Tropical storm watch issued for entire coast of Virginia

The National Weather Service has issued a tropical storm watch from the North Carolina-Virginia border to southern New Jersey as Tropical Storm Hanna continues spinning toward the southeastern United States. A watch generally means that tropical conditions are possible within 36 hours.

Gov. Timothy Kaine declared a state of emergency for Virginia Thursday morning ahead of Hanna's predicted arrival Saturday in the eastern part of the state. A tropical storm warning has been issued from the Savannah River in Georgia northward to the North Carolina-Virginia border.

"Current forecasts predict Hanna will bring tropical storm force winds to Virginia, causing coastal flooding and the very real possibility of tornadoes and power outages," Kaine said in a statement. "Virginians should listen to their local government representatives and local news media for instructions for the duration of the storm."

Campus officials will begin sending out university-wide storm updates Friday morning, said Bill Harding, the university's emergency preparedness planner. Information will continue to be sent after business hours from the University of Richmond Police Department.

Harding said the university was preparing for power outages, but he was cautiously optimistic that widespread problems from years past would not be an issue because the university is fed electricity from two different places on campus, not from one location as before.

Facilities employees worked throughout Thursday to clear campus drains, inspect areas vulnerable to flash flooding, and monitor the water level in Westhampton Lake, which could be partially drained to prevent flooding, Harding said.

Kaine said in an early afternoon conference call with reporters that he didn't expect to order a state-mandated mass evacuation of the Hampton Roads area in southeastern Virginia, but he didn't rule out the possibility.

"There's still some uncertainties about Hanna," Kaine said.

An evacuation order must be made between 30 and 35 hours before the arrival of storm-force winds, Kaine said, meaning the deadline would come somewhere around early to mid-evening Thursday.

Winds are expected to be between 40 and 60 mph, and average rainfall is estimated to be two to four inches, with a significant possibility of minor or moderate flooding in southeastern Virginia.

The Federal Emergency Management Association has dispatched an advance team to Virginia and the National Guard is preparing to give aid, direct traffic, prevent looting and perform other functions in the emergency management effort, Kaine said.

Earlier this week, Virginia sent some National Guard troops and other state personnel to the Gulf Coast to assist in cleanup from Hurricane Gustav. Kaine said the state had plenty of financial and personnel resources in reserve to manage a busy hurricane season, even though the state is facing significant budget shortfalls.

While Hanna is moving up the coast of the southeastern United States, Kaine also said he was watching other tropical development from Hurricane Ike, a category 4 storm, and Tropical Storm Josephine, both of which are in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, but headed toward the United States.

The latest forecast from the National Weather Service at 5 p.m. EDT Thursday showed Hanna centered about 625 miles south-southeast of Wilmington, N.C., with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph -- unchanged since last night -- and moving northwest at 14 mph.

Rains and winds from Hanna will reach the southeastern coast of the United States by Friday, well ahead of the center of the storm, which could strengthen into a hurricane before it hits the North Carolina coast.

Kaine is directing state agencies to do what they can to protect Virginians from the effects of Hanna.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. It includes the latest information from the National Weather Service and comments from university emergency officials. The Collegian will update this story as more information becomes available.

Contact staff writer Dan Petty at dan.petty@richmond.edu