North Carolina authorities Friday began evacuating Hatteras Island as Hurricane Irene began lashing the U.S. Eastern Seaboard.

Irene, a Category 2 hurricane with 105 mph sustained winds, was about 330 miles south-southwest of Cape Hatteras, N.C., moving north at 14 mph, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said in its 11 a.m. EDT advisory. Hurricane-force winds extended outward 90 miles with tropical-storm-force winds extended out 290 miles.

A mandatory evacuation order went into effect at 8 a.m. for Hatteras Island as Irene headed north, churning up powerful waves, the Island Free Press reported. Shelters opened at 10 a.m. in Roanoke Rapids and North Jackson.

President Barack Obama convened a conference call to discuss preparations with his administration's emergency response team.

"All indications point to this being a historic hurricane," Obama said.

"I cannot stress this highly enough: If you are in the projected path of this hurricane, you have to take precautions now. Don't wait. Don't delay. We all hope for the best, but we have to be prepared for the worst."

Obama said he spoke with mayors and governors along the Eastern Seaboard Friday morning "to let them know that this administration is in full support of their efforts to prepare for this storm and stands ready to fully support their response efforts."

Bill Read, director of the National Hurricane Center, said in an ABC interview the problem with Irene is the storm is taking aim at so many population centers, potentially wreaking havoc with electrical lines due to falling trees and limbs and producing massive flooding.

"At a minimum, especially from, I'd say, the Washington, D.C.-area up through Boston, when you're right on the coast there, we have tidal issues so we're gonna have to worry about storm surge flooding in the low places. And that's where your local emergency manager will be evacuating people," Read said.

"I'd say at a minimum, you're going to get tropical-storm-force winds in every one of those cities," he said, adding, "I don't see it falling apart."

Irene's intense brush with southern Florida battered beaches and endangered swimmers and surfers, the Palm Beach Post reported.

Palm Beach County emergency officials said eight people were injured Thursday after a large wave knocked them down at the north jetty of the Boynton Inlet.

In Jupiter, Fla., officials said a 27-year-old man feared drowned was found more than a mile from where he entered the ocean.

Weather advisories ranging from tropical storm watches and warnings to hurricane watches and warnings were posted all along the East Coast, and mandatory and voluntary evacuations were under way.

Hurricane warnings were in effect from Little River Inlet, N.C., north to Sandy Hook, N.J., with a hurricane watch in effect north of Sandy Hook to the mouth of the Merrimack River in Massachusetts. A tropical storm warning was in effect north of Edisto Beach, S.C., to Little River Inlet and Chesapeake Bay from Drum Point to the Potomac River tidal area.

Irene was expected to maintain its northerly path for the next 24 hours then shift to the north-northeast.

Irene can produce heavy winds, rain and a strong storm surge carrying life-threatening waves, forecasters said.

Storm preparations were well under way from the Carolinas to New England, CNN reported.

Amtrak and major airlines started canceling routes and flights or putting them on a watch list in anticipation of the storm, CNN reported.

The Sunday dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial in Washington was postponed until at least September, officials said Thursday.

Professional sports teams rearranged their schedules while colleges along the East Coast either closed campuses or delayed move-in days, officials said.

Everybody should take this very seriously," said North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue, who declared a state of emergency for parts of the state east of Interstate 95. "Everyone is telling us this is a big deal for North Carolina."

Governors of Delaware, Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Virginia also declared states of emergency, which allows states to free funds and prepare resources that may be needed.

"This is a large, this is a deadly, this is a slow-moving hurricane that is bearing down on the state of Maryland," Gov. Martin O'Malley said in declaring an emergency. "There will no doubt be a lot of flooding. Citizens should anticipate long periods of electrical outages."

The military moved 27 ships based in Norfolk, Va., out to sea ahead of the storm, CNN reported.

New York officials ordered the evacuation of nursing homes and senior centers in low-lying areas and were developing plans for a possible transit system shutdown, The New York Times reported.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the city was prepared with "evacuation contingencies" for low-lying places such as Coney Island, Battery Park City, and parts of Staten Island and the Rockaways -- areas a quarter-million people call home.

Bloomberg said he would decide by Saturday whether to order a general evacuation of the low-lying areas. He also said he was revoking permits for events in New York Sunday and in the low-lying areas Saturday.

The mayor also advised against visiting parks because high winds could down trees.

"And incidentally," he said, "it's a good idea to stay out of your own back yard if you have trees there."

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie told shore-area residents trying to sit out the storm wasn't "the smart thing to do" and urged people planning a visit to the Jersey shore to rethink their plans.

"Do not go," he said.

Frederico Martins of Williston, N.Y., told CNN he had no luck finding bottled water and flashlights at his local store.

"People here are taking it very seriously. Better to be safe than sorry," Martins told CNN, adding he thought people's storm preparations were "kind of cool." (c) tPC (c) UPI

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