Pennsylvania Emergency Officials Prepare For Hurricane

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said Thursday that his administration was monitoring Hurricane Joaquin closely and was ready to respond.

Weather models conflict over whether the storm will hit the United States' East Coast, Wolf said, and the governor was receiving regular briefings from meteorologists and emergency managers. An emergency declaration was prepared for him to sign should it become necessary, Wolf said.

"We don't know for sure where the hurricane is going to go, but we have no ground at all for complacency," Wolf told reporters Thursday.

Hurricane Joaquin was upgraded Thursday to a Category 4, with winds from 130 mph to 156 mph; and several states, including Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey and North Carolina, have declared states of emergency.

Even if the hurricane misses Pennsylvania, there will be secondary effects, Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency Director Rick Flinn said

"Obviously, there's going to be wind, there's going to be rain, there's going to be potential flash flooding and flooding," Flinn said.

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation crews were out Thursday in flood-prone areas clearing tree limbs and ensuring that drains were clear, Secretary Leslie Richards said.

Administration officials should have more certainty about the impact on the state in a couple of days, Flinn said.

"When you're so far out, it's really difficult to home in on it," Flinn said. "Right now they're looking at a Tuesday time frame where maybe, if we have it, the hurricane force winds could hit the area."

National Weather Service meteorologist John LaCorte said a likely scenario is an inch of rain or more for Pennsylvania's most southern and southeastern areas over the next few days from a low-pressure system moving north from the Gulf of Mexico.

He said rainfalls will be substantially higher if a low-pressure system steers the hurricane inland.

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