TRAVELERS’ WARNING: HURRICANE WATCH ISSUED FOR EAST COAST

Potential for “catastrophic” damage; could impact 50 million Americans or more

Update August 26:  Airlines and AMTRAK have begun cancelling flights and trains into the storm's path.  President Barack Obama has issued the following statement:  "If you are in the projected path of this hurricane, you have to take precautions now.  All indications point to this being a historic hurricane."

August 25, 2011 (San Diego) – If you have plans to travel to airports in the eastern U.S., check with your airline or travel agent. The National Weather Service has issued a hurricane watch for portions of the eastern U.S. coast and warns that Hurricane Irene is the strongest storm to threaten the U. S. in decades.

Hurricane Irene is forecast to strike the Bahamas today and is slated to move its way up the Eastern Seaboard in the next couple of days as far north as New England. A hurricane watch is now in force along the coast of the Carolinas.

According to the National Weather Service, the storm could hit the southeast areas as early as Friday morning and the northeast region including Washington D.C., New York and New England this weekend. Currently the storm is rated as a major category 3 hurricane with winds of 115 mph.

The storm has shifted directions slightly. “This new track means more people could have catastrophic impacts from Irene in the Northeast beginning Saturday night in southern Virginia and lasting into Monday in New England,” the Weather Channel predicts. Extreme rainfall, coastal flooding and a tornado threat are also forecast.