Hurricane Irma: Virginians Urged To Monitor, Prepare (UPDATE)

With Hurricane Irma already having slammed into the Caribbean, leaving at least 11 people dead Wednesday and Thursday, one of the larger and more powerful hurricanes ever to threaten the Eastern Seaboard had its sights set on the Dominican Republic and is expected to make landfall Sunday in Florida. If what's now a Category 5 storm continues to track slightly eastward and northward, which forecasters now say is more than likely, Virginia certainly could be affected. As of Thursday afternoon, though, the latest tracking has western Virginia getting a lot of rain Tuesday but Hampton Roads might escape heavy water, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The Baltimore/Washington branch of the National Weather Service says in the Mid-Atlantic region Irma would not arrive until Monday-Wednesday next week. The hurricane would bring four possible threats to the state: Flooding rain, tornado, damaging winds and tidal flooding.

Families and businesses should prepare disaster plans and emergency kits. And residents should monitor the NWS tropical webpage as the storm nears for updates about the region. (SIGN UP: Subscribe to a Virginia Patch News Alert and Newsletter. For DC readers, Get Patch’s daily newsletter and news alerts. Or like us on Facebook. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app.)

In other words, from a regional respective, heavy rains probably would be the area's biggest threat from Irma — if there's any threat at all. Should the storm taking a slightly more western track, which now looks unlikely, Virginia likely would be spared from the wrath. Even so, state officials have been warning residents to stay vigilant and keep on eye on where the storm's tracking.

Watch: Hurricane Irma Pummels The Caribbean; Florida Could Be Next

Three states to our south, however, Georgia is fearing the worst. Eyeing the storm's approach, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal has declared a state of emergency for 30 counties and the Savannah area is under a mandatory evacuation order starting Saturday. Interstate 16 will be outbound only to get residents out of the area this weekend. Deal said he has authorized the use of 5,000 National Guard troops in Georgia.

Projections show that tropical storm-force winds could make their way into south Georgia as early as 8 a.m. Sunday. Residents in all of Florida's 67 counties had been urged to prepare to evacuate, and multiple forecast models show the storm working its way into Georgia after striking Florida — if not jogging up the coast and eventually making landfall somewhere in the Peach State.

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On Wednesday, Irma flattened buildings, left hotel guests hiding in bathrooms and destroyed communication networks as it pummeled the Caribbean islands of Barbuda and Antigua and caused widespread flooding on vacation hotspot Saint Bart's and Saint Martin.

Here are three key points issued by the National Weather Service late Wednesday afternoon:

1. Irma is a potentially catastrophic category 5 hurricane and will bring life-threatening wind, storm surge, and rainfall hazards to Puerto Rico tonight, the northern coast of Hispaniola Thursday, and the Turks and Caicos and southeastern and central Bahamas Thursday and Friday.

2. Hurricane watches are in effect for the northwestern Bahamas and much of Cuba. Irma is likely to bring dangerous wind, storm surge, and rainfall to portions of these areas on Friday and Saturday.

3. The threat of direct hurricane impacts in Florida over the weekend and early next week has increased. Hurricane watches could be issued for portions of the Florida Keys and the Florida peninsula on Thursday.

While it’s still too early to tell the precise impacts Irma might have on Florida or the United States, forecasters say Irma is expected to remain a major hurricane through the week.

Images via the National Hurricane Center