Miami (CNN) -- Officials in a popular stretch of coastal North Carolina have ordered all visitors to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Irene, which pounded the Bahamas Wednesday as it churned toward the U.S. East Coast.
Irene could jump to Category 4 strength by Thursday, the National Hurricane Center said. Federal emergency management officials had a simple message for those in or near the path: Be prepared.
Officials in Dare County, North Carolina -- home to Manteo, Nags Head, Duck and Kitty Hawk --were taking no chances. A mandatory evacuation for tourists was to take effect 8 a.m. ET Thursday. Residents could stay for now, but they were advised to ready themselves for Irene.
The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse closed Wednesday evening. Other venues, including the Wright Brothers National Memorial visitors center, also were shuttered.
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"This is a huge storm," said CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras. "The cloud field is more than 800 miles across. The tropical storm force winds extend out 200 miles from the center."
After it makes an anticipated turn to the north, the storm could threaten large sections of the Eastern Seaboard, from the Carolinas into the Northeast
But, forecasters said, it was too soon to predict how it would affect the United States because of the "cone of uncertainty."
Even if Irene doesn't touch land or glances off the U.S. coast, "the waves are going to be tremendous," said CNN meteorologist Chad Myers.
Swells generated by Irene will begin affecting the Southeast's coast Thursday.
The strengthening came as the storm continued to pound the southeastern Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos islands. Rainfall of 6 to 12 inches was expected in the Bahamas, with 15 inches possible in some places, the Miami-based Hurricane Center said.
Irene's eye passed over Crooked Island in the southeastern Bahamas, the Hurricane Center said.
At 5 p.m. ET Wednesday, Irene was moving northwest near 12 mph and was 215 miles southeast of Nassau.
"We have gotten some reports of damage," said Gayle Outten-Moncur of the National Emergency Management Agency in Bahamas. No injuries had been reported by Wednesday afternoon.
Although officials are still canvassing the islands, so far most of the wind damage appeared limited to roofs and other loose debris, Outten-Moncur said. But there were concerns about storm surge: "We are prone for flooding."
Irene whipped through the island of Mayaguana, the mostly easterly island in the chain, and was approaching Long, San Salvador and Cat islands.
"On the forecast track, the core of Irene will move across the southeastern and central Bahamas through tonight and over the northwestern Bahamas on Thursday," the Hurricane Center said.
In Nassau, in the northwestern Bahamas, many tourists had evacuated by Wednesday morning. Shopkeepers were boarding up their storefronts, and residents prepared to hunker down for the storm's arrival.
"We've been through quite a few hurricanes so we're pretty much prepared," said Brian Nottage, who owns a shop and ice cream parlor in downtown Nassau.
Irene forced more than a dozen cruise ships to change their itineraries in the Caribbean, CruiseCritic.com reported.
Those ships include the Carnival Sensation, which had been docked in Freeport, Bahamas, but was coming back to Port Canaveral, Florida, late Wednesday.
Irene has prompted the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism & Aviation to recommend strongly that people with plans to travel to the Bahamas in the next few days postpone their trips.
The storm will curve northward as it nears the United States, with most of the latest projections suggesting the storm will avoid landfall until it is north of North Carolina. The storm is expected to arrive off North Carolina by Saturday morning.
The storm approaches as Americans increasingly are relying on social media to prepare for and keep abreast of disasters. According to two American Red Cross surveys, the increased use of social media and mobile technology has caused response agencies "to engage with people in times of disaster and to include information from social networks in their response efforts."
North Carolina officials expect the storm to weaken to a Category 2 before it moves near Cape Hatteras on Saturday afternoon. Coastal areas could see about 6 inches of rain, and residents should expect tropical storm force winds.
Many counties were taking a wait-and-see attitude on evacuations. Warren Lee, emergency management director in New Hanover County, North Carolina, said shelters likely will be opened. "If the storm stays on current track, we don't expect a major impact and we will not issue an evacuation order plan right now."
Some computer models suggest New York or New Jersey could be hit.
"Everywhere from North Carolina to Massachusetts remains in the cone of uncertainty," Jeras said. "Worst-case scenario, we could be looking at two landfalls, or we could be lucky and get a brush instead of a direct hit. ... Even if Irene doesn't make landfall in the United States, it may very well bring flooding rains, damaging winds and power outages to the Northeast. Planning is critical, and everyone needs to be ready with a disaster plan and a safety kit."
Chris Martin, an employee at Endeavor Seafood in Newport, Rhode Island, said a bridal shower is scheduled Sunday in Portsmouth for his fiancee. "We're hoping to have it outside."
Martin is hoping the hurricane, if it actually affects the state, will not arrive until Monday.
Hyde County, in North Carolina's Outer Banks, declared a state of emergency for Ocracoke Island and the county's mainland, along with a mandatory evacuation for all visitors and a voluntary evacuation for residents. The mandatory evacuation will extend to residents beginning 5 a.m. Thursday, Hyde County Emergency Services said.
Ocracoke is reachable only by boat or private plane.
While forecasts showed the storm "moving further from the coast and toward the sea," North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue said Wednesday, "we must all prepare for the worst."
In Kill Devil Hills in the Outer Banks, locals who insist on staying through the storm were planning "hurricane parties" as they stocked up on water, canned food and flashlight batteries, said CNN iReporter Penelope Penn, who was in the area Tuesday.
"The water was so calm and the sky so clear at the Outer Banks last night. It truly is calmest before a storm," Penn added. On Wednesday, Penn was in nearby Virginia Beach, Virginia.
In inland Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Lila Little told CNN, "We are a bit nervous, since hurricanes are so unpredictable, but we have been here many times before." Little has lived in the area for more than 20 years.
The last major hurricane to strike the United States was Wilma in 2005, which was a Category 3 at landfall, Jeras said. Hurricane Katrina, earlier the same year, was also a Category 3 at landfall. The most recent hurricane to make landfall in the United States was Ike in 2008, which hit near Galveston, Texas, as a Category 2.
Gloria in 1985 was the most recent hurricane to hit New York. It was a Category 3 at landfall, the National Hurricane Center said. In 1991, Hurricane Bob hit Massachusetts, a Category 2 at landfall.
Bill Read, director of the Hurricane Center, said Irene could cause problems with flooding in Northeastern states that have already had lots of rainfall this summer.
Widespread damage is possible from the coastal Carolinas all the way up to the Canadian Maritimes, including the major cities of the Northeast, CNN meteorologist Dave Hennen said.
Irene is expected to pass well east of Florida, so only minimal effects are expected Thursday and Friday as the storm moves northward toward the Carolinas. But the U.S. Coast Guard is worried boaters in south Florida are taking the threat too lightly.
Officials expect heavy rip currents and beach erosion in Miami. "The most prudent thing to make sure mariners are not out this time tomorrow," Capt. Chris Scraba said.
South Carolina state officials decided not to order evacuations.
In Puerto Rico, officials reported the death of a 62-year-old woman Tuesday as drenching rains from Irene soaked the U.S. commonwealth. She was trying to cross a bridge in a car over a flooded creek when the vehicle was inundated and she drowned, according to Lourdes Vazquez, a spokeswoman for the city of Carolina.
The storm left widespread damage on the island, leaving about 600,000 electric customers without power at its peak
comment:
Well I´am glad that irene leave Guatemala because our little country si not to prepared for all that natural events that we have and I belived that if irene was a hurricane she will destroy guatemala