MIAMI - Hurricane Irene regained Category 2 strength with 100 mph winds as it headed for the U.S. East Coast early Wednesday morning.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami said additional strengthening was expected and Irene could become a major hurricane in the next day or so.
Early Wednesday, the hurricane was centered about 400 miles southeast of Nassau in the Bahamas and was moving west-northwest near 9 mph.
The hurricane center said Irene would move across the southeastern and central Bahamas on Wednesday and the northwestern Bahamas on Thursday. It might make landfall over the North Carolina coast Saturday, then move to the north near the Chesapeake Bay.
National Hurricane Center storm tracker
In North Carolina, tourists on Ocracoke Island, which is accessible only by boat, were told to evacuate ahead of the hurricane. It will be a test of whether people in the crosshairs of what could be the first monstrous storm in years along the East Coast will heed orders to get out of the way.
Meanwhile, Irene's punishing winds howled over Turks and Caicos and the sparsely populated islands of the southeastern Bahamas as residents huddled in darkened homes, hotels and public buildings.
Islanders wary of a possible blow from Irene pulled boats ashore and packed supermarkets on the Turks and Caicos Islands before the storm, then a Category 1, spun over open seas toward the tiny British territory, where tourism is the primary industry. The government moved the elderly and sick to safety, and officials said power had been knocked out in the capital and light poles were being toppled.
In the Bahamas, the military expected to deploy small teams to Acklins, Cat Island, Eleuthera and Abaco, said Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham.
He said if Irene strengthens to a Category 3 hurricane, it will damage roofs and weak structures. He urged islanders to prepare supplies and pick up debris that whipping winds could turn into dangerous projectiles.
"We cannot replace life. Hence my urgent and repeated appeals for the observance of safety measures," he said.
The Abaco Beach Resort had enough space for yachts to berth because most boat owners sailed to the United States ahead of Irene, according to marina employee Carolyn Smith.
"Right now, the sun is shining so bright. But we know in the next 70 hours it will all change," Smith said from the 198-slip marina in Abaco, about 165 miles off the Florida coast.
In the United States, residents from Florida to the Carolinas stocked up on supplies and readied for the worst from Irene.
Federal officials warned the storm could flood streets and knock down power lines as far north as New England.
Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator Craig Fugate urged people not to become complacent, even though the forecast is still uncertain and the storm may be days from hitting the U.S.
"We need to remind people, hurricanes are not just a Southern thing. This could be the Mid-Atlantic and the northeast coast," Fugate said. "We've got a lot of time for people to get ready, but we don't have forever."
Source: http://feeds.cbsnews.com/~r/CBSNewsMain/~3/ERBCFxHQJdw/main20096435.shtml
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