Hurricane Joaquin was gaining strength on Thursday as it moved toward the Bahamas, with forecasts still inconclusive on whether the storm would slam into the U.S. East Coast or head out to sea without making landfall, the Hurricane Center said.
The governors of New York and Connecticut and emergency-management officials in New Jersey - states all hard hit by 2012's Superstorm Sandy and already facing heavy rains unrelated to Joaquin on Wednesday - warned residents to begin preparations for a possible severe storm.
The last hurricane to make landfall in the continental United States was Arthur, which hit North Carolina as a Category 2 storm in July 2014, bringing high winds, driving rain and storm surges up the East Coast.