Ophelia downgraded to tropical storm
Hurricane Ophelia was downgraded to a tropical storm again today as the indecisive weather system moved slowly off the Atlantic coast, its outer bands of rain not quite reaching land.
Despite Ophelia’s waxing and waning strength and slow progress, residents’ attention had been focused by the devastation caused elsewhere by Hurricane Katrina.
“I think we’re all waiting for something to happen,” Steve King said as he secured his sea kayak against possible high wind and waves.
Ophelia’s sustained wind speed slowed this morning to about 70mph, 4mph below the threshold for a hurricane, but it had the potential to regain hurricane strength over the next day or so, the National Hurricane Centre said.
A tropical storm warning and a hurricane watch remained in effect from Cape Lookout south to Edisto Beach, South Carolina, the hurricane centre said.
Yesterday, concerned about possible coastal flooding, Gov Mike Easley ordered 200 National Guard soldiers to eastern North Carolina. The governor also ordered a mandatory evacuation of nonresidents from fragile Ocracoke Island on the Outer Banks, North Carolina, reachable only by ferry.
Although the storm was centred more than 200 miles from Wilmington, North Carolina, it kicked up heavy seas and lifeguards ordered swimmers out of the surf yesterday at Wrightsville Beach, east of the city.
“Now I know how a flounder feels. I was getting tossed all over the place,” said Kathy Carroll, 37, of Wilmington.
With a history of destructive storms, New Hanover County, North Carolina, has a well-rehearsed disaster plan. But Katrina, which was a powerful Category 4 hurricane before it made landfall in Louisiana and Mississippi, was on residents’ minds even though Ophelia had grown only as strong as Category 1 as its wind speed rose and fell.
“We’re cautiously watching (Ophelia). We’re not giving up until it’s north of us,” said Warren Lee, emergency management director for New Hanover County.
At 4pm, Ophelia was centred 205 miles east-southeast of Charleston, South Carolina, and 260 miles south-southwest of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, the hurricane centre said. The storm was creeping toward the northwest at about 2mph, forecasters said.
Ophelia had been following a wandering course since it became a tropical storm last 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 November 30. Peak storm activity typically occurs from the end of August through mid-September.
