Storm off Southeast coast heads for Carolinas

[September 26, 2008]  WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH, N.C. (AP) -- A strong low-pressure system bringing strong winds that pushed inland for miles, waterfront flooding and high surf promised to dominate the weather along the mid-Atlantic coast into the weekend.

Showers and isolated thunderstorms packing winds, sometimes gusting to 40 mph, spiraled around the storm system centered on the border of North Carolina and South Carolina, the National Weather Service said.

Rainfall that totaled nearly 4 inches in Wilmington on Thursday was expected to ease as the clouds crawled ashore. Minor flooding was reported along the coast from South Carolina to Virginia. Wind advisories extended more than 100 miles into central North Carolina.

"Once the center of the storm does get over land, it will start to lose its punch," National Weather Service meteorologist Ron Steve said. "But it's a bad idea to key too much on the center of the storm because the effects are being felt far away from the center."

The storm also caused flooding and power outages in portions of Hampton Roads, Va., and prompted restrictions on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.

About 6,000 homes and businesses were without power Thursday, most from Norfolk to Virginia Beach. High water closed streets and bridges along some coastal towns.

In Wrightsville Beach, vacationers Bill and Linda Schweikert from Stow, Ohio, snapped photos Thursday of gray, head-high waves in brisk 30-mph winds.

"Lake Erie doesn't do this very often," said Linda Schweikert, 62, a retired teacher. "It is pretty."

The national hurricane center is issuing advisories on newly formed Tropical Storm Kyle located about 555 miles south-southwest of Bermuda.

[Associated Press; By KEVIN MAURER]

Associated Press reporters Bruce Smith in Charleston, S.C., and Mike Baker and Estes Thompson in Raleigh, N.C., contributed to this report.

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