Joaquin Intensifies

Updated on October 1 at 4:52 p.m.

On Thursday afternoon, as Hurricane Joaquin continued to gather steam, the National Hurricane Center upgraded the storm to a Category-4 classification. According to reports, the storm now has registered maximum winds of 130 miles-per-hour around the Bahamas.

Officials are now beginning to prepare for the possibility of the storm making landfall and potentially causing serious damage. Three states—Virginia, New Jersey, and North Carolina—preemptively declared states of emergency on Thursday afternoon, using some very precise language.

I've declared a State of Emergency ahead of this storm.

— Governor Christie (@GovChristie) October 1, 2015

“We’re hoping for the best, but hope is not preparation nor is it a plan,” said North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory in a statement.

Citing the storm, Donald Trump also canceled a rally set for Friday evening in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

As Reuters notes, computer models are forecasting different trajectories for the storm, some of which project Joaquin making brief landfall in the mid-Atlantic states, weakening, and moving offshore while another predicts the storm will change course and remain out at sea.

Almost as quickly as it first appeared on radar, Hurricane Joaquin has become an increasing concern for Americans on the East Coast.

Over Wednesday evening, the storm