Wilmington, N.C. – Ophelia kept up its teasing dance along the coast of the Carolinas today, dropping slightly in strength from hurricane to tropical storm as it barely moved toward land.
Although Ophelia was centered more than 200 miles offshore, non-residents were ordered to leave one of North Carolina’s Outer Banks islands.
Many people acknowledged they were paying closer attention to Ophelia because of the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina, but others insisted they wouldn’t let the meandering, milder storm disrupt their plans.
“My family is all coming in for a family reunion, including my 84-year-old mother,” said Dodie Curtis, 62, of Gilford, Maine, on the shore at Wrightsville Beach. “This is our family thing and we don’t plan to go anywhere unless it gets a lot worse.” Ophelia was a minimal hurricane early today with sustained wind of 75 mph, but by midday it had weakened to about 70 mph, 4 mph below the threshold for a hurricane, the National Hurricane Center said.
However, meteorologists warned that it had the potential to regain hurricane strength over the next day or so. A tropical storm warning and a hurricane watch remained in effect from Cape Lookout south to Edisto Beach, S.C., the hurricane center said.
With the storm’s path uncertain, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford called for a voluntary evacuation today of oceanfront and riverside areas in his state’s northeastern corner. He was joined by officials in North Carolina’s adjacent Brunswick County.
“This is a serious storm that’s got the potential to do a lot of damage and put lives in jeopardy if we don’t take it seriously,” Sanford said.
On Sunday, 200 National Guard soldiers were ordered to eastern North Carolina by Gov. Mike Easley. He also ordered a mandatory evacuation of non-residents from fragile Ocracoke Island on the Outer Banks, which is reachable only by ferry. Highway Patrol officers helped with the Ocracoke evacuation today.
The Coast Guard closed state ports in Morehead City and Wilmington today.
At 2 p.m. EDT, Ophelia was centered about 175 miles east-southeast of Charleston, S.C., and 255 miles south-southwest of Cape Hatteras, the hurricane center said. It was moving toward the northwest at about 4 mph, up from 2 mph just three hours earlier, forecasters said.
Ophelia had been following a wandering course since it became a tropical storm Wednesday off the coast of Florida.
It is the 15th named storm and seventh hurricane in this year’s busy Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1 and ends Nov. 30. Peak storm activity typically occurs from the end of August through mid-September.
