Hurricane Isabel cut a swath through several states in late September 2003, causing millions of dollars in property damage. As a general contractor and a professional in disaster response, I was deployed to southern Maryland as a disaster housing inspector under contract to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. My primary area of responsibility was St. Mary's County, which is near the Potomac and Patuxent rivers and the Chesapeake Bay. Most residents of the area weren't prepared for what occurred.
