Hurricane Appears Likely to Bypass Carolina Coast

Hurricane Dennis moved along the coast toward the Carolinas on Sunday, prompting evacuation orders for the fragile Outer Banks barrier islands. Conditions were expected to worsen overnight, but it appeared that the brunt of the storm might miss land.

The hurricane was about 130 miles south of the North Carolina coast by the evening, with its top wind revved up slightly to 105 mph, and it had edged slightly toward the east. A hurricane warning was posted for much of the coast of North Carolina.

Dennis was expected to continue turning toward the northeast. The storm’s track was far from certain, but the National Hurricane Center said it did not think the storm would cross the coast.

“It weaves and bobs as it goes along,” said Jerry Jarrell, the center’s director.

He also cautioned that, because of the hurricane’s size, with tropical storm-force wind extending up to 175 miles from the center Sunday, “it doesn’t have to come across the coastline to cause pretty strong winds.”

Forecasters said winds approaching hurricane force could pass off the coast of Cape Fear near North Carolina’s southernmost tip at sunrise today.

Well in advance of the storm, Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. declared both a state of emergency and a state of disaster, which aides said allowed him to activate any resources needed to cope with the storm.

Wrightsville Beach declared an 8 p.m. curfew Sunday, and Seymour Johnson Air Force Base sent aircraft to bases in Ohio to escape the storm. New Hanover County at Wilmington said schools, courts and offices would be closed today.