Governor Maura Healey declared a state of emergency Friday as part of Massachusetts’ preparation for the arrival of the outer bands of Hurricane Lee, which are expected to bring strong winds, powerful storm surge, and dangerous rip currents on Saturday to Cape Cod, the Islands, and other parts of coastal Massachusetts.
Healey, who spoke at a State House press conference, said she was activating 50 members of the Massachusetts National Guard so they can provide high-water vehicles, if needed, to communities that have to respond to flooded streets, especially in residential neighborhoods.
“We are expected to experience rain, and in some instances heavy rains, and wind here in Massachusetts,” said Healey, a first-term Democrat. The “most and first severe impacts” likely will affect Cape Cod and the Islands, she said.
She urged residents not to take the “severe weather” lightly.
The utility companies have teams in place on Nantucket and the Vineyard and throughout the Cape to respond to any power outages in those areas, she said.
“Our focus right now is on the coast,” she said. “I think that’s where we’re going to see the real rain and particularly the winds . . . we certainly hope for the best, but we always have to prepare for the worst.”
Healey said the state has requested a formal federal emergency declaration that, if approved, will accelerate interaction with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and recovery programs available through it.
The state emergency operations center in Framingham will be activated by 7 a.m., along with the state emergency management’s operation centers in Franklin and Tewksbury.
The governor spoke as Cape communities continued preparations for the impacts of Hurricane Lee, which is not expected to make landfall in New England, but will likely create turbulent weather conditions along the region’s coastline, according to the National Weather Service.
A tropical storm warning was in effect for Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard and from Westport to the Canadian border, the National Hurricane Center said on Friday.
On Friday evening, Lee remained a Category 1 hurricane with 80 mile-per-hour winds as it headed toward New England, according to the center.
The weather service in Norton said the strongest winds from Lee are expected between 5 a.m. and 11 a.m. Saturday on outer Cape Cod and Nantucket. Wind gusts are expected to be between 55 and 65 miles per hour, the service said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Massachusetts got “incredibly lucky” with Lee’s path, which is forecast to veer east toward Atlantic Canada, a television meteorologist said. New England would have seen more severe impacts had the storm moved closer to the region.
“Just ~100 miles west and this would have been our worst flood disaster since 1955, with outages for weeks,” said Eric Fisher, WBZ’s chief meteorologist, in a post on X.
The storm surge already was steadily strengthening along the coast Friday bringing the “threat of high surf, dangerous rip currents and areas of beach erosion,” the National Weather Service said in a posting on X.
But surfers and swimmers took to the waves Friday on Cape Cod and Nantucket despite the advisory for Nantucket and Barnstable counties.
The Nantucket Current posted a video to X of a surfer riding what the outlet called “some absolute monsters” at Madequecham Beach on Nantucket.
Forecasters warned everyone to not get too close to the heavy surf and encouraged people to view the water from a safe distance.
Rain and very gusty winds were expected to arrive late Friday night, according to the weather service.
With power outages a risk in many areas other than the islands and Cape, utility companies said they are closely watching the storm’s path.
Craig Hallstrom, president of electric operations for Eversource, said the utility has brought in more than 400 line crews and 200 tree crews to respond to storm damage.
Dozens of flights arriving to or leaving from Boston Logan International Airport were canceled or delayed Friday, according to FlightAware, which tracks such data around the world. As of Friday night, there had been a total of 208 flight delays and 43 cancellations at Logan.
Provincetown Municipal Airport will close Saturday, according to its website. The Steamship Authority canceled some ferry service Friday and is expecting to cancel more on Saturday. The authority suggests checking online for updates.
MBTA ferry service will be canceled Saturday, after some trips were canceled Friday. Norwegian Cruise Line said it delayed the departure of the Pearl from Boston’s Black Falcon Terminal from Friday to Saturday due to the storm’s path.
The weather service warned of coastal flooding and damaging waves possibly reaching up to 3 feet, starting along New England’s southern coast before spreading north.
Peak storm surges are expected Saturday morning.
Winds are expected to gust up to 60 miles an hour on Saturday across the impacted areas, but no heavy rains are anticipated, the weather service said.
“Hurricane Lee will make a close pass of southern New England tonight and tomorrow,” meteorologists posted on X Friday morning. “Rain will be mainly east of the I-495 corridor.”
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu on Thursday said officials were focusing their attention on flood-prone “neighborhoods like East Boston, Charlestown, the South End, and the North End.”
High tide, when the risk for flooding is greatest, in Boston Harbor is set for 12:21 p.m. Friday, and 12:23 a.m. and 12:54 p.m. on Saturday, according to marineweather.net.
As of Friday night, Boston is expected to get minimal rainfall from Lee. The total prediction is for one-tenth to a quarter-inch of rain, meteorologist Matthew Belk said.
According to the weather service, three potential impacts are of top concern: damaging winds, coastal flooding, and high surf.
The US Coast Guard said mariners should stay off the waters.
“We want to make sure that the public is aware that our number-one priority is the safety of our responders, as well as life-saving search and rescue in the marine environment,” Captain Amy Florentino, commander of the Coast Guard Sector New England, said at a news conference Thursday.
Coastal communities have spent days preparing for the storm and are ready for its effects, officials said Thursday.
In Provincetown, officials made sand available for residents who wanted to install sandbags to protect their property, especially on the bay side where the storm surge is expected to be more intense.
But as Lee moved more eastward than expected, the town revised its expectations for storm surge and flooding.
“With peak winds now forecast to arrive between high tides, there are lessening concerns for storm surge and coastal flooding,” the town wrote on its website Friday. “Rain is now forecast to be between 1-2″, and hazardous storm conditions should begin to subside in the late afternoon on Saturday.”
Still, residents are urged to use caution.
“While the threat of storm surge/coastal flooding seems to be diminishing, the potential for power outages remains due to strong winds and leaves on trees,” Provincetown officials wrote.
Travis Andersen of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
John R. Ellement can be reached at john.ellement@globe.com. Follow him @JREbosglobe. Maeve Lawler can be reached at maeve.lawler@globe.com. Follow her @maeve_lawler.