MEMA: Don't Wait To Prepare For Flooding

REISTERSTOWN, Md. -- Maryland emergency management officials are urging residents not to wait until the last minute to prepare for possible flooding from Tropical Storm Hanna because it is expected in some Maryland cities.

Watch: Ocean City Preps For Hanna Annapolis Ready For Hanna Surge More: Hurricane Tracker | Interactive Radar Slideshow: Haiti Assesses Hurricane Hanna Damage

Hanna is expected to sweep through Maryland Saturday, bringing high wind and rains. Forecasters expect the Eastern Shore and southern Maryland to be the hardest hit.

Maryland's capital and its largest city are also preparing for the possibility of flooding.

Annapolis Mayor Ellen Moyer said a storm surge of 3 to 6 feet is possible. Anything more than 3 feet means water could make its way into downtown businesses. The city is supplying sandbags to business owners.

In Baltimore, city spokesman Sterling Clifford said there's the potential for some storm surge, but it's not expected to be as bad as during Tropical Storm Isabel in 2003, which flooded the Fells Point neighborhood.

Still, the city plans to impose parking restrictions as a precaution in areas around Fells Point and the Inner Harbor. Clifford said localized flooding is possible in low-lying areas.

The city will also open the War Memorial Building downtown as a 24-hour homeless shelter.

Maryland Emergency Management Agency chief of staff Edward Hopkins said the storm is moving fast -- but he cautioned that tropical storms are unpredictable. If Hanna slows or stalls over part of Maryland, that area could get massive amounts of rainfall.

He said people who need to stock up on supplies should do so Friday, before the weather gets worse.

Meanwhile, the Maryland National Guard said all but seven of the soldiers deployed to Louisiana for the Hurricane Gustav relief effort have returned to Maryland because their services weren't needed. Guard leaders continue to monitor Hanna, but no soldiers have been deployed yet.

Gov. Martin O'Malley has issued a Limited Emergency Declaration and said the Bay Bridge could be closed for part of Saturday.

Forecasters said Hanna could still become a hurricane before its expected arrival on U.S. shores.

Disaster planners also are keeping an eye on Hurricane Ike. Ike weakened to a Category 3 storm early Friday but the National Hurricane Center said it's still a dangerous hurricane.

O'Malley said Thursday that the declaration was made in an abundance of caution. The move provides for additional resources to emergency planners and first responders in case the storm is worse than expected.

The declaration affects Cecil, Kent, Queen Anne's, Caroline, Talbot, Dorchester, Wicomico, Somerset and Worcester counties.

O'Malley and his cabinet members received a briefing on Thursday by emergency management officials, including Robert Ward.

Ward said it appears Hanna will be a fast moving storm. He said it could bring wind gusts from 30 to 40 mph, with sustained winds of up to 20 mph. Ward said the storm could cause some coastal flooding, raising waters about 1 to 3 feet above normal.

Vacation home owner Joe DiStefano checked out the forecast early Friday and said Hanna appears to be moving too quickly to cause much damage.

"It's the storms that linger -- that keep blowing and blowing and causing a lot of erosion -- that do the most damage," said DiStefano, of Deale, Md., taking a break from reading a magazine on the beach in Nags Head, N.C.. "Unless it stays for a long time, it's not too worrying."

Richard Muth, the director of the Maryland Emergency Management Agency, said the storm will probably cross the Chesapeake Bay Saturday afternoon and could affect the Ocean City area.

The Bay Bridge is sometimes closed temporarily when high winds blow over the Chesapeake Bay, even when there are not tropical storm conditions. O'Malley told reporters Thursday it's reasonable to expect the bridge will have to close for awhile when Hanna comes, likely on Saturday afternoon.

That means crews who are working on the bridge will have to pack up their gear and move off temporarily as well.

Utilities around the region are also gearing up for Hanna.

"Unless it stays for a long time, it's not too worrying." - Vacation home owner Joe DiStefano

Baltimore Gas and Electric said more than 1,500 BGE employees and contractors are prepared to work around the clock to restore power outages if they occur.

Delmarva Power spokeswoman Bridget Shelton said the Eastern Shore utility is also preparing to alert customers of the possibility of outages due to the storm.

In western Maryland, Allegheny Power spokesman Todd Meyers said they will have additional crews at service centers and line crews on standby in addition to those already scheduled.

Hanna already battered Haiti, killing 26 people and forcing thousands to flee to shelters as floodwaters poured through the small country. Families scrambled onto rooftops to stay above floodwaters triggered by torrents of rain. U.N. soldiers are still unable to reach one badly flooded city.

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