Hurricane Irene, a major Category 3 storm, is moving over the Bahamas Crooked and Acklins islands with winds of 115 miles (185 kilometers) an hour, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in an advisory shortly before 11 a.m. East Coast time.
The latest tracking map shows the core of the storm passing the Outer Banks of North Carolina and crossing over Rhode Island and Massachusetts into central Maine.