Erratic Hurricane Bonnie Perils Southeast Coast

Hurricane Bonnie kicked up pounding surf and deadly riptides along the East Coast Monday as it churned out in the Atlantic with 115-mph winds, its course so erratic that forecasters couldn’t say when or if it might hit land.

“It’s driving me bananas,” said Jerry Jarrell, director of the National Hurricane Center near Miami. “I’ve lost almost all my hair just this morning because of that.”

A hurricane watch was issued Monday afternoon for much of the Southeast coast. The National Weather Service said hurricane conditions were possible by Wednesday morning in an area between Savannah, Ga., and the North Carolina/Virginia state line.

By Monday night, Bonnie was skirting the northeastern side of the Bahamas. The 400-mile-wide storm was centered about 585 miles southeast of Savannah, its storm clouds not even reaching the mainland yet. The hurricane was wobbling toward the northwest at about 8 mph.

“We’re very much concerned about the coast, primarily Georgia and the Carolinas, but it could still be even as far west as northern Florida,” Jarrell said. “It’s erratic. It could do something weird.”

With the storm still far out at sea, many vacationers and surfers stayed put to enjoy the beach while they could, but experienced coastal residents stocked up on emergency supplies or got ready to head for higher ground.

Meanwhile, the weather service said Monday afternoon that a tropical depression east of the Caribbean had developed into the fourth tropical storm of the season.

Danielle, with top winds of 40 mph, was located about 1,350 miles east of the Lesser Antilles, moving northwest about 21 mph.