The United States has put its eastern seaboard on alert for Hurricane Irene as the powerful storm moves up from the Caribbean on a path that could hit the US coast on the weekend.
Even as the first hurricane of the 2011 Atlantic season pounded the Turks and Caicos Islands and the southeast Bahamas with battering winds and rain and dangerous storm surge, coastal residents in Florida and the Carolinas were preparing for Irene's approach.
Irene is the ninth named storm of the busy hurricane season and looks set to be the first hurricane to hit the United States since Ike pounded the Texas coast in 2008.
It weakened on Tuesday to a Category 1 hurricane, but could strengthen further into a Category 3 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson intensity scale, with winds of over 178km/h.
While warning the entire US East Coast to be on the alert, experts said it was too early to be certain where Irene would directly hit the coastline.
The ‘best guess’ forecast was that it would approach the coast of the Carolinas on Saturday morning as a major storm of Category 3 or upward.
After that, the already saturated New England region could also be at particular risk for torrential rains, high winds and flooding from Irene.
Major eastern cities like Washington and New York could also feel some impact from Irene, the forecast indicated.
