East Coast braces for Hurricane Irene; warning area expanded

Rains generated by Hurricane Irene began falling on the Carolinas on Friday, as the Washington region braced for a storm that could wreak havoc up the Eastern Seaboard into New York City and New England.

With the core of the tropical cyclone expected to approach the coast of North Carolina Friday night and a hurricane warning in effect for much of the East Coast , President Obama scheduled an address from his vacation getaway on Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., which lies on Irene’s projected path and for which a hurricane watch is in effect. Obama is scheduled to return to Washington on Saturday, when the East Coast is expected to take the brunt of the storm.

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The Washington Post's Shyamantha Asokan reports from Nags Head, North Carolina where Hurricane Irene is supposed to hit Saturday morning. While many tourists have left the coastal town, most of the residents are staying home to brave the storm. (Aug. 26)

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The National Hurricane Center downgraded Irene early Friday from a Category 3 to a Category 2 storm when its maximum sustained winds dropped slightly to 110 mph, just below the Category 3 threshold. But the center said that “some reintensification is possible today” and that Irene is expected to be near the dividing line between the two categories when it reaches the North Carolina coast Saturday. A Category 2 hurricane packs sustained winds of 96 to 110 mph, while a Category 3 has winds of 111 to 130 mph.

As Irene swung north Thursday, Maryland and Virginia declared a state of emergency and Sunday’s dedication of the memorial to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was postponed.

Organizers said the event will be rescheduled for September or October. The memorial, the first on the Mall honoring an African American, has been a quarter-century in the making, but safety trumped ceremony.

Hurricane Irene was forecast to sweep over the Outer Banks of North Carolina overnight Friday and advance into the Washington area with a vanguard of showers beginning Saturday afternoon.

In its latest advisory, the National Hurricane Center expanded its hurricane warning to cover an area from Little River Inlet, N.C., north to Sandy Hook, N.J., which is south of New York City.

At least 65 million people were estimated to be in the path of Irene, which could cause damage worth billions of dollars in a worst-case scenario. With hurricane-force winds extending outward up to 90 miles and tropical storm-force winds out to 290 miles, Irene is predicted to produce “an extremely dangerous storm surge” that will raise water levels by as much as six to 11 feet in North Carolina and three to six feet along the Jersey Shore, the National Hurricane Center said. Heavy rainfall “could cause widespread flooding and life-threatening flash floods,” it said.

If the hurricane stays on track, the worst of Irene will arrive in Virginia, Maryland and the District later Saturday and into Sunday morning. Late-summer vacationers evacuated Atlantic coast beaches, which are expected to be hit hardest before the storm wallops New England.

The intensity of the storm and the shift in the forecast track farther to the west prompted the decision to delay the memorial dedication, said Harry E. Johnson Sr., chief executive of the memorial project foundation.

“I’m disappointed and hurt, really,” Johnson said. “But the memorial is going to be there forever.”