MANHATTAN — New Yorkers will be watching Hurricane Irene closely as it churns toward North Carolina on its way up the East Coast after wreaking havoc in the Caribbean.
Irene was upgraded to a category 3 hurricane overnight with wind speeds over 110 miles per hour, and could strengthen to a powerful category 4 storm by the time it reaches landfall in the Bahamas on Thursday, according to AccuWeather.com.
The dangerous storm is expected to strike the Outer Banks of North Carolina by Friday before skirting Delaware and New Jersey on its way up the coast towards Long Island this weekend, much like Hurricane Bob did in 1991, according Accuweather forecasts.
While Irene is projected to pass just south and east of Manhattan, torrential rain in the city could lead to flooding, downed trees and power outages as early as Sunday.
Forecasters and emergency management officials are urging New England and Mid-Atlantic states like New York to start preparing now.
City officials advised New Yorkers Wednesday to pay attention to the storm as it makes it way to the city, warning residents who live in low-laying areas like lower Manhattan of the potential for catastrophe.
"While we don't know at this point exactly what the impact of this storm will be, we know that it's coming," said deputy mayor Cas Holloway, at a joint press conference with the Office of Emergency Management Wednesday.
He explained that in the worst-case scenario, the city would begin evacuation proceedings if the storm strikes with full force.
"In the event the weather does take a turn, we're going to be ready," Holloway said, adding that the city developed a coastal storm plan that has been in place since 2007.
The MTA is also preparing for the possibility of flooding in the subway system, especially in areas around the coast.
The authority said it is working closely with the city and state to track the storm and plan for any emergency procedures.
“Internally, we are making arrangements to bring in extra personnel over the weekend, preparing our facilities and infrastructure by clearing drains, securing work sites against possible high winds, checking and fueling equipment, stocking supplies, and establishing plans to move equipment and supplies away from low-lying areas as needed,” an MTA statement read.
"It's going to be close and whether we get a brush or whether we have a landfall, it's too early to say," Craig Fugate, the manager of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, told the Associated Press. "Go ahead and make sure you're ready and then if evacuations are required, heed those evacuation orders."
In North Carolina, tourists on Ocracoke Island have been told to evacuate ahead of the hurricane, the AP reported. People stocked up on food, boarded windows and gassed up their cars in Wilmington, N.C., Tuesday as Hurricane Irene threatened to become the most powerful storm to hit the East Coast in seven years.
Irene has already wrought destruction across the Caribbean. In Puerto Rico, more than 1 million people were without power leading President Barack Obama to declare a state of emergency there. Hundreds were displaced by flooding in the Dominican Republic, forced to take shelter in schools and churches.
Even if the storm stays offshore as it heads north, forecasters predict it could cause flooding and power outages all along the Eastern Seaboard. National Hurricane Center director Bill Read drew comparisons to a 1938 hurricane that also approached from the South and killed 682 people in New England.
“We’re very concerned about what’s going to happen in New England,” Read told the AP.
