Gov: Earl has RI on high alert

CRANSTON, R.I. (WPRI) - Go big, go early, that's the motto of federal and Rhode Island emergency officials as Hurricane Earl makes its way up the East Coast.

"We as a state are on high alert," said Gov. Donald Carcieri during an afternoon news conference at the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency headquarters in Cranston.

• The latest on Earl's path

As of 2 p.m. Earl was a Category 3 storm with its sights set on the North Carolina coast. The National Weather Service issued a hurricane warning in that state Wednesday afternoon and officials have already ordered evacuations in the Outer Banks .

The latest tracking information has Earl travelling 50 to 100 miles southeast of Nantucket starting late Thursday and continuing into Saturday.

If Earl's path holds steady, southern New England could have a glancing blow.

"It's a big if, and this is what has us concerned," Carcieri said. "It is a very close call. A 50 to 100 mile difference is very, very close. If this wiggles a bit to the west, it would be much more problematic. Full force hurricane winds could hit our state."

Officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency arrived in the state Wednesday morning, helping local officials mobilize ahead of the storm. A response RIEMA's director called unprecedented.

"We've taken it to a level where we believe we have the appropriate level of resources," said Director J. David Smith.

"Know we are taking this very seriously," Carcieri said. "People on the coast need to be prepared and know the worst could happen."

• Be Storm Ready

Rhode Island officials said lessons learned from March's historic floods have helped them to better prepare for future disasters.

"We've got to organize all of our resources, all the state agencies, DEM, DOT, The National Guard, State police," said RIEMA Communications Director Steve Kass.  "Thank heavens, in a sense, we had that flooding, because we had a real good practice drill on how to work together and get things done and we learned some lessons from that too."

Kass also urges residents to overprepare for the storm , just in case.

"Have water, have food, have the things you need to get through, have a weather radio," he said.