Post by Paddy by Grace on Sept 4, 2008 13:46:53 GMT -7
www.usatoday.com/weather/hurricane/2008-09-02-hanna_N.htm?csp=34
By Oren Dorell, USA TODAY
People living along the coast of the Southeast crowded stores for plywood and batteries as Tropical Storm Hanna headed toward Florida.
The tropical storm was due to hit the Bahamas today with 65 mph winds up to 10 inches of rain, said Corey Walton, a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center.
STORM TRACKER: Tropical Storm Hanna
Forecasts show it strengthening to a Category 1, on a scale of 1-5, with winds of up to 95 mph and traveling along the eastern coasts of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, she said.
"Right now that whole area could be a potential landfall, but we don't know where exactly that will be," she said.
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Ike, which is expected to become a hurricane today, and Tropical Storm Josephine are lined up behind Hanna. And more tropical storms could be on the way, said Phil Klotzbach of Colorado State University's Tropical Meteorology Project.
"We've never really bought plywood, but it seemed like maybe we'd better do it this time," said Janey Miley, 43, at Home Depot in Savannah, Ga.
Miley had also booked hotel reservations in Columbia, S.C., in case her family needed to evacuate.
Governors and emergency management officials in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia have activated their emergency operations centers and issued warnings to residents to watch and prepare for Hanna.
"Even if the storm does not make landfall in Georgia, tropical storm Hanna may bring extensive flooding, tornadoes and power outages," said Charley English, director of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency.
Contributing: Doyle Rice from McLean, Va., and Bill Cotterell of the Gannett News Service in Tallahassee, wire reports
By Oren Dorell, USA TODAY
People living along the coast of the Southeast crowded stores for plywood and batteries as Tropical Storm Hanna headed toward Florida.
The tropical storm was due to hit the Bahamas today with 65 mph winds up to 10 inches of rain, said Corey Walton, a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center.
STORM TRACKER: Tropical Storm Hanna
Forecasts show it strengthening to a Category 1, on a scale of 1-5, with winds of up to 95 mph and traveling along the eastern coasts of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, she said.
"Right now that whole area could be a potential landfall, but we don't know where exactly that will be," she said.
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Ike, which is expected to become a hurricane today, and Tropical Storm Josephine are lined up behind Hanna. And more tropical storms could be on the way, said Phil Klotzbach of Colorado State University's Tropical Meteorology Project.
"We've never really bought plywood, but it seemed like maybe we'd better do it this time," said Janey Miley, 43, at Home Depot in Savannah, Ga.
Miley had also booked hotel reservations in Columbia, S.C., in case her family needed to evacuate.
Governors and emergency management officials in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia have activated their emergency operations centers and issued warnings to residents to watch and prepare for Hanna.
"Even if the storm does not make landfall in Georgia, tropical storm Hanna may bring extensive flooding, tornadoes and power outages," said Charley English, director of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency.
Contributing: Doyle Rice from McLean, Va., and Bill Cotterell of the Gannett News Service in Tallahassee, wire reports