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Tropical Storm Ophelia may strengthen to hurricane

Posted on: Tuesday, 13 September 2005, 10:03 CDT

By Gene Cherry

SALVO, North Carolina (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Ophelia threatened to strengthen back into a hurricane as it wobbled toward the southeast U.S. coast on Tuesday and sent thousands of people packing from North Carolina's barrier islands.

Ophelia's center was 145 miles south of Wilmington, North Carolina. The storm was creeping north-northwest and was expected to turn north and hit the North Carolina coast on Wednesday night and Thursday, the forecasters said.

Ophelia had sat off the North and South Carolina coast for four days, alternately strengthening into a hurricane and weakening back to a tropical storm.

At 8 a.m. (1200 GMT), it was a tropical storm with 70 mph (112 kph) winds but was expected to cross the 74 mph (119 kph) threshold to become a hurricane again by Wednesday, forecasters at the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Along the 100-mile (160-km) chain of barrier islands known as the Outer Banks, mandatory evacuation orders were issued for all 20,000 people on Hatteras Island, a popular vacation spot that includes Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

"Today is our window of opportunity and we are asking everyone to leave," said Sandy Sanderson, emergency management coordinator for Dare County, which includes Hatteras Island.

North Carolina officials also ordered everyone off of tiny Okracoke, a low-lying island reachable only by boat or plane, and told visitors to leave coastal Onslow County, the home of the U.S. Marines' Camp Lejeune.

Authorities urged people to voluntarily leave other barrier islands, lowlands and coastal towns in North and South Carolina.

Ophelia would be the first hurricane to threaten the United States since Category 4 Katrina killed hundreds in the U.S. Gulf Coast and displaced 1 million people two weeks ago, sparking deep criticism of the Bush administration's response.

This time the federal government has sent a Coast Guard admiral to North Carolina to coordinate the federal response to Ophelia.

Ophelia was expected to be no more than a Category 1 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, capable of flooding coastal areas and washing out seafront roads. Such storms can fell trees and power lines but rarely cause structural damage.

Ophelia could dump 6 to 10 inches of rain on parts of the Carolinas and send an 8-foot (2-meter) storm surge crashing ashore. Forecasters expected flooding on the barrier islands and coastal areas, but did not anticipate significant inland flooding.

"We've had very little rain since September 1. The rivers are very low, so we are not expecting any river flooding," said Tom Kriehn, meteorologist in charge of the National Weather Service office in Morehead City, North Carolina.

Schools and seaports closed and shelters opened along the coast of the Carolinas. North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley put 200 National Guard members on stand-by.

A hurricane warning was in effect for a 200-mile (320-km) stretch from the South Santee River in South Carolina to Cape Lookout, North Carolina, alerting residents to expect hurricane conditions within 24 hours.

The storm was expected to come ashore near Wilmington, North Carolina, move parallel over the coast and then curve northeast back out to sea.

But the air currents that steer tropical cyclones were weak and Ophelia could still move erratically, the hurricane center forecasters said. The strongest winds were north of the center and would reach the coastline well before the center.

"We are expecting deteriorating conditions Wednesday and the storm is going to affect us Wednesday night and Thursday. So we will be affected for up to 24 hours," Kriehn said.

Source: REUTERS

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