From coastal communities in North Carolina and Virginia, where people scrambled to leave or hunkered down with canned food and flashlights, to Washington, where the federal government is shutting down, authorities and residents braced for flooding, power outages and disruption.

"Hurricane conditions should begin spreading onto the coast in the hurricane warning area later this morning," the National Hurricane Center said in an advisory at 5 a.m. EDT as Isabel approached the North Carolina coast.

The hurricane was expected to make landfall there on Thursday morning, then head north through Virginia and swipe the US capital with 60 mph winds, potentially triggering tornadoes and mudslides, forecasters said.

At 5 a.m. EDT, Isabel's center was 155 miles south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

Around 200,000 people in coastal areas of North Carolina and Virginia were ordered to evacuate or risk getting trapped by flooding from storm surges up to 11 feet.

Although the storm's path wasn't expected to cross Washington until evening, the federal government, except for emergency personnel, was closed Thursday. The local transit system and most schools also announced plans to shut down.

US Airways canceled hundreds of flights -- serving airports in North Carolina, Virginia and the Washington airports -- for Thursday and Amtrak halted virtually all train service south of Washington. Other airlines advised passengers to check for cancellations and delays.

Bush left the capital by helicopter for his Camp David retreat on Wednesday evening, a day early, to beat the storm. He was meeting there on Thursday with Jordan's King Abdullah.

Isabel's hurricane-force winds extend 115 miles from its center. Forecasters said it could dump 10 inches of rain on a region saturated from months of above-normal rainfall.

Well over 100,000 people were told to leave the North Carolina coast, many on the fragile Outer Banks islands that jut into the Atlantic. In Virginia, authorities told 87,000 people in the low-lying areas of Hampton Roads to leave.

While many heeded the warning, some decided to stock up and stay put. Mari Pohlhaus, who lives along Smith Creek in Norfolk, an area that can flood even during normal thunderstorms, decided her 100-year-old house would be safe.