Sept. 4 ~ Hurricane Update

AVAILABILITY
FL 04 - AVAILABLE - Pre-Alert to the Gulf Coast - Hurricane Support
FL 05 - AVAILABLE - Pre-Alert to the Gulf Coast - Hurricane Support
FL 06 - AVAILABLE - Pre-Alert to the Gulf Coast - Hurricane Support
FL 07 - HURRICANE GUSTAV SUPPORT - Baton Rouge, LA

Evacuees Return Home!

Tropical Storm Hanna sped up as it moved past the Bahamas on Thursday, and forecasters warned it may be a Category 1 hurricane when it hits the U.S. mainland.

Hanna may make landfall near the North Carolina-South Carolina state line late Friday night or early Saturday morning, according to the National Hurricane Center's five-day forecast.

Both states, as well as Georgia, have activated their emergency centers ahead of the storm, and North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley declared a state of emergency.

"It now appears Hanna will be a Category 1 hurricane when it hits the North Carolina coast early Saturday morning," Easley said in a news release. "Since the exact path is uncertain, everyone who lives in the coastal counties needs to be ready."

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford urged the voluntary evacuation of two northeast counties, Horry and Georgetown, as the storm approached.

"The suggestion is for people to look at this storm and make their own decisions," he said.

"Every one of us needs to continue to watch out in the Atlantic because this could be a dress rehearsal for a thing called Ike," he said, referring to Hurricane Ike, a Category 4 storm spinning in the central Atlantic, hundreds of miles from the U.S. coastline.

"Time will tell," Sanford said.

Hanna was about 625 miles south-southeast of Wilmington, North Carolina, at 5 p.m. ET Thursday, according to the hurricane center.

A hurricane watch was in effect from north of Edisto Beach, South Carolina, to Currituck Beach Light, including Pamlico Sound. See Hanna's projected path »

Hanna's maximum sustained winds were about 65 mph, the center said.

The hurricane center's advisory said wind and rain from Hanna would reach the U.S. coast well before the center of the storm and that dangerous riptides were expected to increase along the coast.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Ike, still hundreds of miles from the islands of the Caribbean, was a powerful Category 4 hurricane on Thursday. Its winds had dropped slightly, to 135 mph, but the center said Ike was still "extremely dangerous."

The hurricane center's five-day forecast map shows Ike arriving near the Turks and Caicos Islands and the southeastern Bahamas on Sunday. The center's advisory said, "It is too early to determine what land areas might eventually be affected by Ike, but interests in the southeastern Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands should monitor the progress of this system."

At 5 p.m. Thursday, Ike was about 505 miles northeast of the Leeward Islands, moving west-northwest near 14 mph.

Trailing Ike by about 1,600 miles in the eastern Atlantic was Tropical Storm Josephine. Josephine's winds had dropped to 45 mph, and the system was not forecast to make landfall any time soon.