Ophelia still spins off coast

With Hurricane Ophelia slowly curving away from the Outer Banks Thursday afternoon, North Carolina seemed to have sustained minimal damage, said state emergency officials.

The storm was downgraded to a tropical storm Thursday night.

Though wind speeds reached 85 mph early in the day, the storm was not expected to make landfall, according to the National Weather Service.

Instead, the Category 1 storm pummeled eastern counties with wind and rain, dumping upwards of 12 to 15 inches in parts of Brunswick and New Hanover counties.

"We are very lucky that after going north, it went northeast," said Jim Jones, a spokesman for the state emergency response team.

Power outages peaked at 240,000 households overnight Wednesday, but as of Thursday morning that number was down to just fewer than 80,000, Jones said.

"We've had minimal damages. Things like shingles, vinyl siding and also fences," said Kelly Nicholson, director of operations for the Emerald Isle Office of Bluewater GMAC Real Estate, which operates 675 rental properties in Carteret County.

Official damage estimates are not expected until Friday at the earliest, and authorities still are taking the storm seriously.

Jones said five swift-water rescue teams were active along the coast, and an additional 476 police were on duty in the eastern part of the state for traffic control and public safety.

Of the 60 shelters originally opened statewide, 45 still were open and housing about 2,000 people as of Thursday morning.

Mandatory evacuations were declared in six counties, with voluntary evacuations in several others. No deaths or injuries had been reported as of Thursday afternoon.

"All in all, it's gone really quite smoothly," said Stephen Barnett, executive director of the N.C. Red Cross's Cape Fear chapter, which covers Brunswick, New Hanover and Pender counties.

The Red Cross opened eight shelters in those counties, taking in 678 people Wednesday night and 744 the evening before.

Barnett stressed that the recovery from Hurricane Katrina is a higher priority, noting that the N.C. Red Cross is working with evacuees from that storm.

A mandatory evacuation order of Hatteras Island was expected to remain in place into Friday, said Dee Johnson, an administrative assistant for the Dare County Emergency Management office.

She said teams were in place to restore power to 3,000 homes.

The storm is expected to continue its northeasterly course Friday.

Hurricane Ophelia was the seventh named hurricane of the season, which ends Nov. 30.

"Saying it has been a very active hurricane season is a huge understatement," Barnett said. "We are just barely beyond the halfway point."

 

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.