World

Photo: The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Baltimore Gas & Electric (BGE) workers talk at a BGE storage yard in Baltimore Friday, Oct. 26, 2012. Utilities and governments on the East Coast are preparing for Hurricane Sandy expected on Sunday. (AP Photo/Steve Ruark)

Forecasters say Sandy has again reached hurricane strength, with sustained winds of 75 mph.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Saturday morning that a Hurricane Hunter aircraft found Sandy had sustained winds powerful enough to upgrade it to a Category 1 hurricane. It had been downgraded to a tropical storm just hours earlier.

Regardless of its official category, Sandy is expected to be a monstrous storm that poses a serious threat for the entire Eastern Seaboard.

Forecasters say Sandy is a massive cyclone, with hurricane-force winds recorded as far as 100 miles away from the eye of the storm.

Tropical storm conditions could be felt in the Carolinas by Saturday evening.