Hanna races north to New England

MIAMI, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- Tropical Storm Hanna raced up the east coast Saturday from the Carolinas to New England, gaining speed on its way.

After coming ashore in the small hours in North Carolina, Hanna's center was 90 miles west-southwest of the eastern tip of Long Island at 11 p.m. EDT, the National Hurricane Center said. The storm was moving northeast at almost 30 mph, a course that would put it over the Maritime Provinces of Canada by Sunday afternoon.

The storm left downed trees and power outages in its wake, but there were no reports of major damage.

"We kept watching the news and looking out the window, stockpiling some food, but it turned out to be a whole lot of nothing," Royal Dimond, a visitor to Charleston, S.C., told WCIV-TV.

Hanna came ashore at almost hurricane strength but lost some of its force over land. At 11 p.m., maximum sustained winds were 55 mph with tropical storm winds reaching out 200 miles from the center.

Forecasters said Hanna was expected to remain at about the same strength while losing its tropical characteristics Sunday. The five-day track would put the storm in mid-Atlantic headed for Ireland and Britain late next week.

A tropical storm warning remained in effect from Sandy Hook in New Jersey to the Merrimack River in Massachusetts.