Hurricane Ophelia pummels North Carolina coast

By Gene Cherry

RALEIGH, North Carolina (Reuters) – Hurricane Ophelia
pummeled the North Carolina coast with heavy rains and gusting
winds on Wednesday in a slow-moving assault that was expected
to last for two days and trigger dangerous flooding.

Ophelia’s center was 40 miles east of Wilmington, North
Carolina, at 5 p.m. The storm brushed the state’s southeastern
coast on Wednesday and was expected to hit Cape Lookout on
Thursday and then move over the Outer Banks, the chain of
islands along its northern coast.

Schools, seaports, ferries and businesses were closed and
shelters opened along the North Carolina coast. More than
78,000 customers had lost electricity.

Squalls strafed the coastline and kicked up battering waves
that gnawed at beaches and washed over roads as Ophelia crept
along, parallel to the coast at about 7 mph (11 kph).

Ophelia had top sustained winds of 85 mph (136 kph) and
could strengthen slightly, the forecasters said. Storms of
Ophelia’s magnitude can flood coastal areas and fell trees and
power lines but rarely cause structural damage.

“Suffice to say the eastern part of North Carolina is going
to get pounded with the heavy rain and strong winds,” said
National Weather Service meteorologist Ron Steve in Wilmington.

It was the first hurricane to hit the United States since
the much more powerful Katrina killed hundreds in the U.S. Gulf
Coast and displaced 1 million people two weeks ago.

North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley warned that the longer
Ophelia was over the state, the more rain would fall and the
more seawater would pile up and crash ashore as storm surge.

Forecasters at the U.S. National Hurricane Center said
Ophelia could dump up to 15 inches of rain on parts of North
Carolina and send an 11-foot (3-meter) storm surge over the
coast and up into the rivers.

Mandatory evacuation was ordered for islands, beach towns
and flood-prone areas in parts of six coastal North Carolina
counties and voluntary evacuation was urged for parts of nine
others.

WORSE THAN ANTICIPATED

Easley urged people to heed the evacuation orders where
they could still travel safely, especially if they lived in
areas flooded by faster-moving storms in previous years.

“These floods are going to be worse than anticipated
yesterday,” Easley said. “Once the high winds come, we cannot
get in and get you out — cannot get you by boat, cannot get
you by helicopters, cannot get there by plane.”

A hurricane warning was in effect for the entire North
Carolina coast, alerting residents to expect hurricane
conditions within 24 hours. More than 700,000 people lived in
the warning area, the U.S. Census Bureau said.

In some areas, buffeting winds forced authorities to close
high-rise bridges linking islands with the mainland. In North
Carolina’s southernmost county, Brunswick, a foot of rain had
fallen, and toppled trees made roads impassable in places.

Ophelia had sat nearly stationary off the coast for days,
making it difficult to predict its eventual target.

“We didn’t know whether to call for a voluntary evacuation
or a mandatory so we called for a voluntary,” said Mayor Betty
Medlin of Kure Beach, south of Wilmington. “The way it’s
getting here today we probably should have had a mandatory.”

Most of the town’s 2,500 residents stayed put and the town
hall was powered by generators after electrical power went out.
Tides were 8 feet above normal and wind gusts were near
hurricane force.

“It’s just sitting there, which makes the wind beat us and
be on us longer,” Medlin said.

But she added later, “This is a baby compared to some we’ve
had.”