Hanna rolls into Bahamas; Ike grows dangerous

NASSAU, Bahamas — Tropical Storm Hanna roared along the edge of the Bahamas on Thursday ahead of a possible hurricane hit on the Carolinas, leaving behind at least 61 dead in Haiti.

Hurricane Ike, a still-more dangerous Category 4 storm, was advancing from the east.

Hanna was forecast to pass east of the Atlantic archipelago before striking along the coast of North or South Carolina by Friday night, but the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Hanna's sprawling bands of outer winds are likely to hit far sooner. Tropical storm force winds extended outward as far as 290 miles (465 kilometers) from the center.

Haitian authorities on Thursday blamed Hanna for 61 deaths, most due to flooding.

Civil Protection Department spokesman Abel Nazaire said 21 of the deaths were in the northern city of Gonaives, which has been almost entirely cut off by floodwaters.

The storm also was blamed for one death in Puerto Rico.

Hanna's heart was about 280 miles (455 kilometers) east-southeast of Nassau — and about 760 miles (1,220 kilometers) south-southeast of Wilmington, North Carolina, around dawn Thursday. It was moving toward the northwest near 12 mph (19 kph).

Its maximum sustained winds of 70 mph (110 kph) were just a little short of hurricane force, and forecasters said it could strengthen.

A hurricane watch was posted from Surf City, North Carolina to Edisto Beach, South Carolina, with a tropical storm force watch south to Altamaha Sound, Georgia.

Forecasters said it could curve northeastward after hitting U.S. coast and run up the seaboard past New York with tropical-storm-force winds.

No major damage or injuries have yet been reported in the Bahamas.

``Most certainly I am relieved. We are tranquil,'' said Stephen Russell, interim director of the Bahamas National Emergency Management Agency.

But he was already worried about Ike and Tropical Storm Josephine behind it.

``As soon as we are clear with Hanna, we have to turn our eyes now on Ike, a powerful one coming ashore,'' Russell said.

Early Thursday, Ike had maximum sustained winds near 145 mph (230 kph). It was centered 550 miles (885 kilometers) northeast of the Leeward Islands and forecasters said it could reach the Bahamas by Monday. It was moving toward the west-northwest at 17 mph (28 kph).

Ike is the third major hurricane of the Atlantic season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30. The other two were Bertha and Gustav, which was blamed for 112 deaths in the Caribbean, including 76 in Haiti.

Josephine, too, grew stronger early Thursday after weakening on Wednesday. Josephine had maximum sustained winds near 60 mph (95 kph) and was moving toward the west-northwest near 10 mph (17 kph).

``We've got three of them on the way. We've just got to be prepared,'' said Frank Augustine, a 47-year convenience store manager, as he bought 10 five-gallon water jugs under blue skies at a Nassau depot.

Only a few dozen of the Bahamas' roughly 700 islands are inhabited, but they are near sea level and have little natural protection. In the south, Hanna knocked out electricity in Mayaguana Island and forced the closure of some small airports including those in Long Island and Acklins Island.

The storm has drenched the Turks and Caicos and Puerto Rico but wreaked the most havoc in storm-weary Haiti, where it flooded the western city of Gonaives.