Hurricane Irene On Track To Pummel East Coast

With sustained winds increasing to near 115 mph, Hurricane Irene strengthened to a major Category 3 storm over the Bahamas Wednesday and could become the first major hurricane along the East Coast in seven years.

Barrier islands off North Carolina are being evacuated, but meteorologist Ed Kieser says people in New York and New England should also be prepared for days of power outtages and inland flooding if the storm makes landfall that far north.

Kieser says that everybody on the East Coast needs to pay attention to Irene and "think about the potential that you may have to evacuate" if you live along the coast as far north as New England.