Hurricane Alex a mild brother to Isabel

The insurance industry was spared the full wrath of the first Atlantic hurricane Tuesday as Hurricane Alex made just a glancing blow on the North Carolina coast. Earlier it was feared Alex would be the first storm to cause major damage, and while thousands of residents saw their power cut off and some highways were washed out, in general the damage was well below that of last year’s major hurricanes to hit the eastern U.S., Isabel and Juan.According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Alex packed sustained winds of 100 mph, however, all warnings were discontinued by 8 p.m. Tuesday night. Although the hurricane was expected to continue in intensity for 24 hours after that time, it had moved east-northeast of Cape Hatteras.