Plywood Prices up!

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MIAMI — Hurricane Isabel (search) weakened slightly Sunday but still was a powerful Category 4 storm (search) as it plowed across the Atlantic Ocean on a course that could slam it into the central East Coast late this week.

"It's looking more and more likely that this is going to be a big event for the eastern United States," National Hurricane Center (search) meteorologist Eric Blake said Sunday.

Computer models predict that weather conditions over the East Coast should prevent Isabel from turning back out to sea and missing land, hurricane specialist Stacy Stewart said.

"Landfall along the U.S Mid-Atlantic coast somewhere between North Carolina and New Jersey between 4 or 5 days (Thursday or Friday) is appearing more and more likely," Stewart said. "Little or no significant weakening is expected to occur until after landfall occurs."

At 11 a.m. EDT, Isabel's maximum sustained wind speed had fallen by 5 mph to 155 mph — 1 mph below the minimum for Category 5 — apparently a fluctuation in strength common to major hurricanes, forecasters said. Experts had said it would be extremely unusual for Isabel to maintain Category 5 strength as it moved north over cooler water.

The storm was centered about 370 miles east-northeast of the Turks and Caicos Islands (search), or about 320 miles north of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Hurricane-force wind of at least 74 mph extended 85 miles out from the center.

It was moving toward the west-northwest at about 12 mph, and was expected to continue on that path into Monday, then turn toward the Carolinas, possibly making landfall Thursday or Friday. Forecasters note that hurricanes can be unpredictable, and long-range forecasts have large possibilities for error.

Still, some East Coast residents were already preparing for the worst.

Even with plywood at its highest prices in a decade, Steve Myers had a steady stream of customers looking for supplies to board up windows in and around Georgetown, S.C.

At the 84 Lumber he co-manages there, a half-inch-thick sheet now costs about $20, but that's "cheaper than a $300 window," Myers said.

In coastal Georgia, the Chatham County Emergency Management Agency urged residents to review their hurricane plans, which should include adequate supplies, updated insurance coverage and evacuation routes.

"It's still a long ways away (but) we have to prepare as if it's coming here," said agency director Phillip Webber.

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford and other state officials were briefed Saturday by the state Emergency Management Division on emergency preparations. The state went on an elevated alert status Friday.

Water management officials in Florida were worried about the storm's possible effect on some of their already-swollen rivers and lakes.

The U.S. State Department issued a travel warning advising tourists to avoid the Bahamas, and large ocean swells and dangerous surf were forecast for the Leeward Islands in the northeastern Caribbean.

The last Category 5 Atlantic hurricane was Mitch in 1998, which killed about 11,000 people in Central America. The last two Category 5 hurricanes to strike the United States were Andrew in 1992 and Camille in 1969.

The Atlantic hurricane season began June 1 and ends Nov. 30.