Ophelia threatens North Carolina

HURRICANE Ophelia hovered off the coast of the south-eastern US yesterday and could hit North Carolina later in the week, forecasters said.

But forecasters at the US National Hurricane Centre in Miami cautioned that Ophelia’s path was unusually hard to project because the storm was not moving.

North Carolina Governor Mike Easley declared a state of emergency on Saturday and officials issued a mandatory evacuation order for non-residents on the vacation island of Ocracoke.