Hurricane Bonnie Expected to Hit East Coast by Midweek

Hurricane Bonnie slowed down and powered up in the Atlantic Ocean east of the Bahamas on Sunday and was expected to take a track that could see it slam into the U.S. East Coast by midweek.

Bonnie’s top winds hit 115 mph as it stalled near the Bahamas, making it a major hurricane capable of causing extensive damage. Expanding during its slow passage, the storm gorged itself on the warm waters to grow to more than 350 miles across, with rain bands spreading over the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands and eastern Cuba.

Residents along the U.S. East Coast from Florida to the Carolinas were advised to stay informed of the hurricane’s progress and make safety preparations. High surf pushed by the hurricane was expected to appear on the East Coast soon.

“It is intensifying,” National Hurricane Center meteorologist Michele Huber said.

Sunday night, the eye of Bonnie was 180 miles northeast of San Salvador in the Bahamas, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

After stalling for much of the day, the hurricane was moving slowly northwest at 6 mph on a track forecasters had expected it to take. Its most likely path would see it battering the South Carolina coast by Tuesday or Wednesday, the center said.

Bonnie has become a Category 3 hurricane--one capable of causing extensive damage to population centers--with maximum sustained winds at 115 mph and higher gusts.

With only open water on its projected track to the U.S. coast, Bonnie could strengthen further, forecasters said. Hurricanes gain power from warm water and weaken when they pass over land.

Although the eye remained well east of the Bahamas, Bonnie’s fringes raked the islands.

The Turks and Caicos, a British territory south of the Bahamas, also was hit with strong winds of 40 to 50 mph and high surf, but there were no reports of structural damage to buildings.

Bonnie’s projected path would take it wide of the Florida coast today, the sixth anniversary of Hurricane Andrew, which struck the south Florida coast and destroyed tens of thousands of homes and businesses.