KILL DEVIL HILLS, N.C. - Hurricane Isabel plowed into North Carolina's Outer Banks with 100 mph winds and pushed its way up the Eastern Seaboard Thursday, swamping roads and knocking out power to more than 1.8 million people but packing nowhere near the terrifying punch it had days earlier.

The storm that had once threatened 160 mph winds and a 12-foot storm surge rolled in around midday just south of isolated Ocracoke Island with a 5-foot surge and gusts that rattled plywood boards spray-painted "Bring it on Izzy."

"A lot of trees are down - there's one down across the garage," Rudy Austin said as he looked out on his yard in Ocracoke surrounded by a knee-deep soup of sea water and debris. "There's a lot of stuff floating around: boards and buoys and boxes and young'uns' plastic toys."

Despite downed trees, snarled air traffic and widespread power outages - about 1.77 million in North Carolina and southeastern Virginia alone - there were no immediate reports of any deaths or widespread flooding.

But National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield said fast-moving Isabel still poses 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."

There were isolated areas of damage and distress on the Outer Banks and inland areas nearby.

In Harlowe, a small community about 25 miles inland, 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 flood waters, 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.

In Williston, Marcella Willis, 62, had a half-foot of water in her home and waist-high water all around it. Her house was almost destroyed by Hurricane Floyd in 1999.

"This time it's even worse," she said. "It came so fast I was sitting there listening to the radio and my feet felt wet."

The storm tore apart two beach houses in Nags Head on the Outer Banks, picking up a washer, dryer and refrigerator and carrying them about 500 feet down the street.

Wind blew out the windows of a storm shelter near Elizabeth City, injuring five people hit by flying glass.

The storm spread rain across North Carolina and Virginia and into Maryland, Delaware and parts of West Virginia and Pennsylvania.

Isabel's top sustained wind eased to around 80 mph by early evening, and it was expected to continue weakening. Hurricane-force wind - at least 74 mph - extended up to 75 miles from the center.

At 7 p.m., Isabel was near Roanoke Rapids, N.C., near the Virginia border. It was moving northwest at around 20 mph, up from 14 mph Wednesday evening when it approached the coast.

The increase in speed is not unusual, and could mean lighter rain and less flooding, said Chris Sisko, a meteorologist at the hurricane center.

"They'll still have flooding issues over the next day or two, but the faster motion is at least a more positive impact," Sisko said.

Isabel was expected to move north across Virginia and cut through western Pennsylvania and western New York state before dissipating in Canada by Saturday.

Rhonda Davis, whose parents had to be airlifted from their home four years ago when Hurricane Floyd killed 56 people, said she was not convinced Isabel would leave eastern North Carolina unscathed.

"When something like this happens, I don't care what it is, you prepare for the worst," she said. "I don't think it's going to be bigger than Floyd, but I think it's going to be larger than what people think."

Up to a foot of rain was possible in West Virginia's hilly Eastern Panhandle and 6 to 9 inches was forecast for parts of Pennsylvania.

President Bush granted North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley's request for a federal disaster declaration, ordering federal aid to the state. In anticipation of flooding and wind damage, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell issued a statewide "disaster emergency" declaration. The governors of West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia and Delaware had earlier declared emergencies, and the governor of New Jersey planned a declaration Thursday.

Well over 1,500 flights were canceled at airports in the major Eastern cities, said David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association. As the storm moved north, all flights to and from the Washington metropolitan area's airports were likely to be canceled, he said.

The federal government shut down in Washington. Amtrak halted service south of Washington, and the Washington-area Metro system shut down all subway and bus service.

Miss America pageant organizers went ahead with plans for their annual parade Friday night in Atlantic City, N.J., hoping the boardwalk would escape damage.

For many, the hurricane's passing was merely a sightseeing event.

"For me, this is just like another little rainstorm, but you take what you can get," storm chaser Warren Faidley said as he videotaped the frothy, 15-foot swells on Atlantic Beach, N.C.

He was impressed that in the middle of the hurricane, he was able to get a hot sausage biscuit at a pier right on the beach.

"Hot food during the hurricane," he said, chewing away. "This is the most gentlemanly chase of all times."