Hanna charges to Carolinas

Heavy rain due, but storm lacks hurricane force

David Manning (left) and Mark Manning installed metal storm shutters in Wrightsville Beach, N.C., yesterday in preparation for Tropical Storm Hanna. The storm was expected to make landfall in the Carolinas overnight and barrel up the East Coast. (LOGAN MOCK-BUNTING/GETTY IMAGES)

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - Tropical Storm Hanna picked up speed yesterday as it headed toward the Carolinas, promising to deliver gusty winds and heavy rain during a dash up the Eastern Seaboard that could wash out the weekend for millions of people.

Not far behind was a much bigger worry: a ferocious-looking Hurricane Ike, on a path similar to the one taken by Andrew, the Category 5 monster that devastated South Florida in 1992. Ike could hit Florida by the middle of next week.

In only a few spots in the Carolinas did emergency officials urge evacuations or open shelters because of Hanna. Forecasters said

there was only a small chance that it could become a hurricane, and most people simply planned to stay off the roads until the storm passed.

"If it was a Category 1 or 2, I might think about leaving," said Eddie Brown of Gastonia, N.C., who planned to spend the weekend at Myrtle Beach. "And I tell you, if it was Ike, I'd already be long gone."

Rain started to fall early yesterday on the Carolina coast, with streets in some spots flooding by late afternoon and winds expected to pick up later in the night. Hanna was expected to blow ashore between Myrtle Beach and Charleston overnight, then race up the Atlantic Coast, reaching New England by tomorrow morning.

Tropical storm watches or warnings ran from Georgia to Massachusetts, and included all of Chesapeake Bay, the Washington area, and Long Island.

Some refused to cancel plans to visit. Terry Hash arrived in Myrtle Beach on Thursday, ready to celebrate her 50th birthday with college friends from Colgate University at the Raiders football game against Coastal Carolina.

"I'm not worried because it's not a Category 4," Hash said. "I just love the beach when it's stormy. It really shows the power the ocean has."

High tide came in midday and rolled all the way up to the dunes along parts of Myrtle Beach, drawing hundreds of spectators. Vacationers strolled among the T-shirt shops and beachwear stores of South Carolina's most popular tourist destination. A few risked the water, despite the red "No Swimming" flags.

Several inches of rain were expected in the Carolinas, as well as central Virginia, Maryland, and southeastern Pennsylvania. Some spots could see up to 10 inches, and forecasters warned of the potential for flash flooding in the northern mid-Atlantic states and southern New England.

Last night, Hanna had maximum sustained winds near 70 miles per hour and was centered about 200 miles south of Wilmington, N.C. The storm, which was blamed for more than 100 deaths in Haiti, was moving at near 20 miles per hour.

South Carolina's governor, Mark Sanford, said people in low-lying areas, mobile homes, camping trailers, or places susceptible to wind damage should consider leaving.

Federal Emergency Management Agency officials said they expect Hanna to move quickly up the coast without prompting a lot of mandatory evacuations. Still, they said they had supplies in place and emergency crews ready to respond.

For all the talk of Hanna, there was more about Ike, which could become the fiercest storm to strike South Florida since Andrew. Andrew was blamed for 65 deaths and more than $26 billion in damage. FEMA officials said they were positioning supplies, search and rescue crews, communications equipment, and medical teams in Florida and along the Gulf Coast.