This very large storm is predicted to skirt Florida and make possible landfall in the Carolinas by the weekend. Hurricane Irene, which is now a category 2 storm strengthened to hurricane status on Monday, is the ninth named storm of the 2011 Hurricane Season and will likely be the first hurricane to hit the United States since Hurricane Ike pounded the Texas coast in 2008.
As the warnings are issued, the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator, Craig Fugate, and National Hurricane Center (NHC) Director, Bill Read, remarked that it is s simply too early to be absolutely certain where Irene will make contact with the eastern coastline.
See Craig Fugate’s video update:
Instructions for those in the path of the hurricane are available at FEMA’s Ready America website.
Those with travel plans for the next five to seven days should check with their airlines for flight information, cancellations, and updates.
