Maryland governor Martin O’Malley declared a state of emergency ahead of Hurricane Irene, which is expected to hit the east coast of the U.S. over the weekend.
“This is not a storm to be taken lightly,” Mr. O’Malley said. “People who live in coastal areas should take every precaution,” he said. The state of emergency designation activates the state National Guard.
“This is a large, this is a deadly, this is a slow-moving hurricane that is bearing down on the state of Maryland, and we need all citizens to do their job of taking every precaution to protect their families, especially over these next critical few days,” Mr. O’Malley added.
Mr. O’Malley’s declaration comes as weather forecasters placed the Maryland and Delaware coasts and the lower Chesapeake Bay under a Hurricane Watch. That means hurricane conditions are possible within 48 hours. Baltimore, the Western Shore from Cecil County south, and the rest of the Chesapeake Bay were all under a Tropical Storm Warning.
The Maryland governor said he has been told to expect the epicenter of the storm to arrive just off the coast of Ocean City around 2 a.m. Sunday.
FEMA head Craig Fugate warned residents to begin planning for potential damage from the hurricane.
“We’re going to have damages. We just don’t know how bad,” said Mr. Fugate, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which was making disaster plans for many states. “This is one of the largest populations that will be impacted by one storm at one time.”
