Hurricane Watch Posted in U.S. For Hanna

Hurricane watches were posted in North and South Carolina Thursday as Tropical Storm Hanna advanced on the Bahamas, U.S. forecasters in Miami said.

A hurricane watch is in effect from Surf City, N.C., southwestward to north of Edisto Beach, S.C., and a tropical storm watch is in effect from Edisto Beach southwestward to Altamaha Sound, Ga. A tropical storm warning remained in effect for all the Bahamas and for the Turks and Caicos Islands.

At 5 a.m., the National Hurricane Center said Hanna was just below hurricane strength with sustained winds of 70 mph, centered about 295 miles east-southeast of Nassau and about 770 miles south-southeast of Wilmington, N.C.

The storm was moving toward the northwest near 12 mph, and “this motion is expected to continue during the next couple of days with a gradual increase in forward speed,” the report said.

The NHC called Hanna a “sprawling” system, with tropical storm force winds extending outward up to 290 miles from the center.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist said at a news conference Wednesday Florida is in a state of emergency as a precaution, as Hanna is expected to brush the eastern coast, the Miami Herald reported.