Miami:Tropical Storm Hanna hit the US states of South and North Carolina with full force early today, prompting coastal residents to seek refuge inland and authorities to declare a state of emergency.

Meanwhile, the even more powerful Hurricane Ike threatened Caribbean islands and the United States. Hanna, which has already left dozens dead in Haiti, triggered emergency operations along more than 1,600 kilometres of the North and South Carolina coastline.

The US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) in Miami said the storm made landfall along the border between South and North Carolinas at about 1250 IST, lashing the coast with gale force winds, a storm surge and heavy rains.

The governors of North Carolina and Virginia declared states of emergency. South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford called for people to evacuate two counties.

As it hit dry land, the stormed packed sustained winds near 110 kilometres per hour, according to the NHC.

"Weakening is expected after landfall, and Hanna should become an extra-tropical storm by early Sunday," the centre said in its latest advisory.

Several southern US states have endured Tropical Storm Fay and Hurricane Gustav in recent weeks and officials expressed concern that people along the coast were not taking Hanna seriously.

"The response is not what we would want it to be," Sam Hodge, emergency manager for Georgetown, South Carolina, told CBS News.

"We feel there should be more people evacuating." Authorities also kept a wary eye on the more formidable Hurricane Ike out in the Atlantic.
Source : PTI