More Than 530,000 Evacuated as Bonnie Closes In

Hurricane-force winds could hit the coast by daybreak Wednesday.

By early afternoon, traffic was bumper-to-bumper on roads leading inland from North Carolina's Outer Banks as people tried to get out of the way of Bonnie, a behemoth of a storm with winds of 115 mph.

Many residents were unwilling to take the chance that the first hurricane of the Atlantic season would follow the path of some previous storms and take a last-minute turn out to sea.

"This is a big sucker," said Sterling Webster, a resident of coastal Dare County on the Outer Banks.

"It's very, very frustrating. We're eating some serious rent," Jane Hanley said as she, her husband and two children were about to cut short their long-planned vacation in Nags Head and go back home to Sparks, Md.

On Monday, Bonnie's path was so slow and wobbly forecasters were unsure when or even if it might hit land. But by Tuesday afternoon, the storm was centered about 290 miles south of Cape Lookout and was pushing toward the northwest at 16 mph - three times faster than a day earlier.

Hurricane warnings were posted from Chincoteague, Va., to Cape Romain, S.C. Swimming was banned at beaches as far north as New York's Long Island as Bonnie kicked up dangerously rough surf up and down the East Coast.

More than 330,000 people were ordered off North Carolina's coastal islands. About 200,000 more, including 120,000 tourists, were instructed to leave South Carolina's two northernmost coastal counties.

"Anybody who does not abide by the mandatory evacuation, our law enforcement has been instructed to ask them their next of kin," South Carolina Gov. David Beasley said.

Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore declared a state of emergency, authorizing communities to order evacuations. But none had done so by early afternoon.

About 60 Navy ships at Norfolk, Va., were instructed to leave port and ride out the storm 300 miles at sea. Other ships were being moved to inland waterways.

At Pope Air Force Base, N.C., "every plane that is flyable is leaving," said Lt. Tisha McGarry, a spokeswoman at the base. Fighter jets also were leaving Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina.

Dave Davidge of Downington, Pa., was fishing on the beach just south of Nags Head when a park ranger sent him packing.

"I'm going out of here and heading to Charleston (S.C.). I was getting a little scared, especially getting evacuated off the beach," he said.

It was Davidge's second warning of trouble from the storm. On Sunday, his 7-year-old son was caught in one of the riptides caused by Bonnie as the storm churned the ocean hundreds of miles away. Davidge and a stranger saved the boy from being swept out to sea.

Many people were staying just long enough to protect their property.

At Surf City, Chris Medlin used a circular saw to cut plywood to cover the windows of his fishing store. "We've done this too many times to stick around," he said. "Mother Nature tells you when it's time to split."

Farther out in the Atlantic, Hurricane Danielle moved toward the U.S. Virgin Islands with 80 mph winds, and forecasters expect the storm to be as strong as Bonnie within days.

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