Tropical Storm Ernesto weakened over Florida on Wednesday, coming ashore as a rainstorm instead of a feared hurricane, but the tropical depression was still threatening enough that South and North Carolina each mobilized National Guard troops as a precaution. Ernesto, the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season s fifth storm, could regain some strength after it emerges off northeast Florida, heads over water, and curves back into land between South and North Carolina later this week, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said. Midmorning, Ernesto s top wind was 56 kilometers per hour (kph), 6.5 kph below tropical-storm strength. The storm s rain bands were expected to move into the Atlantic Ocean later Wednesday. Ernesto killed two people in Haiti on Sunday after briefly becoming the season s first hurricane, with winds of at least 119 kph. There were no reports of serious damage or injuries in southern Florida, although local media said at least one traffic death occurred on a Miami road as the storm came ashore. Tropical storms feed on warm waters, and the hurricane center s specialists said they were surprised that Ernesto had not strengthened over the water between Cuba and Florida. The winds are much weaker than we feared they could be, hurricane center meteorologist Mark Knabb told local television. We didn t think there was a really great chance of this becoming a hurricane, but it didn t even come close, and that s good news. South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford announced Tuesday that nearly 250 National Guard troops were being mobilized to help direct traffic if evacuations were ordered. North Carolina Governor Mike Easley on Wednesday activated National Guard troops to prepare for possible flooding and power outages.
