Tropical Storm Hanna by Friday will soften up the East Coast with body blows, before Hurricane Ike potentially delivers a knockout punch early next week, the AccuWeather.com Hurricane Center is reporting today.

Hanna will become a hurricane before reaching the Southeast coast on Friday, according to an AccuWeather.com news release.

Hurricane Ike, which is now an extremely dangerous Category 4 monster, could follow Hanna by the middle of next week.

"Hanna will be remembered as a nor'easter, not a terribly destructive storm, but one that will bring wind and rain to the East Coast from Virginia to Boston," AccuWeather.com senior meteorologist John Kocet said.

He said two to three inches of rain are predicted to fall in the major urban areas along the Interstate 95 corridor as the storm taps into moisture from the Atlantic.

The storm will reach hurricane strength before making landfall along the Carolina coast late on Friday or early on Saturday.

However, the effects of Hanna have already reached the East Coast and will continue to intensify well before landfall.

Hurricane Ike on Wednesday exploded from a tropical storm to a major Category 3 hurricane, which continued to intensify overnight.

Today, it is a Category 4 storm with winds near 145 mph.

Strong surf and rip currents today will spread along the coast as far north as southern New England.

All interests along the Eastern Seaboard from Florida to New England should be closely monitoring these storms, while preparing their homes and businesses and an emergency plan.