 The governors of Pennsylvania , West Virginia , Maryland , New Jersey , and Delaware declared states of emergency . Isabel was the first major hurricane to threaten the Mid @-@ Atlantic States and the Upper South since Hurricane Floyd in September 1999 . Isabel 's greatest effect was due to flood damage , the worst in some areas of Virginia since 1972 's Hurricane Agnes . More than 60 million people were affected to some degree — a similar number to Floyd but more than any other hurricane in recent memory . 
