US forecasters have placed coastal North and South Carolina under hurricane watch as the Atlantic storm Ophelia regained hurricane force today.
The watch issued by the National Hurricance Center in Miami cautioned that fierce winds and other hurricane conditions were possible within 36 hours in an area along the southeastern US coast from the Savannah River in South Carolina to Cape Lookout in North Carolina.
Sustained winds had been gauged as high as 80 miles per hour within Ophelia, which was near latitude 31.6 north and longitude 76.5 west, or some 220 miles east-southeast of Charleston, South Carolina, according to a hurricane centre advisory.
"Ophelia has slowed down and is now moving toward the northeast near 3 mph," forecasters said. "Little motion is expected today with a gradual turn to the west-northwest on Sunday."
The storm, which has repeatedly weakened and regained strength, had hovered off the coast of Florida for three days and lashed the state's Atlantic coast with squalls and beach-eating waves.
There had been concern as Ophelia formed that it could threaten the US Gulf Coast, which is recovering from the August 29th strike by the much more powerful Hurricane Katrina.