Ophelia strengthens into hurricane off US coast

SALVO, N.C., Wednesday (Reuters) Thousands of people fled their homes in North Carolina's barrier islands on Tuesday as tropical Storm Ophelia strengthened into a hurricane again and wobbled toward the southeast U.S. coast

Ophelia's center was 110 miles (175 km) south of Wilmington, North Carolina. The storm was creeping north-northwest and was expected to turn north and hit the North Carolina coast on Wednesday night and Thursday, the forecasters said.

Evacuees streamed off the barrier islands, heading inland before the buffeting winds forced authorities to close some of the high-rise bridges to the mainland.

Ophelia had sat off the North and South Carolina coast for four days, alternately strengthening into a hurricane and weakening back to a tropical storm.

At 8 p.m. (0000 GMT), it had sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph), just over the 74 mph (119 kph) threshold to become a hurricane again, forecasters at the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Ophelia is the first hurricane to threaten the United States since Category 4 Katrina killed hundreds in the U.S. Gulf Coast and displaced 1 million people two weeks ago, sparking deep criticism of the Bush administration's response.

This time the federal government sent a Coast Guard admiral to North Carolina in advance to co-ordinate relief for Ophelia.

Along the 100-mile (160-km) chain of barrier islands known as the Outer Banks, mandatory evacuation orders were issued for all 20,000 people on Hatteras Island, a popular vacation spot that includes Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.