N.C. cleaning up after Ophelia

[TexasStooge]

HATTERAS, N.C. (AP) – Tropical Storm Ophelia finally took her leave of North Carolina on Friday, but it picked up speed for a possible collision with the coast of southeastern New England.

The storm left behind plenty of damage along North Carolina's southern coast – including beach erosion and ravaged homes and businesses – but overall was not the devastating blow some feared when it first brushed the coast Tuesday.

"There wasn't much to it," said Allen Fagley, 54, a lifelong resident of Hatteras on the Outer Banks. "We were really blessed ... we had a potential to be neck-deep where we're standing."

Roads on Hatteras Island, a main link in the chain of barrier islands known as the Outer Banks, were covered in several inches of water, and roofs were left with a few less shingles, but the island was largely unscathed a day after Ophelia blew through.

Gov. Mike Easley toured the central coast near Morehead City, saying the storm was not a "tremendous disaster" but pointing out it had devastated some.

Coastal Carteret County appeared to have suffered among the worst damage. Throughout eastern North Carolina, power was still off at more than 4,000 homes and businesses by Friday afternoon.

Restaurants and other businesses in the busy tourist area of Atlantic Beach were cleaning up Friday, stacking chairs and tables outside in the sunlight and piling debris from battered roofs in trucks to be hauled away.

Nearby in Morehead City, an ambulance was parked next to a road with a sign that read: "WE NEED ELECTRICITY PLEASE."

Ophelia, which meandered north after forming off the Florida coast last week, was offshore again, moving north-northeast at about 8 mph, the National Hurricane Center said.

At 2 p.m. EDT, Ophelia was centered about 415 miles south-southwest of Massachusetts' Nantucket island.

A tropical storm warning was posted Friday for Rhode Island's coast and southeastern Massachusetts, including Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. The warning means tropical-storm force winds of 39 mph or higher were expected within 24 hours.