Hurricane Taking Aim at the Carolinas

A strengthening Hurricane Dennis swirled menacingly along the southeast coast Friday, kicking up surf in Florida while threatening to blow ashore in the Carolinas early next week.

Forecasters said the storm’s maximum winds could rise to 110 mph or more as it parallels the coastline on a northward trajectory.

Late Friday, the center of Dennis was about 300 miles southeast of Cape Canaveral, Fla., and moving north-northwest at 7 mph. Top winds were estimated at 80 mph, making it a minimal hurricane.

Dennis pounded the northern-most Bahamas Friday. Especially hard-hit was Great Abaco, which saw the eye of the storm pass over just before sunset. Ham radio operators reported wind gusts of more than 60 mph, according to forecasters at Miami’s National Hurricane Center.

Rudy Malone, owner of the Club Soleil Resort on the sparsely populated island, which is about 200 miles east of Boca Raton, Fla., said most tourists had already fled. Of those who stayed, he said, “some people think it’s exciting, but that’s probably because they’ve never been through a hurricane.”

In Nassau, the capital of the 700-mile-long island chain, rains and gusty winds moved in early in the afternoon, and the sky turned gray. But Nassau is about 100 miles south of the storm’s center and on the weak side, so it was not expected to suffer extensive damage.

In Florida, a hurricane watch was in effect for 200 miles of coastline, from Sebastian Inlet to the Georgia border.

Computer models predicted the hurricane would gain strength once it cleared the Bahamas and moved out over the warm waters of the Gulf Stream. Those same computers say that the hurricane would likely strike the Carolina coast sometime late Monday or early Tuesday.

But forecasters also said that a trough of low pressure pushing across the south could turn Dennis away from the coast before then, sparing the U.S. any direct hit from the season’s fourth named storm.

“We need to take it seriously and hope the hurricane doesn’t hit,” said Hurricane Center Director Jerry Jarrell. “But it’s coming too close for you to take a chance on it.”

That warning was enough to send thousands of coastal residents to hardware stores and supermarkets, where they loaded up on emergency supplies, including gasoline-power generators, bottled water and canned goods. Plywood for boarding up windows was also in demand.

In North Carolina, hard hit by several storms in recent years, state troopers were put on alert. In South Carolina, Gov. Jim Hodges ordered 1,000 National Guard troops and 500 state police officers to prepare for duty.

In central Florida, heavy swells kicked up by the offshore storm lured thousands of surfers to the beaches for unusually big summertime waves.

“We have surfers here from all over Florida,” said Bill Kokotis, owner of the beach-side Blueberry Muffin restaurant in Indialantic. “The hurricane passing by out there creates nice surf, and they’re all loving it.”