Tropical Storm Hanna picked up speed Friday as it cruised toward the Carolinas, promising to deliver gusty winds and heavy rain during a dash up the Eastern Seaboard that could wash out the weekend for millions of people.

Not far behind was a much bigger worry: a ferocious-looking Hurricane Ike, on a path similar to the one taken by Andrew, the Category 5 monster that devastated South Florida in 1992. Ike could hit Florida by the middle of next week.

In only a few spots in the Carolinas did emergency officials urge evacuations or open shelters for Hanna. Forecasters said there was only a small chance it could become a hurricane, and most people simply planned to stay off the roads until the storm passed.

“If it was a Category 1 or 2, I might think about leaving,” said Eddie Brown of Gastonia, N.C., who planned to spend the weekend at Myrtle Beach. “And I tell you, if it was Ike, I’d already be long gone.”

Rain started to fall early Friday on the Carolina coast, with winds forecast to pick up and grow strong by early evening. Hanna was expected to blow ashore between Myrtle Beach and Charleston overnight, then race up the Atlantic Coast, reaching New England by Sunday morning. Tropical storm watches or warnings ran from Georgia to Rhode Island, and included all of Chesapeake Bay, the Washington, D.C., area and Long Island.

Several inches of rain were expected in the Carolinas, as well as central Virginia, Maryland and southeastern Pennsylvania. Some spots could see up to 10 inches, and forecasters warned of the potential for flash flooding in the northern mid-Atlantic states and southern New England.

As of 2 p.m. EDT, Hanna had maximum sustained winds near 70 mph and was centered about 310 miles south of Wilmington. The storm, which was blamed for disastrous flooding and more than 100 deaths in Haiti, was moving at near 20 mph. A hurricane watch was in effect for Edisto Beach, S.C., to the Outer Banks of North Carolina near the Virginia line.

Read more about horse owners’ preparations for Tropical Storm Hanna.

For all the talk of Hanna, there was more about Ike, which could become the fiercest storm to strike South Florida since Andrew. Andrew was blamed for 65 deaths and more than $35 billion in damage.