Even as evacuees from Hurricane Katrina were settling in around South Carolina, state officials were taking steps Friday to deal with a potential strike early next week from her erratic little sister, Ophelia.

The National Hurricane Center projected landfall as early as late Monday between Hilton Head Island and Charleston. After moving inland, Ophelia is forecast to swing to the north-northeast, moving east of Columbia toward Florence.

Gov. Mark Sanford could issue voluntary evacuation orders by late today or early Sunday if Ophelia continues as projected, said his spokesman, Chris Drummond.

Alternately gaining and losing strength, Ophelia has meandered along central and northern Florida's Atlantic coast, punishing beaches with heavy surf and playing havoc with NASA installations at Cape Canaveral.

The National Hurricane Center reported late Friday that Ophelia had regained hurricane strength and could pose a threat to Southeastern states.

The agency's five-day map projection showed Ophelia making landfall just north of Hilton Head Island sometime Monday evening or night.

Ophelia was located 175 miles east-northeast of Daytona Beach and 220 miles south-southeast of Charleston, according to a 5 p.m. advisory. It was moving northeast at 7 mph with hurricane-force winds of 75 mph with higher gusts.

Sanford asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency to suspend flights of Katrina refugees "so they're not factored into any coastal evacuation because Charleston is one of the receiving centers," Drummond said. FEMA said no additional flights are planned until next Wednesday, he said.

Sanford held a telephone conference call Friday afternoon with FEMA and National Guard officials to discuss preparations and map plans for the weekend.

The state's Emergency Operations Center was partially activated Wednesday, mostly to deal with Katrina relief.

Drummond said that based on National Hurricane Center projections and an assessment by Hope Mizzell, the state climatologist, "we should anticipate a medium to high-level Category 2 hurricane with winds from 96 mph to 110 mph."

Lt. Col. Pete Brooks, spokesman for the South Carolina Army National Guard, said ample manpower and equipment remain to deal with in-state hurricane relief. With 1,300 troops deployed on anti-terror missions and 350 in Alabama on post-Katrina duty, there are still 7,100 available.

Any call-up this weekend would likely involve Upstate units, Brooks said, and would be more expeditious because it's a drill weekend and units will be at their armories.

Adjutant General Stan Spears told commanders in writing to make sure their vehicles were topped off with fuel and supplies readied for movement to the coast, if necessary, Brooks said.

Upstate units would be mobilized to assist local law enforcement, Brooks said, because "that's a lesson we learned from Hurricane Hugo," the storm that devastated the Charleston area in September 1989. Then, coastal Guard units were activated, tearing them from their families in a moment of high peril.

Approximately 1,600 troops are earmarked for hurricane duty.

Guard commanders and Emergency Management officials meet each year, months before the hurricane season to update the state's hurricane plan "so they know what their responsibilities are," Brooks said.