The U.S. East Coast braced on Saturday to take a direct hit from Hurricane Henri as it threatened to pound the region with fierce winds and heavy rains that could cause “life-threatening” storm surge and flooding, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

As of the afternoon, the storm was gathering strength, packing 120 km/h winds while it moved north about 290 kilometres east of North Carolina. On its current track, Henri was expected to make landfall in Long Island, N.Y., or southern New England on Sunday evening, the centre said in an advisory.

Henri was expected to hit as Mexico was pummelled by Hurricane Grace, killing several people, before weakening to