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AMI, Florida (CNN) -- A hurricane watch was issued for parts of North and South Carolina on Thursday as a reinvigorated Tropical Storm Ernesto picked up speed on its path toward the coast.
The National Hurricane Center said in its 11 a.m. ET advisory that hurricane conditions were possible in the next 12 hours between South Carolina's South Santee River, near Georgetown, and North Carolina's Cape Lookout.
Ernesto threatened to cause coastal and flash flooding, National Hurricane Center forecasters said.
"Regardless of whether this thing gets to be a hurricane [again] or not, this is going to be a floodmaker," said CNN meteorologist Chad Myers.
"It's already grabbed enough moisture that when it gets up into North Carolina, South Carolina, and eventually into Virginia, it will make flooding. There will be areas there that will pick up 6 to 10 inches of rain."
Coastal storm surge flooding of 3 to 5 feet above normal tide levels is possible along the coasts of North and South Carolina.
Forecasters are expecting Ernesto to come ashore late Thursday or early Friday as a tropical storm between Charleston and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, then proceed straight north into North Carolina. (Watch Ernesto whip trees along Miami's Biscayne Bay -- 1:16)
Rainfall totals of 4 to 8 inches are possible from coastal South Carolina northward into the mid-Atlantic region, with maximum amounts of 12 inches possible in some areas, the hurricane center said.
These amounts could cause life-threatening flash floods.
Isolated tornadoes are possible over eastern North Carolina in the late afternoon and night.
North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley warned residents there to "get prepared."
Most of the rain from Ernesto is likely to fall between Winston-Salem to the west and the Greenville-Wilson area to the east, Easley said.
"If you live in low-lying areas, flood-prone areas, please pay attention to the weather forecasts and evacuation orders," the governor advised during a news conference.
"The most important thing I can tell you is, do not drive in flooded waters after the storm -- take time for water to settle," he said. "You don't know how deep it is, and once you get into flooded water, you can be swept away fairly rapidly."
Easley said he had activated 150 National Guard troops, half in the east and half in the western part of the state. With them are two Black Hawk helicopters for aerial rescues and 19 vehicles for each unit.
Shelters also were lined up to deal with evacuees.
"We know we're going to get a lot of rain. it's going to be a water event," the governor said. "It's important that people pay attention. Don't get complacent."
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford announced nearly 250 National Guardsmen were being mobilized to help direct traffic if evacuations were ordered and said contractors working on highway projects along evacuation routes would temporarily shut down operations, according to The Associated Press.
At 11 a.m. ET, the center of Ernesto was about 225 miles south-southwest of Wilmington, North Carolina, and about 105 miles south-southeast of Charleston, South Carolina, the hurricane center said.
The storm's maximum sustained winds increased to near 60 mph with higher gusts, and were not expected to increase significantly before landfall.
Ernesto was moving northward about 17 mph.
A tropical storm warning was lifted for Florida and most of Georgia, but the warning was extended to the north. The new warning covers the coast from the Savannah River north to Currituck Beach Light, at the northern end of North Carolina's Outer Banks.
In Mexico, officials told Reuters at least 10,000 people will be evacuated from their homes as Category 3 Hurricane John headed for the resort beaches of the Baja California peninsula.
Jose Gajon, head of civil protection for the state of Baja California Sur, said locals living in low-lying areas around the Los Cabos beach resort will be taken to shelters, by force if necessary, before the storm pummels the region on Friday, Reuters reported.
The National Hurricane Center said in its 11 a.m. ET advisory that hurricane conditions were possible in the next 12 hours between South Carolina's South Santee River, near Georgetown, and North Carolina's Cape Lookout.
Ernesto threatened to cause coastal and flash flooding, National Hurricane Center forecasters said.
"Regardless of whether this thing gets to be a hurricane [again] or not, this is going to be a floodmaker," said CNN meteorologist Chad Myers.
"It's already grabbed enough moisture that when it gets up into North Carolina, South Carolina, and eventually into Virginia, it will make flooding. There will be areas there that will pick up 6 to 10 inches of rain."
Coastal storm surge flooding of 3 to 5 feet above normal tide levels is possible along the coasts of North and South Carolina.
Forecasters are expecting Ernesto to come ashore late Thursday or early Friday as a tropical storm between Charleston and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, then proceed straight north into North Carolina. (Watch Ernesto whip trees along Miami's Biscayne Bay -- 1:16)
Rainfall totals of 4 to 8 inches are possible from coastal South Carolina northward into the mid-Atlantic region, with maximum amounts of 12 inches possible in some areas, the hurricane center said.
These amounts could cause life-threatening flash floods.
Isolated tornadoes are possible over eastern North Carolina in the late afternoon and night.
North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley warned residents there to "get prepared."
Most of the rain from Ernesto is likely to fall between Winston-Salem to the west and the Greenville-Wilson area to the east, Easley said.
"If you live in low-lying areas, flood-prone areas, please pay attention to the weather forecasts and evacuation orders," the governor advised during a news conference.
"The most important thing I can tell you is, do not drive in flooded waters after the storm -- take time for water to settle," he said. "You don't know how deep it is, and once you get into flooded water, you can be swept away fairly rapidly."
Easley said he had activated 150 National Guard troops, half in the east and half in the western part of the state. With them are two Black Hawk helicopters for aerial rescues and 19 vehicles for each unit.
Shelters also were lined up to deal with evacuees.
"We know we're going to get a lot of rain. it's going to be a water event," the governor said. "It's important that people pay attention. Don't get complacent."
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford announced nearly 250 National Guardsmen were being mobilized to help direct traffic if evacuations were ordered and said contractors working on highway projects along evacuation routes would temporarily shut down operations, according to The Associated Press.
At 11 a.m. ET, the center of Ernesto was about 225 miles south-southwest of Wilmington, North Carolina, and about 105 miles south-southeast of Charleston, South Carolina, the hurricane center said.
The storm's maximum sustained winds increased to near 60 mph with higher gusts, and were not expected to increase significantly before landfall.
Ernesto was moving northward about 17 mph.
A tropical storm warning was lifted for Florida and most of Georgia, but the warning was extended to the north. The new warning covers the coast from the Savannah River north to Currituck Beach Light, at the northern end of North Carolina's Outer Banks.
In Mexico, officials told Reuters at least 10,000 people will be evacuated from their homes as Category 3 Hurricane John headed for the resort beaches of the Baja California peninsula.
Jose Gajon, head of civil protection for the state of Baja California Sur, said locals living in low-lying areas around the Los Cabos beach resort will be taken to shelters, by force if necessary, before the storm pummels the region on Friday, Reuters reported.
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