While Bonnie is its most immediate worry, Florida also may be hit by a second storm churning southeast of Jamaica. Tropical storm Charley's forecast track took an ominous turn Tuesday evening, putting all of South Florida in its potential path and increasing the chances the region will feel some of its fury.
Bonnie, however, will beat Charley ashore in the United States. On Tuesday night, Bonnie was about 280 miles southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi River, moving northwest at 6 mph with sustained winds near 60 mph. But it was a small system with tropical storm force winds extending only 30 miles from the center.
Watches and warnings were to be posted along the northeast Gulf Coast by this morning.
As Bonnie works its way through the Gulf of Mexico, Beaufort County emergency response officials are keeping a close eye on it.
"The forecast is really not solid yet," William Winn, Beaufort County emergency management director, said Tuesday.
He said in the 26 hurricane seasons he has been through in the county, storms from the Gulf of Mexico have caused more trouble for the Lowcountry than those from the Atlantic Ocean.
"We have to be very careful with these storms," Winn said. "We do take them seriously."
A tropical storm from the Gulf of Mexico in the late 1990s spawned a tornado in the county that took down several homes and killed one person, Winn said.
When Tropical Storm Earl swept through Beaufort County in September 1998, it also snapped tree limbs, knocked down power lines and soaked the area with heavy rains. Thousands of residents were left without electricity and phone service.
Winn said the area could see heavy rain and some wind from Bonnie if it continues on the path predicted Tuesday afternoon. It also could spawn tornadoes.
County emergency officials are in contact with the state emergency operations center. The state center remains at a normal operating level.
Though it weakened slightly Tuesday evening, Bonnie, a small, compact storm, had residents of Florida's panhandle on the verge of boarding up windows. Many remember Hurricane Opal, a Category 3 that hit east of Pensacola in October 1995.
"If the storm climbs a little stronger in status, we might put some tape on the windows," said Matt Rodgers, manager of Buddy's Seafood Market, a restaurant a block from Panama City's waterfront. "We're pretty used to this."
Tropical storm Charley, forecast to become a minimal hurricane by Thursday, was about 290 miles southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, on Tuesday night, moving northwest at 26 mph. With sustained winds of almost 50 mph, it was about 800 miles southeast of Miami.
The latest projection has Charley moving into the Gulf of Mexico, hitting northwest Florida near Cedar Key as a Category 2 system Saturday afternoon. If it holds to that track, South Florida can expect a stormy, windy day Friday and possibly Saturday, because of Charley's outer bands, said meteorologist Rob Handel, of the National Weather Service in Miami.
If the hurricane speeds up or changes course, hurricane watches or warnings could be issued Thursday morning, said Krissy Williams, meteorologist with the National Hurricane Center in Miami-Dade County.
She said because the system's tropical force winds extend more than 100 miles from its center, South Florida would start feeling Charley's wrath Friday morning -- under a worst-case scenario.
"Right now, we're just telling everybody to keep monitoring the system," she said. "If you haven't already prepared, go out and get bottled water and canned food and do all things you should have done at the beginning of hurricane season."
Tony Carper, Broward County's emergency management director, said reconnaissance aircraft flying around the storm on Tuesday night should give a better idea today where it's headed.
"We're keeping a wary eye on the system," he said.
Charley already is posing a threat to the Caribbean. The system was projected to swirl near Jamaica today and over the west end of Cuba on Thursday. The hurricane center said the storm could produce 2 to 4 inches of rain.
Tropical storm warnings were issued for Jamaica and southwest Haiti. A tropical storm watch was posted for the Cayman Islands.
Officials in the Keys also are keeping a close watch. Monroe County Emergency Management Director Irene Toner said the area's 83,000 residents likely would not be evacuated because Charley is not expected to strengthen beyond a Category 2 system.