Eastport, Maine ? Forecasters issued a rare tropical storm warning and hurricane watch Saturday for parts of coastal Maine as Hurricane Kyle roared toward the region, threatening conditions similar to a New England nor’easter.

Authorities expect the state to see the worst late today or early Monday, with wind gusts as high as 60 mph and waves of 15 to 20 feet, said Robert McAleer, Maine Emergency Management Agency director.

Authorities have advised Mainers living on coastal islands to evacuate if they depend on electricity for medical reasons, because ferry service will probably shut down today, McAleer said. Significant power failures on the north coastal region of the state were also expected, he said.

“There’s going to be some beach erosion. Our southern coastline is susceptible to beach erosion; the northern coastline is more rocky,” he said.

He warned that coastal flooding could be a problem and said some hospitals in vulnerable areas had started sandbagging. Another major threat is small stream flooding, he said.

“We urge everyone to pay close attention to weather warnings and stay away from any flooded roadways or fast-running streams,” he said.

It was Maine’s first hurricane watch in 17 years, the National Weather Service said. Elsewhere in New England, a hurricane warning was posted for Nantucket Island off the coast of Massachusetts in September 1996, according to the Weather Service office in Taunton, Mass.

Two to 4 inches of rain had already fallen along some coastal areas by midday Saturday, and the storm was expected to deliver an additional 2 to 4 inches, said Eric Schwibs of the Weather Service in Gray.

At 10 p.m. CDT, Kyle was centered well off North Carolina, about 355 miles south of Nantucket, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

The storm had top sustained winds near 75 mph and became a Category 1 hurricane Saturday afternoon. It was moving north over the open Atlantic at 23 mph. It was expected to strengthen slightly before weakening closer to Maine.

Kyle’s center was forecast to be near eastern New England or the Canadian Maritime provinces late today or early Monday, the Hurricane Center said.

All told, weather watches or warnings stretched along the entirety of the Maine coast.

Kyle was expected to trigger tides of 1 to 2 feet above normal, accompanied by large, damaging waves, the Hurricane Center said.