Tropical cyclone Sandy regains hurricane strength

Tropical cyclone Sandy regained hurricane strength on Saturday after flagging wind speeds earlier in the day triggered its downgrade to a tropical storm, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.   

At 8 a.m. EDT (1200 GMT), the Miami-based Hurricane Center said Sandy's top sustained winds were 75 miles per hour (120 km per hour), making it a weak Category 1 hurricane.   

The massive storm, with a rapidly expanding wind field, was located about 335 miles (540 km) southeast of Charleston, South Carolina, and moving on a north-northeast track toward its expected landfall early next week on the northeast U.S. coast.

The late-season storm has been dubbed "Frankenstorm" by some weather watchers because it will combine elements of a tropical cyclone and a winter storm. Forecast models show it will have all of the ingredients to morph into a massive and potentially catastrophic "super storm."    

Governors in states along the US East Coast declared states of emergency on Friday, and officials urged residents to stock up on food, water and batteries in the event the storm develops as forecast.    

The US Navy ordered all ships in the Norfolk, Virginia, area, including a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, out to sea to ride out the approaching storm.        

Sandy, a Category 1 hurricane, battered the Bahamas southeast of Florida on Friday after causing at least 41 deaths across the Caribbean. The storm was expected to crawl northward on Saturday and Sunday and then turn inland toward the US coast.        

Sandy was forecast to weaken to a tropical storm before strengthening into a Category 1 hurricane over open water on Sunday.   


REUTERS