- Irene weakens slightly overnight
- The storm is more than 700 miles south of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina
- Much of the Eastern Seaboard could feel the effects of Irene
- Heavy damage is reported in the southeastern Bahamas
Editor's Note: Check out "Open Story: Hurricane Irene," a collaborative effort of CNN and iReport contributors who are documenting the storm as it moves across the Atlantic Ocean. Read more about Hurricane Irene from CNN affiliate WBOC.
Miami (CNN) -- Mandatory evacuation orders for parts of North Carolina's Outer Banks will take effect Thursday morning as state emergency officials prepare for the arrival of Hurricane Irene, now battering the Bahamas with sustained winds of 115 mph.
Starting at 8 a.m., tourists will be required to exit Dare County, North Carolina -- home to Manteo, Nags Head, Duck and Kitty Hawk. Residents can stay for now, but they were advised to gear up for Irene.
The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse closed Wednesday evening. Other venues, including the Wright Brothers National Memorial visitors center, also were shuttered.
With Irene still more than 700 miles from Cape Hatteras, the National Hurricane Center warned that tropical storm and hurricane watches would likely be posted for Coastal Carolina early Thursday.
Hyde County, also in the Outer Banks, took a similar approach, ordering a mandatory evacuation for all visitors and a voluntary evacuation for residents on Wednesday. The mandatory evacuation will be extending to residents beginning 5 a.m. Thursday, Hyde County Emergency Services said.
Ocracoke is reachable only by boat or private plane.
Irene pounded the central Bahamas early Thursday, whipping the island chain with gusts of up to 150 mph, a Hurricane Center advisory said.
Gallery: Hurricane Irene intensifies
Irene reaches Category 3 near Bahamas
Florida prepares for Irene
Irene strikes Turks and CaicosHeavy damage was reported in the southeastern Bahamas. Electricity was out in some locations.
"Homes losing their rooftops, churches being destroyed," said Capt. Stephen Russell, the nation's emergency management director. "One or two of the settlements some 90 percent of the homes destroyed."
There were no initial reports of casualties, he said. Final damage reports will not be available until after sunrise Thursday.
About 65 percent of the country's population is on New Providence, home to Nassau. Projections showed the island being outside of hurricane-force winds, Russell said. "We hope the system makes a gradual turn to the northeast."
Rainfall of 6 to 12 inches was expected in the Bahamas, with 15 inches possible in some places, the Miami-based Hurricane Center said.
In its 2 a.m. ET advisory, Irene had weakened slightly, dropping from 120 mph to 115 mph. Despite the drop in windspeed, the storm is expected to strengthen to a Category 4 storm Thursday with winds in excess of 131 mph.
Irene was moving northwest at 12 mph early Thursday, passing west of Cat Island. The storm is centered 105 miles east-southeast of Nassau and 760 miles south of Cape Hatteras. Hurricane-force winds extended up to 70 miles from the storm's center.
The storm will curve northward and then to the northeast as it nears the United States, with most of the latest projections suggesting the storm will avoid landfall until it is north of North Carolina. The storm is expected to arrive off North Carolina by Saturday morning.
While Dare and Hyde counties took a more aggressive approach to evacuations, many North Carolina counties were taking a wait-and-see attitude on evacuations. Warren Lee, emergency management director in New Hanover County said shelters likely will be opened.
"If the storm stays on current track, we don't expect a major impact and we will not issue an evacuation order plan right now."
South Carolina state officials decided not to order evacuations. Boaters and swimmers were urged by the Coast Guard to stay out of the water.
The Hurricane Center forecast map shows a glancing blow for the Virginia coastline and the Eastern Shores of Maryland -- an area swamped by Hurricane Isabel in 2003.
"I have been watching the TV. Both the local and national TV weather services," Harold Barkley of Virginia Beach told CNN affiliate WTKR-TV. "And I have thought very seriously about it, if I need to stay here or whether I need to get out."
Barkley said he's never had to evacuate his home in the 35 years he's lived there.
Eighty miles to the north in Crisfield, Maryland, the plan is to ride the storm out.
"We'll probably have some extra water, get some canned vegetables and foods and make sure the pantry is full," Ginger Wilson said in an interview with CNN affiliate WBOC-TV. "Just have any extra supplies -- batteries, radios, anything that would be helpful."
Some computer models suggest New York or New Jersey could be hit by Irene, with the storm eventually slicing through much of New England and into the Canadian Maritimes.
"Everywhere from North Carolina to Massachusetts remains in the cone of uncertainty," CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras said. "Even if Irene doesn't make landfall in the United States, it may very well bring flooding rains, damaging winds and power outages to the Northeast."
Chris Martin, an employee at Endeavor Seafood in Newport, Rhode Island, said a bridal shower is scheduled Sunday in Portsmouth for his fiancee. "We're hoping to have it outside."
Martin is hoping the hurricane, if it actually affects the state, will not arrive until Monday.
The last major hurricane to strike the United States was Wilma in 2005, which was a Category 3 at landfall, Jeras said. Hurricane Katrina, earlier the same year, was also a Category 3 at landfall. The most recent hurricane to make landfall in the United States was Ike in 2008, which hit near Galveston, Texas, as a Category 2.
Gloria in 1985 was the most recent hurricane to hit New York. It was a Category 3 at landfall, the National Hurricane Center said. In 1991, Hurricane Bob hit Massachusetts, a Category 2 at landfall.
Irene is expected to pass well east of Florida, so only minimal effects are expected Thursday and Friday as the storm moves northward toward the Carolinas. But the U.S. Coast Guard is worried boaters in south Florida are taking the threat too lightly.
Officials expect heavy rip currents and beach erosion in Miami.
CNN's John Fricke, Phil Gast and Josh Levs contributed to this report.
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