Strengthening Hurricane on Track for Southeast U.S.

Hurricane Fran gained strength and took aim for the southeastern coast Tuesday on a path that could bring it to land later this week.

The Navy sent ships to sea for safety as Fran’s sustained winds grew from 85 mph to 105 mph in a few hours.

The storm was east of the Bahamas and was expected to take a turn to the northwest by Thursday. It was following on the heels of Hurricane Edouard, which unraveled off the Eastern Seaboard over the Labor Day holiday.

“This changes every time we make a forecast,” said Max Mayfield, a specialist with the National Hurricane Center.

“The big question is how far to the north it will go and when it will make the turn. Right now, the biggest threat is from North Florida to the Carolinas.”

Mayfield said conditions were similar to those that affected Hurricane Bertha, which killed nine in July. Bertha came ashore in North Carolina with sustained winds of 75 mph, causing millions of dollars in damage.

At 5 p.m. EDT, Fran was about 285 miles east of Nassau, Bahamas, and moving west-northwest at 13 mph.

A hurricane warning was in effect for the northwest Bahamas, which includes Nassau and Freeport.

Charles King, administrator of San Salvador island in the Bahamas, said winds were near tropical storm force Tuesday afternoon.

He said officials “are watching and listening to the reports. We are ready to take the necessary precautions.”

The Navy was not waiting. In Jacksonville, Fla., 14 ships from Mayport Naval Station headed for the open sea.

In North Carolina, business owners still suffering from the effects of Hurricane Bertha were bemoaning more tropical weather. “It was the worst Labor Day I’ve ever had, and I’ve been in business 41 years,” said Carol Dillon, owner of the Outer Banks Motel on North Carolina’s Hatteras Island.

In the aftermath of Edouard, hundreds of people were stranded waiting for flights or ferries off Cape Cod, Mass.

The peninsula’s two-lane highway was jammed.