 Two days before Isabel made landfall , the National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane watch from Little River , South Carolina to Chincoteague , Virginia , including the Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds and the lower Chesapeake Bay . The NHC also issued a tropical storm watch south of Little River , South Carolina to the mouth of the Santee River , as well as from Chincoteague , Virginia northward to Little Egg Inlet , New Jersey . Hurricane and tropical storm warnings were gradually issued for portions of the East Coast of the United States . By the time Isabel made landfall , a tropical storm warning existed from Chincoteague , Virginia to Fire Island , New York and from Cape Fear , North Carolina to the mouth of the Santee River in South Carolina , and a hurricane warning existed from Chincoteague , Virginia to Cape Fear . Landfall forecasts were very accurate ; from three days prior , the average track forecast error for its landfall was only 36 miles ( 58 km ) , and for 48 hours in advance the average track error was 18 miles ( 29 km ) . 
