Hurricane Ophelia pummels North Carolina coast
By Gene Cherry 7 minutes ago
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.
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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."
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