CNN - Bertha weakens as storm swirls toward North Carolina
It may hit beaches by Friday afternoon
July 11, 1996
Web posted at: 8:40 p.m. EDT
WILMINGTON, North Carolina (CNN) -- Hurricane Bertha lost some of its punch Thursday evening, but continued on a collision course with the Carolina coast as residents fled to escape the storm.
Bertha may reach the mainland by Friday afternoon, most likely near Charleston and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and Wilmington, North Carolina, weather forecasters said.
Traffic was heavy along evacuation routes, and there were long lines at gas stations.
"We don't want to take a chance," Mary Ann Stibbe of Sylvania, Ohio, said before heading away from the North Carolina coast during her two-week vacation. "There are certain gambles you don't take in your life."
Southeastern states lie in wait for Bertha
National Hurricane Center landfall prediction chart
CNN's Paul Caron reported 10-mile long southbound traffic jams on coastal U.S. 17 near Georgetown, South Carolina, as residents evacuated the area.
According to the National Hurricane Center, Bertha was about 200 miles south of Wilmington, North Carolina, moving about 10 mph at 5 p.m. EDT. Thursday.
It had lost some of its earlier punch, generating top winds of 80 mph, 10 mph slower than the projection two hours earlier, and 25 mph less than projected six hours earlier.
A hurricane warning remained in effect from Brunswick, Georgia, to the North Carolina-Virginia state line, and a watch was in effect from there to Chincoteague, Virginia.
Evacuations ordered
The governors of North and South Carolina declared a state of emergency, and ordered mandatory evacuations of coastal and barrier island residents from Georgetown, South Carolina, to North Carolina and Virginia.
About 250,000 tourists and residents of the Carolinas had escaped to higher ground, along with hundreds of coastal residents in Georgia.
However, about 500,000 Florida residents who were told to flee the state's eastern coast were allowed to return Thursday when a hurricane warning for their area was lifted.
By Thursday afternoon, Bertha had been downgraded to a Category 1 hurricane, capable of causing minimal damage, but could gain speed again as it approaches land.
"Bertha is a very large hurricane that will impact a tremendous area wherever it makes landfall," North Carolina Gov. Jim Hunt said in declaring the state of emergency.
"We hope and pray that this storm will decide to veer to the east. We had hoped it would do it before now," Hunt said. "But it looks like it's coming straight at us."
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