UPDATE:

Hurricane Irma on track to hit vacation spots: What we know about Outer Banks, Hilton Head, Disney, cruises

Hurricane Irma is on track to pummel the Gulf and Southeast coasts this weekend but that doesn't mean Pennsylvania is off the hook for potential fallout from the monster storm.

The Commonwealth could be in store for heavy rains, gusty winds and more next week depending on Irma's landfall and where it tracks after that.

Pennsylvania emergency management officials held a nearly three-hour meeting Tuesday with agency partners to prepare for any impacts from the storm.

"Agencies are being encouraged to examine staffing capabilities and start thinking about state agency resources that could be needed and ways state agencies can support counties to keep citizens safe," said Ruth Miller, spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency.

Federal officials also have activated incident and response teams in Richmond, Va., and Philadelphia.

"FEMA maintains commodities at strategically located distribution centers throughout the United States and its territories," according to a spokesman, "where water and meals have already been pre-staged, should they be needed and requested."

PPL also is closely monitoring the Category-5 hurricane and "will be prepared for any effects," said Joe Nixon, spokesman.

The company works year-round to trim trees near power lines to avoid power outages during storms and previously invested in "smart-grid" technology to automatically redirect electricity around any problems within minutes to maintain service to customers.

An early model showed Pennsylvania in the crosshairs of Irma, but updated models have moved westward.

An early model for the hurricane showed it hitting closer to Pennsylvania, but more recent models reveal that the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida are more likely targets.

"It's pretty uncertain right now," said Scott Pemewill, the lead storm chaser with S&S Storm Chasing and Forecasting Team in Pa. "It's really scary for people. Even as a storm chaser, this is one I really don't think you want to mess with."

Pemewill said Irma looks to be potentially record-breaking, packing 185 mile per hour sustained winds, the same as an EF-4 tornado.

The path of the Category-5 storm after it makes landfall is unknown, but one of three likely scenarios Tuesday puts the path along the East Coast.

If the storm reaches Pennsylvania, it would arrive next Tuesday, Sept. 12, according to Charles Ross, with the National Weather Service.

"If it comes," to Pennsylvania, Ross said, accentuating the word 'if.' "It will be much weaker, much less powerful and much smaller than when it makes landfall.

"But wherever it hits (initially) is going to be devastated."

If Irma plows through the Gulf instead of pounding the Southeast Coast, Ross said, that could spell more problems for Pennsylvania.

While heavy rains from Tropical Storm Lee in 2011 lingered over the Harrisburg area for days, dumping 13 inches of rain and eventually contributing to giant sinkholes in the 1400 block of South 14th Street, this storm doesn't have the same hallmarks, Ross said.

Instead, Irma looks like she would check in and out of Pennsylvania in a hurry, he said.

"It will likely move quite fast," Ross said.

Vacations to hit the beach next weekend in the mid-Atlantic could be salvagable, Ross said, but plans to visit Carolina beaches may need to be nixed.

With the storm still a few days away from landfall, Ross said it's hard to know exactly what Irma's going to do.

As it turns out, September is Emergency Preparedness month and Miller said PEMA encourages residents to review their own family emergency plans and family emergency kits.

"Residents should know what roads they would take if they needed to leave their home or community, and how they would communicate with loved ones," she said. "We recommend that everyone have an emergency kit in their home and in their car, so if people don't have extra food and water, this is a timely opportunity to do so...These are good steps to take whether or not we see any impacts from Irma here in Pennsylvania."

Free emergency kit checklists and emergency plan templates are available on the ReadyPA website at www.ready.pa.gov (formerly www.ReadyPA.org.)