A hurricane currently on the Caribbean has grown stronger and larger than expected Thursday, and is threatening to affect U.S. East Coast early next week, according to forecast.
According to the National Hurricane Center, the strong category 2 Hurricane Sandy's maximum sustained wind speed is 105 miles (109 kilometers) per hour, and tropical storm force winds extend 140 miles out from the center. It is located in the eastern Caribbean Sea about 85 miles south-southeast of the central Bahamas as of Thursday afternoon.
Forecast shows Sandy could have far-reaching impacts from the mid-Atlantic to the Northeast, making it dangerous to the metro areas from Norfolk to Portland, including Washington, D.C., New York City, and Boston, according to the Washington Post.
The hurricane will soon affect Florida. According to the National Weather Service, Sandy is expected to produce storm conditions along the east coast of Florida Thursday night and Friday. Rainfall totals of 1 to 3 inches are possible across the Florida Keys into southeast and east-central Florida.
The federal government is coordinating responses to the hurricane. The Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) regional administrators and other senior officials in its regional offices along the East Coast have been in contact with their state counterparts in order to ensure coordination for any emergency response, according to the agency on Thursday.
