Storm takes aim at Carolinas while Central America floods
MIAMI — Tropical Storm Colin formed along the South Carolina coast Saturday, bringing the threat of rain and high winds during the holiday weekend before improving for Monday’s July Fourth celebrations.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami warned of the possibility of localized flash flooding along the Carolinas coast through Sunday morning. At 2 p.m. EDT Saturday, the storm’s center was about 10 miles west-southwest of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph. It was moving northeast at 7 mph.
The hurricane center said a tropical storm warning was in effect for a stretch from north of Little River, South Carolina, to Duck, North Carolina, including Pamlico Sound. The storm is not expected to strengthen as it moves into the Atlantic on Monday.
“Colin will continue to produce locally heavy rainfall across portions of coastal South and North Carolina through Sunday morning,” the center said. Isolated amounts could reach up to 4 inches.
Some Fourth of July celebrations planned Saturday in Charleston, South Carolina, were canceled. Organizers were also forced to cancel a festival planned in Southport, North Carolina.
Separately, the center of Tropical Storm Bonnie rolled into the Pacific on Saturday after a rapid march across Central America, where it caused flooding and downed trees and forced thousands to evacuate in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. There were no immediate reports of deaths.
By early Saturday afternoon, Bonnie was centered about 110 miles southwest of Managua, still with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph. It was moving west at 15 mph.
It’s one of the rare storms to make an Atlantic to Pacific crossing without losing tropical storm force. Forecasters said Bonnie is likely to become a hurricane this week off the southern coast of Mexico, but was unlikely to make a direct hit on land.
This year, meteorologists predict the hurricane season — which runs through Nov. 30 — will produce 14 to 21 named storms.
Six to 10 of them are expected to become hurricanes, and up to six of those are forecast to strengthen into major hurricanes, classified as Category 3 storms with winds of at least 111 mph.
Many Nicaraguans still remember Hurricane Joan, a powerful 1988 storm that wreaked havoc on the coast and caused almost 150 deaths in the country.
“We are waiting for the storm to hit, hoping that it won’t destroy our region,” Bluefields resident Ricardo Gomez, who was 8 when Joan hit, said before Bonnie arrived.
Officials in Costa Rica expressed concern that the storm would unleash landslides and flooding in an area saturated with rain. The government said seven shelters in the northern part of the country already held nearly 700 people displaced by flooding.