NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) — Tropical Storm Hanna knocked out power to the southern Bahamas on Wednesday and officials from Nassau to South Carolina warned residents to prepare for possible evacuations as it moves north and grows into a hurricane.

The storm, packing 65 mph (105 kph) winds, turned to the northwest after lingering for days near Haiti, where it caused flooding that killed 26 people.

Bahamas National Security Minister Tommy Turnquest canceled all leave for the Bahamas Royal Defence Force to keep soldiers on standby for disaster response.

“I now urge the general public to take the necessary precautions,” Turnquest said at a news conference Wednesday.

As Hanna took aim at the heart of this Atlantic archipelago, islanders were also tracking two other storms churning westward in the open ocean — Hurricane Ike and Tropical Storm Josephine.

Forecasters said Ike grew into a dangerous Category 3 hurricane with winds near 115 mph (185 kph) Wednesday evening, but is far out in the Atlantic about 645 miles (1,035 kilometers) east-northeast of the Leeward Islands.

The U.S. Hurricane Center said it is too early to say whether Ike will threaten land. It is the third major hurricane of the Atlantic season, after Bertha and Gustav. Ike is moving west-northwest near 18 mph.

Forecasters say Josephine, the tropical storm behind Ike, is weakening.

“We’ve got three of them on the way. We’ve just got to be prepared,” said Frank Augustine, a 47-year convenience store manager, as he bought 10 five-gallon water jugs under blue skies at a Nassau depot.

Only a few dozen of the Bahamas’ roughly 700 islands are inhabited, but they are near sea level and have little natural protection. In the south, Hanna knocked out electricity in Mayaguana Island and forced the closure of some small airports including those in Long Island and Acklins Island.

The storm was expected to pass near or over the central Bahamas on Thursday before reaching hurricane strength. But the National Hurricane Center in Miami warned its reach was expanding, with tropical-storm force winds extending up to 290 miles (465 kilometers) from the center.

“Hanna has become a large tropical cyclone,” the center said.

On Wednesday evening, Hanna was centered 395 miles (630 kilometers) east-southeast of Nassau, Bahamas. The hurricane center said Hanna was moving north at 14 mph (22 kph) and could become a hurricane on Thursday.

Forecasters said Hanna could bring moderate to heavy rains to the east coast of Florida by Friday morning. Long-range forecasts call for the storm to hit anywhere from Georgia to North Carolina on Saturday and curve along the U.S. Atlantic coast.

On Wednesday, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford said he was returning from the Republican convention in Minnesota to deal with the storm.

The storm has drenched the Turks and Caicos and Puerto Rico but wreaked the most havoc in storm-weary Haiti, where it flooded the western city of Gonaives.