The first major storm of the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season, Hurricane Earl, has emergency personnel gearing up for a possible landfall along the Atlantic Seaboard. Earl is now categorized as a Category 4 storm packing winds in the neighborhood of 135 miles an hour. Weather experts say the path of Earl could include a brush with the North Carolina coast around Friday and that is close enough for safety personnel in South Carolina to stay on the alert. In a Tuesday morning teleconference, Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Craig Fugate says a definite landfall has not been forecast, but FEMA is prepping its personnel and resources.

A Category 4 hurricane could include a storm surge of 13 to 18 feet which would lead to major beach erosion, accompanied by flooding well inland. Fugate says persons who live along the predicted path of Earl should be reviewing their emergency plans at this point and that would include preparing for a possible evacuation.

 Fugate says that evacuations are coordinated with FEMA and the help of the National Hurricane Center.  Local authorities make decisions concerning clearance time, which is the time that it takes to get people to safety in an orderly manor.

Bill Read, Director of the National Hurricane Center’s Tropical Prediction Center says even if Earl does not make landfall along the Atlantic Coast, it will likely come close enough to significantly affect the weather from the Carolinas to New England.

AUDIO: FEMA Director Craig Fugate on preparing for Hurricane Earl 3:07