The first evacuation orders have been issued in New Jersey as Hurricane Sandy lumbers up the coast.

Bottled water already goes flying off the shelves at local retail shops. (Photo: Matt White)
Bottled water already goes flying off the shelves at local retail shops. (Photo: Matt White)
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The Cape May County Emergency Management Office has issued voluntary evacuation orders for Friday and Saturday for the county's barrier islands. Those evacuation orders will become mandatory on Sunday.

Forecasters are predicting Sandy would hook up with two other weather systems, bringing heavy rain, high winds and flooding to the East Coast.

The National Hurricane Center on Friday predicted the storm could pass over the Cape May-Delaware area Tuesday morning. But winds and rain are likely to extend for hundreds of miles, as far west as Ohio and West Virginia.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

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