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Hanna knocks out power in Bahamas
U.S. East Coast on watch; meanwhile, Ike strengthens to Category 4
 Ariana Cubillos / AP A man walks through a rice field in L'Artibonite, Haiti, that was flooded by rains from Tropical Storm Hanna on Tuesday. |
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NASSAU, Bahamas - Tropical Storm Hanna knocked out power to the southern Bahamas on Wednesday and officials from Nassau to South Carolina warned residents to prepare for possible evacuations as it moves north and grows into a hurricane.
Meanwhile, Ike strengthened to a dangerous Category 4 hurricane in the Atlantic with maximum sustained winds of 135 mph. That makes Ike the third major hurricane of the Atlantic season, which has had five hurricanes total. Bertha and Gustav were the other major hurricanes.
Hanna was packing 65-mph winds, turned to the northwest after lingering for days near Haiti, where it caused flooding that killed 26 people.
Bahamas National Security Minister Tommy Turnquest canceled all leave for the Bahamas Royal Defence Force to keep soldiers on standby for disaster response.
"I now urge the general public to take the necessary precautions," Turnquest said at a news conference Wednesday.
As Hanna took aim at the heart of this Atlantic archipelago, islanders were also tracking two other storms churning westward in the open ocean — Hurricane Ike and Tropical Storm Josephine.
Earlier Wednesday, Ike became a Category 3 storm and the third major hurricane of the Atlantic season.
Ike's center was located about 620 miles northwest of the Leeward Islands and was moving west-northwest at about 17 mph.
Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami say the storm is expected to continue on its current track Thursday before turning more to the west.
The storm is following behind Hanna, which could threaten the southeastern coast of the U.S. by the weekend. Tropical Storm Josephine is following behind Ike.
"We've got three of them on the way. We've just got to be prepared," said Frank Augustine, a 47-year convenience store manager, as he bought 10 five-gallon water jugs under blue skies at a Nassau depot.
Only a few dozen of the Bahamas' roughly 700 islands are inhabited, but they are near sea level and have little natural protection. In the south, Hanna knocked out electricity in Mayaguana Island and forced the closure of some small airports including those in Long Island and Acklins Island.
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The storm was expected to pass near or over the central Bahamas on Thursday before reaching hurricane strength. But the National Hurricane Center in Miami warned its reach was expanding, with tropical-storm force winds extending up to 290 miles from the center.
"Hanna has become a large tropical cyclone," the center said.
Late Wednesday evening, Hanna was centered 355 miles east-southeast of Nassau, Bahamas. The hurricane center said Hanna was moving north-northwest at 13 mph and could become a hurricane on Thursday.
The U.S. Hurricane Center said a hurricane watch may be required for a portion of the southestern United States early Thursday. Forecasters said Hanna could bring moderate to heavy rains to the east coast of Florida by Friday morning. Long-range forecasts call for the storm to hit anywhere from Georgia to North Carolina on Saturday and curve along the U.S. Atlantic coast.
On Wednesday, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford said he was returning from the Republican convention in Minnesota to deal with the storm.
The storm has drenched the Turks and Caicos and Puerto Rico but wreaked the most havoc in storm-weary Haiti, where it flooded the western city of Gonaives.
The storm has drenched the Turks and Caicos and Puerto Rico but wreaked the most havoc in storm-weary Haiti, where it flooded the western city of Gonaives.
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