“Please join me in praying that the Outer Banks and all the other communities in the hurricane’s path are spared from major damage,” asked Tom Crabtree, anchor at WSPA-TV News in Spartanburg, S.C., Thursday night.

“My heart goes out to the beautiful Outer Banks of my native North Carolina. I pray the impact of Hurricane Irene this Saturday will be minor. All of us have favorite places we visit or vacation, and for me, that place is the Outer Banks.”

Crabtree anchors the 5, 5:30, 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts on the station.

Hurricane Irene appears aimed at the offshore islands of North Carolina — including Kill Devil Hills where the Wright Brothers made their first manned flights.

Also in the storm’s crosshairs is Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay. The U.S. Navy sent 30 warships, including the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Enterprise to sea Thursday — getting America’s Second Fleet out of the path of the approaching hurricane.

In Norfolk, Virginia, the Beliefnet staff began making plans to head inland. Several live in low-lying areas under mandatory evacuation orders.