The National Hurricane Center (NHC) on Monday upgraded Hanna to a hurricane, as the storm brought high winds, heavy rain, and big waves to the Turks and Caicos islands of the Caribbean. Hurricane warnings were issued for the island chain and the central and southeastern Bahamas on Monday, and forecasters warned that the Hanna could hit the U.S. east coast. “Right now, the uncertainty is such that it could hit anywhere from Miami to the outer banks of North Carolina,” NHC meteorologist Jessica Schauer Clark said. “So people really need to keep an eye on it.” At 1730 GMT, Hanna's center was located over the southeastern Bahamas. It is the eighth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season and follows Gustav, which hit the U.S. Gulf coast on Monday. Earlier Monday, Hanna had top sustained winds near 95 kilometers per hour (kph) with higher gusts, and was moving west-southwest near 7 kph. A U.S. Air Force reconnaissance airplane was expected to analyze the storm later in the day.
