NEW YORK (AP/AccuWeather) -- Suffolk County's Emergency Operations Center in Yaphank is being activated at midnight in preparation for the high winds, heavy surf and rain associated with what is presently Hurricane Noel.
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Forecasters expect the hurricane to weaken into a coastal storm as it moves rapidly to the north-northeast.
Long Island should feel the impact later Friday into Saturday. The National Weather Service predicts winds between 40-60 mph across the county, with heavy rain over eastern Long Island.
Downed branches and power outages are expected.
Suffolk's Emergency Operations Center coordinates with towns, villages, utilities and emergency responders in responding to any potential problems.
The Jersey shore will feel also her fury this weekend, with gusting wind, high waves, and some flooding and beach erosion.
The killer storm, which left 118 dead from flooding and mudslides in the Caribbean earlier this week, was moving out to sea and forecasters said they did not expect it to hit the United States coast.
But the shore is still expected to be impacted by Noel, which should be downgraded to tropical storm status by the time it passes New Jersey.
Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist with the National Hurricane Center in Miami, said Noel should be 300 miles offshore when it passes New Jersey around mid-day Saturday. By that time, the storm should be ``akin to a strong nor'easter,'' he said.
The National Weather Service issued a high wind warning from Sandy Hook to Cape May from midnight until noon Saturday. Onshore winds from the storm could reach 60 mph before diminishing Saturday afternoon or evening. Hurricane-strength winds are 74 mph or higher.
"People need to watch the weather and play it safe,'' said Nyxo Cangemi, a spokesman for the U.S. Coast Guard in Atlantic City. "You can always replace a boat, but you can't replace your life.''
The Coast Guard is advising boaters to tie down their boats at a safe harbor and avoid going out in bad weather.
Forecasters are warning that wind-whipped waves measuring between 7 to 10 feet coming from the northeast will lash the coast, causing minor to moderate erosion and flooding in low-lying areas.
After drenching the Bahamas and Cuba on Thursday, the Category 1 hurricane continued along its path between the southeastern coast of the U.S. and the Bahamas.
Its sustained winds were at 80 mph early Friday and its center was about 470 miles south of Cape Hatteras, N.C., the hurricane center in Miami said. Noel was moving to the north-northeast at about 18 mph.
It has been nearly 200 years since a hurricane directly struck New Jersey. A powerful storm hit near Atlantic City in 1903, but its winds had dissipated to tropical storm level -- about 47 mph -- when it came ashore.
Before that, a Category 3 hurricane hit Cape May Point in 1821.
A 1944 Atlantic hurricane did not directly hit the New Jersey coast, but its eye passed within 30 miles of the shore, causing widespread damage; more than 300 homes were destroyed on Long Beach Island alone.
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