Moore County public safety workers are preparing for a possible hit Friday from Tropical Storm Hanna.

County Emergency Manager Scot Brooks said Tuesday that although it is still early, the county has been holding planning discussions with partner agencies, the school system and the N.C. Department of Transportation.

Hanna has been battering Haiti and the Bahamas with rain and wind, and fighting a northwesterly wind shear, which helped to downgrade it from a hurricane to a tropical storm.

Hanna has been drifting south, but forecasters say that the storm may turn north and intensify in the coming days. It's projected to make landfall somewhere between northeast Florida and South Carolina and strike North Carolina late Friday or early Saturday.

"If it stays according to the forecast, we'll have some sort of impact late Friday or early Saturday," said Jeff Orrock, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Raleigh.

It is unclear how strong the storm will be if and when it makes it way to Moore County. It was still pretty unorganized Tuesday, Orrock said. It also wasn't moving much, which made it difficult to forecast, he said.

"Hopefully, by this time tomorrow (Wednesday)," Orrock said, "We'll have a more definite track."

When the storm does turn north, it's expected to move fast.

"It will come through here pretty quickly," he said. "The next 24 hours will determine what happens to us."

The county Emergency Operations Center is ready to spring into action, Brooks said. County workers have been checking and double-checking the radios, generators and fuel levels, he said.

The county will have a plan in place to open some shelters, Brooks said, if it becomes clear that Moore County will be hit.

"If it continues on the same pace," he said, "we'll be holding conference calls to ensure everyone is prepared."

Contact Matthew Moriarty at 693-2479 or by e-mail at moriarty @thepilot.com.