Eastern Coast, USA - As Hurricane Irene begins to descend upon the East coast, amusement parks from Virginia to Massachusetts are preparing for the storm.

Busch Gardens Williamsburg in Williamsburg, Virginia was one of the first to release a statement, telling its loyal fans on their Facebook page around 10:00 am on Friday morning, “Due to the proximity of Hurricane Irene to the Williamsburg area, Busch Gardens and Water Country USA will be closed Saturday, Aug. 27 and Sunday, Aug. 28…Details regarding the parks’ reopening will be announced once the storm has safely passed.”

Around the same time, Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia released on their Facebook that the park would remain open for the weekend, as well as telling fans to stay posted, as they would update if anything changed. Five and a half hours later, though, the park then posted, “Due to the anticipated arrival of Hurricane Irene and the safety of our guests and employees, Kings Dominion will be closed on Saturday August 27th.”

Much farther up the East coast, Lake Compounce in Bristol, Connecticut and Quassy in Middlebury, Connecticut updated their Facebooks with Hurricane Irene-related announcements around noon that Friday. Lake Compounce stated it would close early on Saturday, and be closed on Sunday. Quassy announced it would be closed on Sunday. Around 2:00 pm on Saturday, though, Quassy announced it would close its rides at 3:00 pm.

In New Jersey, Morey’s Piers in Wildwood and Clementon Park in Clementon made their statements via their Facebook pages as well. Morey’s stated on Thursday afternoon that it would be closed Friday, Saturday and Sunday, effectively cancelling an event they had been planning. Clementon announced around noon on Friday that it, too, would be closed Saturday and Sunday.

Early Friday evening, Six Flags made a decision concerning their Eastern parks. Six Flags New England in Agawam, Massachusetts, Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey, and Six Flags America in Largo, Maryland stated between 6 and 7 on their official Facebook pages that they would each be closed Saturday and Sunday due to the impending hurricane conditions.

In Pennsylvania, parks are slightly less concerned, but made Friday announcements none the less. Both Dorney Park in Allentown and Hershey Park in Hershey reassured their Facebook followers that they were watching the weather, but planned to stay open on Saturday. Knoebels, in Elysburg said on their Facebook, ‘Keeping an eye on Irene - from a local paper, "Hurricane Irene is not expected to pose a serious threat to the Valley this weekend, said a meteorologist Thursday night, but such storms are unpredictable..."’

As of 3:00 pm, Saturday afternoon the storm is a Category 1 with the eye of the storm set to hit Virginia Beach is roughly an hour and a half. So far, there has been no word as to the condition of the amusement parks that are currently being ravaged by the storm, but COASTER-net will follow this story closely.