CBS News meteorologist says that Hurricane Irene could be an "historic storm." He calls the two more likely storm tracks "bad" and "worse."
He outlines those two scenarios:
"The bad scenario cuts the hurricane across Long Island and into New England as a large and strong Category 2 storm. This scenario brings tremendous storm surge on the back bays of Long Island and from the ocean. Massive power disruption and tremendous wind damage will result.
The worse scenario has the hurricane hug the coast all the way to New York City. This would bring tremendous storm surge and wind damage affecting everything from Maryland, right up to the Hudson Valley and across New England."
Earlier on Wednesday, Dr. Jeff Masters:
Irene continues to be embedded in a large envelope of moisture, and wind shear is expected to remain low to moderate, 5 - 20 knots, for the next three days. With water temperatures very warm, 28 - 30°C, these conditions should allow for intensification to a category 4 hurricane (winds of 131 to 155 mph). The only reliable model that's not forecasting this intensification is the GFS, and this is likely due to its relatively course spatial resolution. The National Hurricane Center expects Irene to intensify to a category 4 tomorrow, with a decrease in intensity back to a category 3 on Friday."
Emergency management officials in the eastern states, and particularly FEMA director Craig Fugate are on the job. Residents are urged to be prepared for storm effects as well as aftereffects (loss of power, infrastructure damage, etc.) Evacuations from the area of the U.S. coast expected to be hit first, North Carolina Outer Banks, will be underway Thursday. The Bahamas will bear the brunt on Thursday. This storm has already caused flooding in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, and killed two people.
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