Ophelia regains hurricane force off Carolinas coast

MIAMI (Reuters) – The Atlantic storm Ophelia regained
hurricane force on Saturday as U.S. forecasters placed coastal
North and South Carolina under a hurricane watch.

The watch issued by the National Hurricance Center in Miami
cautioned that fierce winds and other hurricane conditions were
possible within 36 hours in an area along the southeastern U.S.
coast from the Savannah River in South Carolina to Cape Lookout
in North Carolina.

Sustained winds had been gauged as high as 80 miles per
hour (128 kph) within Ophelia, which was near latitude 31.6
north and longitude 76.5 west, or some 220 miles east-southeast
of Charleston, South Carolina, at 1100 EDT (1500 GMT),
according to a hurricane center advisory.

“Ophelia has slowed down and is now moving toward the
northeast near 3 mph (5 kph),” forecasters said. “Little motion
is expected today with a gradual turn to the west-northwest on
Sunday.”

The storm, which has repeatedly weakened and regained
strength, had parked off the coast of Florida for three days
and lashed the state’s Atlantic coast with squalls and
beach-eating waves.

There had been concern as Ophelia formed that it could
threaten the U.S. Gulf Coast, which is recovering from the
August 29 strike by the much more powerful Hurricane Katrina.