Hurricane Ophelia May Make Landfall in N.C. Wednesday

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urricane Ophelia could make landfall in North Carolina Wednesday but was not nearly as strong as Hurricane Katrina, which caused extensive damage to the Gulf Coast region two weeks ago, news and weather reports said.

Ophelia, upgraded from a Tropical Storm late Tuesday, gained some strength overnight, the National Hurricane Center said.

The slow-moving storm has hovered off the coast of North Carolina for the past four days and could make landfall south of Wilmington, N.C., Wednesday as it moved slowly on a north-northeast track, weather forecasts said.

But even with its winds increased to 80 mph from 70 mph, Opheila was still much weaker than Katrina, which reached Category 5 status — the strongest of five levels — before making landfall as a Category 4 hurricane on Aug. 29 south of New Orleans.

Category 1 hurricanes have winds between 74 mph and 95 mph, while Category 4 storms have winds between 131 mph and 155 mph.

Besides shoreline erosion, the main danger was from the heavy rain bands that have pelted the Carolina shoreline for the past few days and could lead to flooding if the storm comes ashore, forecasters said.

The governors of North Carolina and Virginia declared a state of emergency to free up resources ahead of the storm's passage, Bloomberg reported.

North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley (D) Tuesday urged residents of six counties to heed mandatory evacuation orders, and voluntary evacuation was advised in parts of South Carolina, Bloomberg said.