Hanna Dumps Rain on Mid-Atlantic, Heads North

Jimmie Beaty boards up in advance of Hurricane Ike, Saturday morning, Sept. 6, 2008, in Tavenier,...

Jimmie Beaty boards up in advance of Hurricane Ike, Saturday morning, Sept. 6, 2008, in Tavenier, Fla..The Florida Keys announced mandatory visitor evacuations. Ike is now a State and local officials have started to prepare for the storm even though forecasters say Ike probably won't brush past Florida until Tuesday.

(AP Photo /John Watson-Riley)
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Tropical Storm Hanna accelerated toward New England on Saturday after the storm's whipping winds and rain didn't linger long enough over the Southeast to cause much more than some isolated flooding and power outages.

Hanna moved quickly inland after cruising ashore overnight with winds of around 50 mph. But as the storm cleared out of the Southeast, eyes turned to the open Atlantic and the nasty looking Hurricane Ike — again a Category 3 storm with 115 mph winds that was expected to strengthen as it approached Cuba and southern Florida by Monday.

By comparison, Hanna, which was heading toward the lower Chesapeake Bay, was a breeze.

"Right now we're just keeping an eye on things and making sure we stay ahead of the eight-ball," said Moore County, N.C., public safety director Carlton Cole. "It's nowhere near as bad as it could have been."

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Heavy rain fell in the Carolinas, including 5 inches in Fayetteville and the Sandhills region. The same was forecast for central Virginia, Maryland and southeastern Pennsylvania, southern New York and New England, where some spots could get up to 10 inches. Forecasters warned of the potential for flash flooding in the northern mid-Atlantic states and southern New England.

Rain was falling and the surf was picking up on the shore in New Jersey, and Hanna should reach New England by Sunday morning.

Tropical storm watches or warnings were issued all the way to Massachusetts, and included all of Chesapeake Bay, the Washington, D.C., area and Long Island, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. There were no reports of any deaths or injuries in the U.S. attributed to Hanna, which was blamed for disastrous flooding and more than 100 deaths in Haiti.

At least 2,000 people spent the night in shelters and almost 100,000 customers along the East Coast had no power midday Saturday.

And the Coast Guard closed all navigable waters in the Port of Hampton Roads, the lower Maryland Eastern Shore and the Port of Richmond, Va., on the James River. Maryland authorities issued wind warnings on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.