ophelia :: essays research papers

Hurricane Ophelia was downgraded to a tropical drive again Monday as the indecisive weather system moved tardily off the coast, its outer bands of rain not quite reaching land. despite Ophelias waxing and waning strength and slow progress, residents attention had been rivet by the devastation caused elsewhere by Hurricane Katrina. That was on the mind of Steve male monarch as he grudgingly skipped a football game on television to move his sea kayak out of harms way.They keep saying this beset is two or three geezerhood out, he said. I think were all waiting for something to happen.Ophelias sustained wind speed slowed Monday morning to about 70 mph, 4 mph below the threshold for a hurricane, but it had the potential to see hurricane strength over the next day or so, the National Hurricane midriff said. A tropical storm warning and a hurricane watch were in effect from Cape Lookout south to Edisto Beach, S.C.Some calls for evacuationsWith the storms path uncertain, South Caro lina Gov. Mark Sanford called for a voluntary evacuation Monday of oceanfront and riverside areas in his states northeastern corner. This is a serious storm thats got the potential to do a lot of damage and intrust lives in jeopardy if we dont take it seriously, Sanford said. In atomic number 7 Carolina, Gov. Mike Easley on Sunday ordered 200 National reserve soldiers to report to staging centers in the eastern part of the state. The governor besides ordered a mandatory evacuation of nonresidents from fragile Ocracoke Island on the outer(prenominal) Banks, reachable only by ferry.At Wrightsville Beach, lifeguards ordered swimmers out of the surf Sunday.They are saying they dont want anyone to make up interrupt the water, said Kathy Carroll, 37, of Wilmington. Now I know how a flounder feels. I was getting tossed all over the place.Despite the warnings, there were no commodious lines at Roberts Grocery in Wrightsville Beach, where customers bought chips and beer not bottled water and batteries.Usually, they are buy all the bread and milk, said store manager Teresa Hines. Some of the regulars realise told me they have their hammers and nails ready just in case.With a history of annihilative storms, New Hanover County has a well-rehearsed disaster plan. But Katrina, which was a powerful family line 4 hurricane before it made landfall in Louisiana and Mississippi, was on residents minds even though Ophelia was only Category 1 and had been waxing and waning in strength.