Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

While a heat wave has hovered over eastern North Carolina for the past week, the National Weather Service and National Hurricane Center have been keeping tabs on Tropical Cyclone No. 9.

On Wednesday, the National Hurricane Center began issuing advisories about the disturbance far out in the Atlantic Ocean, which was expected to become a tropical storm Tuesday night or Wednesday.

In line with the National Hurricane Center and National Weather Service’s efforts to reach out to the public, launched at the beginning of hurricane season, the agencies began sharing recommendations on social media Tuesday.

“We know some folks are anxious after the past two years, so we wanted to share what we know right now,” reads an update from the National Weather Service Newport/Morehead City.

The recommendations start with what the many residents at risk for an East Coast hurricane should be doing right now.

“What To Do: Review your hurricane preparedness plan. You should be doing this each and every season,” the Facebook update reads. “The National Hurricane Center has a 80% chance that development will occur … in the next five days. We want to remind you this is a great time to review your hurricane preparedness plans (www.weather.gov/mhx/hurricaneprep) and encourage others to do so. We are in hurricane season, so now is the time to be prepared. If a storm does form, it will be Isaias (ees-ah-EE-ahs).”

The National Weather Service Newport/Morehead City also gives some advice about what coastal residents should not be doing: “What Not To Do: This is not a great time to share or become overly concerned with various model forecasts or ‘spaghetti’ plots often spread on social media or the internet. Until this circulation develops, it is way too early to speculate on any potential track. The next few days will be crucial as the location, strength and size of various weather factors will play a big role in what eventually happens. We will have updates later this week, if needed.”

As of Tuesday evening, a Tropical Storm Warning was in effect for a slew of Caribbean islands including Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands and St. Maarten.

Those interested in learning more about hurricane preparedness are invited to attend the National Weather Service’s virtual community forum Thursday at 3 p.m.

“You will have the chance to hear a presentation from a meteorologist from the National Weather Service on hurricanes and their impacts on eastern North Carolina. We will go over why you should never just focus on just the category of the storm, what the hurricane path track means and the various impacts tropical cyclones can bring. We will also cover the hurricane outlook for the year while emphasizing that it only takes one storm to make an impact on your life! At the end, you will be able to ask questions you may have,” the forum description reads.

Click HERE to register for the hurricane preparedness virtual community forum.