Communities along the US East Coast have begun a massive clean-up after Hurricane Isabel, with authorities approving disaster aid and sending truckloads of relief supplies. Local officials said it would take months to fix the damage.
President George W. Bush signed disaster declarations for North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland, the hardest-hit areas, opening the way for federal assistance and aid programs.
The Department of Homeland Security said it was coordinating the federal government response after Isabel ripped through the mid-Atlantic region, leaving at least 23 people dead.
More that 70 truckloads of water, emergency meals, tents, cots, blankets, portable toilets, generators, plastic sheeting and roofing material had been sent to areas hit by floods and high winds, the department said.
The director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Mr Michael Brown, told people to be cautious when returning to their homes.
"While the immediate danger is past, there are downed power lines, high water and other dangers that still threaten public safety," he said in a statement.
Clean-up crews worked to clear thousands of fallen trees and fix downed electrical power lines as utilities said they were restoring services to millions of homes knocked off the grid when Isabel tore through the region on Thursday and yesterday.
By early yesterday evening, power companies said 3.9 million homes were still without electricity compared with nearly six million at the height of the storm.