Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina (CNN) -- Hurricane Earl prepared to take a swipe at the Eastern Seaboard on Thursday as residents scrambled to ready themselves ahead of its arrival.
Hurricane warnings and watches stretched from North Carolina to Delaware and into Massachusetts, where a hurricane warning was issued for Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket and the surrounding area. A hurricane watch was also issued for the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada.
At 2 p.m. ET, Earl's center was about 245 miles (395 kilometers) south of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and about 720 miles south-southwest of Nantucket. It was heading north at about 18 mph.
President Obama is "closely monitoring" Earl's developments, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Thursday. On Wednesday, Obama signed a disaster declaration for North Carolina authorizing the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate relief efforts. The order also makes federal funds available to states.
Teams are in place or on standby to assist states along the East Coast, FEMA administrator Craig Fugate said, and supplies were being moved into two incident-support bases in case they are needed.
The National Hurricane Center expects the storm, which is larger than California, to pass close to North Carolina's Outer Banks on Thursday night. It is expected to take aim at southeastern New England on Friday night. The storm's track shifted slightly to the west, closer to North Carolina's Cape Hatteras. The hurricane center has posted storm watches and warnings for areas as far north as Maine.
CNN
