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Looking back on Hurricane Isabel and its impacts on Maryland 20 years later

By Tim Williams

September 22, 2023 / 10:53 PM EDT / CBS Baltimore

BALTIMORE -- This week marks 20 years since Hurricane Isabel swept across the state of Maryland.

IN SPACE - SEPTEMBER 18: This is a handout of a NOAA satellite image of Hurricane Isabel taken September 18, 2003, at 7:53 a.m. EDT. The NOAA National Hurricane Center in Miami, reports that at 11 a.m. EDT the center of Hurricane Isabel was located near

It was one of the most powerful and deadly hurricanes to hit both Maryland and the mid-Atlantic region.

At its peak in 2003, Hurricane Isabel became a Category 5 hurricane and made landfall in North Carolina as a Category 2 hurricane before coming through Maryland as a tropical storm.

But regardless of strength, Maryland's damages were catastrophic.

Hurricane Isabel pushed a storm up the Chesapeake Bay, flooding Annapolis and triggering water rescues in Baltimore as the Inner Harbor flowed into downtown.

Among the hardest hit were waterfront communities in eastern Baltimore County. The surge coupled with high tides rose quickly before dawn.

There were 34,000 homes impacted by Hurricane Isabel. From flooded basements to flooded out, statewide damages were just under $1 billion.

Now, more than 20 years later Hurricane Isabel is more than a memory, it is a lesson that Maryland hopes never to learn again.