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ith Hurricane Irene about to hit on Saturday, Friday was the day for last minute preparations — whether it was parking the car where it wouldn’t flood, keeping the ice cream supply chain intact, boarding up windows or tending to a boat.

Some scenes in Oriental on Friday, as Irene pushed toward land.

Seeking higher ground. Irene’s storm surge threatens to submerge many of Oriental’s lowlying neighborhoods. By early Friday morning, there were no more spaces left at one high spot: the Southeast Pamlico Fire Station 19 on Straight Road.

The first wave of rain tests a vintage Triumph sports car parked behind the fire station.

Double duty: This refrigerated tractor trailer parked in front of Miss Ruth’s Town and Country grocery store will provide a shield for the store’s front windows. But the grocery store was also planning ahead for the likely power outage, and on Friday, employees transferred the store’s frozen foods into the truck’s chilled trailer. Post-hurricane, that means the Town and Country may still have ice cream. Short term, it made for a mighty empty frozen foods department.

The Bean Friday afternoon. Boarded up windows and only trash bins on the porch. In Hurricane Isabel, a half foot of water crept in to the coffeehouse.

Across Hodges Street, Oriental’s harbor just before the storm. The scene will be much different when Irene arrives..

Around 4p Friday, the waters of Oriental’s harbor were just about a foot below the top of the Town Dock.

Fishing trawlers were docked on both sides of Oriental’s harbor. Here, the thick lines that are to hold the “Capt. Cecil” in place.

Drenching rain began pouring while Ben Cox worked to secure his parents’ boat, “Hirondell” at Oriental Yacht Club..

Dave Cox deploys a fender in a last-minute prep for his boat. He says that the boat’s dinghy is all ready for the hurricane.

The dinghy awaits the flooded streets and yards in Oriental’s low-lying downtown.

Dark skies amid the rain off of the OYC Friday afternoon.

Posted Saturday August 27, 2011 by Bernie Harberts