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Web posted Wednesday,
August 11, 2004
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The projected
path for Bonnie.
-Special to the Carolina
Morning News
| Rain,
rain on the way
BLUFFTON: Gulf storm Bonnie
could drop several inches of rain - or even
tornadoes - on the Lowcountry later this week.
By Stephanie Ingersoll
Carolina Morning News
With
two tropical storms brewing in the Gulf of Mexico,
Lowcountry emergency management officials are
waiting, watching and planning for possible storm
spin-offs here.
Tropical Storm Bonnie
seemed poised to strengthen to hurricane status
and could strike the Florida panhandle Thursday,
said National Weather Service meteorologist Hal
Austin of Charleston.
Meanwhile, Tropical
Storm Charley was forming - and getting steadily
stronger - in the Caribbean and could affect
weather in the United States early next
week.
It's too soon to say where the storms
will hit and what impact they might have in the
Lowcountry.
"The more immediate concern is
Bonnie," Austin said Tuesday afternoon. "That's
pretty definitely going to affect
us."
After making landfall in the Gulf,
Bonnie is expected to move northwest over land. It
will probably pass South Carolina's coastal
counties late Thursday and early
Friday.
Heavy rain could begin Thursday
afternoon and several inches may fall in some
areas, Austin said. That could mean localized
flooding.
"Winds won't be that much of a
concern," he said. "There's more a chance of
locally heavy rain."
By 8 a.m. Friday, the
storm should be in North Carolina, he
said.
The tropical storm doesn't concern
local officials as much as the tornadoes they may
spawn in Beaufort or Jasper counties.
"Two
inches (of rain) wouldn't bother us," said
Beaufort County Emergency Management Director
William Winn. "What you have to remember is the
potential for tornadoes. ... We'll be looking at
that."
If Bonnie does dump rain here,
moisture may be of more concern next week when
Tropical Storm Charley could threaten the
area.
Forecasters on Tuesday were
predicting it could follow Bonnie's course, Austin
said. If so, it could also bring heavy
rains.
"But that's six days away," he said.
"Take that with a big grain of
salt."
Meanwhile, coastal residents should
monitor weather forecasts, he said.
If
Hurricane Bonnie sounds familiar, that's because
another storm by that name skirted the South
Carolina coast in August 1998. It made landfall in
Wilmington, N.C., caused millions of dollars in
damage and killed three people.
Reporter
Stephanie Ingersoll can be reached at 837-5255,
ext. 110, or
stephaie.ingersoll@lowcountrynow.com
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