Region Girds for Hanna's Heavy Rain

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Carolina Coast Preps for Hanna

Residents in the Carolinas are boarding up and stocking up ahead of Tropical Storm Hanna, expected to skirt the coast this weekend.

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District residents can pick up a maximum of five sandbags per household from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. today at 1241 W St. NE.

Yesterday, the threat of heavy rain and rising seas didn't seem to be driving residents away from Smith Island, Md., a low-lying archipelago far out in the Chesapeake Bay. Roland Bradshaw, a leader among island watermen, said in a phone interview that the Coast Guard had offered to evacuate residents but that he did not know of anyone who had accepted. "We're all staying," Bradshaw said.

"They're calling for a right smart of wind," Bradshaw said, but he said residents had chosen to stay put, bringing in crab pots, lawn mowers and other things that might blow around in the high winds.

"Right now, everybody's pretty content where they're at," Bradshaw said. "We worry, but we've been through a lot."

Forecasts predicted less severity than major storms of recent years. Still, authorities -- primed by the season's storm activity and the drama connected with Hurricane Gustav -- repeatedly called for vigilance, and many groups were quick to cancel activities. These included tonight's Rosslyn Jazz Festival, Pop Warner football games in the District and all school activities today in Prince George's County, including football games.

In Richmond, NASCAR lovers had hoped tonight's Chevy Rock & Roll 400 would roar on as planned, but it and another race Friday were postponed. Some fans, sensing the coming torrent, had rushed to unload tickets below face value.

Professional storm watchers tried to put Hanna in historical perspective.

"It's definitely not nice weather, but it shouldn't be compared to the weather we had with Hurricane Isabel," said Mark Hoekzema, chief meteorologist at WeatherBug. The 2003 storm battered parts of the region, closed the federal government, schools and business, and left more than 1 million residents without power. "You hear a lot of stuff . . . about four to eight inches, wind gusts to 60. That type of weather is really not likely in the Washington, D.C., area on the current expected track," he said, adding that most heavily populated parts of the metro region will probably average two to four inches of rain.

Still, even more modest storms, such as Gaston a year later, as well as Hanna, can offer opportunities for bad decisions.

"Most deaths from these types of storms come from flooding, from people driving into floodwaters or falling into rivers . . . and just being careless and not respecting the power of moving water," Hoekzema said. People should "stay away from streams that are running very fast. Use common sense. That's just to stay inside when it's raining really hard. That would go a long way."

In the Washington area, several counties said their staffs were working special shifts to respond to the storm.

In Annapolis, where downtown areas were flooded during Isabel, a spokesman said that the city government had left sandbags out in two locations for home and business owners to use. Special barriers were being put up around the Market House, a City Dock landmark close to the water.