryland were without electricity.

Thousands sought refuge in shelters. Schools, offices and transit systems closed in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and Washington, D.C., and most would remain closed Friday.

“This is not just another run-of-the-mill storm,” said Virginia Gov. Mark Warner.

Air travel throughout the East was disrupted, with more than 1,500 flights canceled. Amtrak halted service south of Washington and said it would not resume until Saturday.

But the hurricane couldn’t keep football fans away from Virginia Tech’s Lane Stadium, where the Hokies were playing Texas A&M.

The 65,115-seat stadium was sold out, even with rain that soaked through parkas and wind that bent back umbrellas. Gusts of up to 50 mph were expected for the game in Blacksburg.

“My wife’s been calling me on the cell phone all day. … The power’s been off,” said Hokies fan Lee Wagstaff, whose wife and dairy farm were deep in Isabel’s path in Clarksville, about 100 miles away on the North Carolina border.

Why wasn’t Wagstaff at home? “Hey, it’s a Tech ball game, man!”

Tropical storm warnings flew as far north as Philadelphia, New York City and along Long Island, areas unaccustomed to the discomforts of hurricane season.

Forecasters said Isabel’s path would take its center through North Carolina, eastern Virginia, the panhandle of West Virginia, a corner of Maryland, central Pennsylvania, western New York and into Canada. But because the storm was so big, hurricane-force winds extended more than 100 miles from the center.

New Jersey authorities relocated 1,600 inmates from the Southern State prison in Cumberland County. Delaware state offices closed.

Authorities worried that the worst damage would come far beyond the coast, where much of the region had been saturated by unusually heavy summer rain. But serious inland flooding might not become evident until today.

In all, more than 300,000 people in North Carolina and Virginia were urged to leave low-lying areas. In Virginia, more than 15,000 people moved into 100 public shelters, Eischen said.

Authorities expressed grave concern for public safety during the next few days.

“The day of the storm, generally not too many people are injured,” said North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley. “It’s the days after when most people are injured, when they go out on roads that are flooded or touch power lines they assume are out of service.

“We’re asking people to stay in their homes.”