North Carolina county orders visitors out as hurricane advances

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North Carolina’s Dare County ordered all visitors to leave as of 8 a.m. Thursday to get out of the way of Hurricane Irene.

Evacuation was mandatory for all nonresidents, county officials said in a statement, and residents should prepare for a monster storm. The county includes the vulnerable Outer Banks, where Irene could make landfall.

“Although the mandatory evacuation order is for all Dare County visitors, residents are advised to take proper precautions and make general storm preparations,” the statement said.

Hurricane Irene grew overnight to Category 3, with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph, the National Hurricane Center said. Earlier in the week, Irene battered Puerto Rico and the Turks and Caicos Islands and brought heavy rain and storm surges to Hispaniola.

PHOTOS: In the path of Hurricane Irene

On Wednesday, a hurricane warning was in effect for the Bahamas, the Hurricane Center said, urging people “from the Carolinas northward through New England” to monitor Irene’s progress.

Irene was moving at 12 mph, the center said, and could strengthen to Category 4 by Thursday. That would mean maximum sustained winds between 131 and 155 mph.

The center warned of an “extremely dangerous storm surge” over the Bahamas and said Irene would begin affecting the southeastern U.S. coast by Thursday with ocean swells that could cause life-threatening surf and rip currents.

Irene is expected to reach the U.S. on Saturday.

View Hurricane Irene track forecast in a larger map

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