Leaving a thrashed Puerto Rico and heading north, Hurricane Irene was powering up Tuesday morning.
The latest forecasts predict that the season's first hurricane will track off Florida's east coast, but it is anyone's guess exactly how far.
If there's consensus on anything, it's that Irene will strengthen to Category 3, with winds topping 120 mph. At that rate, forecasters say Floridians will feel her effects, even if the storm stays out at sea.
Though most computer models show Irene bound for the Carolinas, FEMA director Craig Fugate cautioned that it was "way too early to say if and where Irene will make landfall. All residents along the Southeast coast should be prepared."
William Booher, spokesman for Florida's Division of Emergency Management, said Irene's fairly large wind field creates a "high potential" for tropical-storm force winds and torrential rain beginning Thursday.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami has not yet placed Florida on a hurricane watch, but Booher expects that designation shortly. He said the latest models show Irene reaching Miami's latitude by around 2 p.m. Thursday.
Heading over warm water toward the Bahamas, the storm is predicted to speed up and perhaps expand over the next two days.
The Weather Channel called it the makings of a "disaster" for the Bahamas.
"The state operation center is monitoring. We're ready to up our activation level at a moment's notice," Booher said.
On Monday, the Insurance Information Institute sounded the alarm for tornadoes, which can be spawned by far-flung rain bands hundreds of miles away from a hurricane's eye.
The largest known outbreak of tropical cyclone tornadoes was caused by Hurricane Ivan in 2004, with 127 tornadoes forming over a three-day period, according to data collected by The Tornado Project of the Universities Space Research Association. Eighteen of those tornadoes hit Florida.
Hurricane Frances in 2004 spawned 108 tornadoes.
The insurance group noted that storms do not have to reach hurricane strength to raise the tornado threat. Tropical Storm Fay in 2008 spun off at least 49 tornadoes, three of which were rated with winds as powerful as a Category 3 hurricane.
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Contact Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 801-5341.
