North Carolina beaches thin out ahead of tropical weather

RODANTHE, N.C. (AP) — Crowds thinned Tuesday on the beaches of North Carolina's Outer Banks ahead of a tropical weather system that threatened to bring strong winds and heavy rains that could flood low-lying areas.

Elsewhere, a powerful hurricane threatened to pass "dangerously close" to Hawaii and another tropical depression churned in Gulf of Mexico waters with the potential to bring rain and wind to Florida.

A 2 p.m. update from the National Hurricane Center said the tropical depression could become a named storm later in the day.

With the storm centered about 70 miles (115 kilometers) south of Cape Hatteras, a tropical storm warning was in effect for much of the Outer Banks.

[...] the National Hurricane Center said another tropical depression in the Gulf of Mexico could hit northern Florida as a tropical storm later in the week and possibly head toward the Atlantic coast.

Elsewhere, another Category 3 hurricane named Lester — also with top sustained winds of 120 mph (195 kph) — was about 1,355 miles (2,180 kilometers) east of Hilo, Hawaii and moving west over the Pacific at 14 mph (22 kph).