Ophelia weakens, keeps coast on edge

WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH - Fitful Ophelia, downgraded to a tropical storm and defying forecast paths Monday, frustrated North Carolina's tourists and emergency planners Monday.

Forecasts for the N.C. coast ranged from torrential rains and flooding to, in the words of evacuating UNC Wilmington freshman Rebecca Mann, a storm that's just "wussy."

Warren Lee, New Hanover County's emergency management director, ordered a voluntary evacuation Monday, opened two shelters and warned of 70 mph winds.

One day earlier, he was talking about 45 mph winds and letting everyone stay put.

"This has been a very difficult storm to plan for," Lee said. "I don't know that we've ever had a storm that's behaved like this."

The National Hurricane Center in Miami, which said the storm could return to hurricane strength today, at one point issued four possible tracks. Two put coastal Carteret County and Morehead City in the crosshairs. Two gave those areas a pass.

Carteret officials decided to open a shelter and call for a voluntary evacuation Monday morning, but they conceded they were guessing.

"We really don't have any idea," said Assistant County Manager Jack Veit.

Storm defies technology

At a time when governments are getting lashed for not moving quickly enough to deal with Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast, some officials are puzzled by how to respond to Ophelia."Technology sort of spoils us into thinking we ought to know exactly what will happen and when it will happen," said Bryan Beatty, secretary of crime control and public safety, who oversees the state's hurricane response. "We learn something from every storm. With this one we are just having to be flexible."

Ophelia was puttering toward the coast at 3 mph Monday evening with a hurricane watch still in effect from Edisto Beach, S.C., north to Cape Lookout. Top winds were 70 mph, and the outer bands of rain were expected to lap at Wilmington and Myrtle Beach overnight.

Normally a hurricane moves in a consistent direction at 10 to 15 mph, but Ophelia's path has changed several times, leaving the Carolinas with little choice but to play it safe.

S.C. officials were uncertain whether the state's beaches would feel Ophelia, but Gov. Mark Sanford on Monday advised people living east of U.S. 17 in coastal Horry and Georgetown counties to evacuate.

Surf's up, school's out

Beachcombing tourists in North Carolina gave up on the computer-generated TV maps, enjoying the best weather of the week. On the Outer Banks, they climbed the stairs at the black-and-white, candy-cane-striped Hatteras lighthouse, rode boogie boards, kite-surfed and perused a selection of Ophelia T-shirts.

"I'm kind of sick of watching the weather, because they don't know what's going to happen," said Paul Wagner, 41, from near Pittsburgh, who was vacationing in Rodanthe. "We're just going to try to get as much time in as we can."

Brunswick County, south of Wilmington, closed its schools, and UNC Wilmington sent students home.

N.C. National Guard troops settled into staging areas in Williamston, New Bern, Elizabeth City and Kinston. The troops are equipped with heavy trucks that can ford high water. Swift-water rescue teams and seven helicopters also are standing by.

Two warehouses have been stocked with enough food for 10,000 evacuees for 48 hours.

State and local officials in Eastern North Carolina are most worried about flooding when the storm pushes water up into Pamlico Sound, between mainland North Carolina and the national seashore areas named for Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout.

"People in low-lying areas should anticipate flooding," Gov. Mike Easley said during a news conference Monday. "People need to be prepared for power outages that last up to two days."

State officials planned to shut down the Outer Banks ferry between Hatteras and Ocracoke islands at 8 p.m. Monday because of high seas in the inlet. The Southport-Fort Fisher ferry stopped running seven hours earlier because of 40 mph winds.

Since Saturday, three ferries operating on Pamlico Sound have accepted only those cars leaving Ocracoke Island.

Never too prepared

"Ophelia?" said a woman who answered the phones at the American Red Cross branch in Elizabeth City on Monday morning. "Well, right now we're dealing with Katrina."

The branch just trained 120 volunteers to help with the aftermath of Katrina. But if Ophelia hits, they may be redeployed at home. Already shelters were on standby in the eight-county coastal area the Red Cross chapter serves.

N.C. officials, with a catalog of hurricane experience, have a timeline that guides evacuation and emergency decisions.

"Sometimes you do that when you don't need to, and I guess you could be criticized for wasting resources," said N.C. Treasurer Richard Moore, who in 1999 was the state's chief response coordinator to the devastating floods of Hurricane Floyd. "But that's not been my experience."