Crowds retreat ahead of incoming storms
RODANTHE, N.C. — Crowds thinned Tuesday on the beaches of North Carolina’s Outer Banks ahead of a tropical weather system that threatened to bring strong winds and heavy rains that could flood low-lying areas.
Elsewhere, a powerful hurricane threatened to pass “dangerously close” to Hawaii and another tropical depression churned in Gulf of Mexico waters with the potential to bring rain and wind to Florida.
On North Carolina’s Hatteras Island, a slow stream of dozens of cars from places including Maryland, New York and Ohio headed toward a bridge to the mainland. There was light, intermittent rain and a mostly cloudy sky.
A public beach near Rodanthe was nearly empty, save for two parents enjoying a walk with their 11-year-old son. Nearby, large waves crashed in the increasingly angry-looking surf.
Joe and Kelley Walker of Markham, Va., plan to wait out the rain with movies or card games unless the forecast worsens.
“We’re not worried about the storm so much unless they say there’s something to worry about,” Joe Walker said.
The tropical weather system off the coast was expected to strengthen and pass near the Outer Banks by late Tuesday, bringing sustained winds as high as 70 km/h and heavy rains of up to 125 mm in some areas.
At the same time, the National Hurricane Center said that another tropical depression in the Gulf of Mexico could hit northern Florida as a tropical storm later in the week and possibly head toward the Atlantic coast.
That depression was about 550 km west of Key West, Fla. Forecasters expect it to turn northeast toward Florida on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the Central Pacific Hurricane Center issued a hurricane watch for the Big Island of Hawaii, saying Hurricane Madeline could pass “dangerously close.” The storm should be near or over the Big Island by Wednesday.
Early Tuesday, forecasters said the storm was a powerful Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 195 km/ h. Madeline was centred about 715 km east of Hilo, Hawaii, and moving west at 17 km/h.
Elsewhere, another Category 3 hurricane named Lester — also with top sustained winds of 195 km/h — was about 2,180 km east of Hilo, and moving west. No watches or warnings were in effect for that storm.