Mass. Officials Say Henri Could Wallop The Commonwealth. Here's What To Know

With Tropical Storm Henri barreling towards Massachusetts, Gov. Charlie Baker said Friday that vacationers should consider leaving Cape Cod and the Islands for the worst of the storm and that those about to start their vacations there delay their arrival until at least Monday.

Henri would be the first hurricane to make landfall in Massachusetts since Bob in 1991 if it reaches the state at that strength.

"It's pretty clear that this one is not going to clip us. Because it looks like it's going to come up through Newport, maybe veer a little bit west, in the general direction of Worcester and then cut right up toward the Merrimack Valley," Baker said Friday. "That's a huge swath of the Commonwealth that's going to be right in the middle of this thing."

Baker said he is activating up to 1,000 members of the National Guard to assist with high-water rescue, debris clearing and public safety support if necessary. Camp Edwards on the Cape is being prepared to host thousands of utility workers who could be called upon to restore power once the storm passes.

Henri is expected to present multiple hazards to large parts of Massachusetts, including storm surge, winds as high as 73 mph, rainfall and high surf.

"Saturday is this month's astronomical high tide. Throw the water on top of that, and at high tide it could be a problem for some coastal areas — certainly something that people need to monitor," National Weather Service meteorologist William Babcock told WBUR. "There is some sign that the highest surge could take place at a time of low tide, in which case things won't be quite so bad. We'll have to wait and see as we get closer."

If the surge corresponds to high tide, NWS forecasters said areas along Buzzards Bay, Vineyard Sound, Nantucket Sound and Cape Cod Bay could see waters rise between 3 and 5 feet.

Babcock said coastal areas could also see beach erosion and damage.

The NWS is projecting 2 to 5 inches of rain across southern New England from the storm, though they note that some isolated areas could see as much as 8 inches of rainfall through Monday.

Wet summers and tropical rainfall have in the past combined to cause some of the worst flooding in southern New England history, said UMass Amherst geosciences professor David Boutt.

That could be the case with Henri after all those rainy July days in the state.

"There's not a lot of places to store water on the landscape or underground, we've pretty much filled up the capacity of the ground," he said, adding the amount of flooding will depend on the storm's precise track.

Meteorologist Dave Epstein said Henri will have to cross the Gulf Stream before arriving in the Bay State.

"The waters are very warm out there and that will probably put it at hurricane strength before it reaches the New England coastline," he said.

Henri could weaken once it reaches cooler waters south of New England — depending on how quickly the storm moves, Epstein said.

He recommends continuing to check the forecast this weekend.

Avoid travel anywhere in the state on Sunday and early Monday if at all possible — that's the primary guidance from the Baker administration ahead of the storm.

Baker is urging people delay trips to Cape Cod and the Islands and asking people to consider leaving those areas no later than Saturday night.

"The simple point here is we really would like everybody to be off the road at the height of the storm, which will probably last all day Sunday and through until the early part of Monday," he said. "We don't want people to be stuck in the traffic on the Cape Cod bridges when the storm is in full force on Sunday."

MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak said T service will be scaled back Sunday and geared primarily toward essential travel.

The T said Friday there will be no service on the Mattapan Line, the Green Line D branch or ferries Sunday. Poftak said some other service will also be limited.

The Steamship Authority — which operates ferries to the Cape and Islands — said it is waiving cancellation and change fees for the duration of the storm. It's also set up a webpage for sharing service updates.

Henri is likely to disrupt trips to both Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Sunday and Monday, the authority said. There likely won't be a decision on when or whether to cancel service until Sunday morning.

Authority spokesman Sean Driscoll said if you're booked to leave the Islands on Sunday you should consider moving your departure up to Saturday. Otherwise you could face delays later in the week.

"We were basically booked solid for 10 days straight. If the reservations hold there's not a lot of potential available spaces later in the week, so we're really asking people to think long and hard about their travel plans," Driscoll said.

The U.S. Coast Guard is urging boaters to stay off the water, saying it will have fewer search and rescue capabilities as the storm approaches. It's cautioning swimmers about the dangers of rip currents caused by Henri.

Todd Alexander, the harbormaster of Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard, told WBUR some people have taken their boats out of the water as a precaution. He expects more will pull them out Saturday morning.

"My first suggestion always is if you can haul your boat, do it, because then you don't have to worry about any change of direction of the storm track," Alexander said. "It takes ... all the uncertainty out of it. It takes all the worry out of it."

Alexander said if you own a boat and can't take it out of the water, it's best to put it on a mooring and set additional anchors.

Massachusetts state parks are also closing their campgrounds ahead of the storm. The state's Department of Conservation and Recreation said campgrounds will shut down Saturday at 11 a.m. through Monday evening.

The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency has a full list of ways you can get ready for big storms. Here are some of the key steps to take.

You can check out the federal website Ready.gov for even more preparedness tips. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also has specific guidance for handling storms amid the pandemic.

With reporting from State House News Service