After being responsible for at least 40 deaths in the Caribbean, Hurricane Sandy continues to threaten vast portions of the East Coast on Saturday.

According to Meteorologists and CBS News hurricane analyst, David Bernard of CBS Station WFOR, the storm weakened slightly overnight to a tropical storm, but was upgraded this morning to a hurricane packing 75 mph winds.

The latest update of the storm as of late Saturday morning reports that storm-force winds are already near the coast of North Carolina. The unpredicted super-storm could leave millions of people in the Northeast without power for days or even weeks.

The country's largest transit system, MTA, will decide whether to shut down the bus and subway systems on Sunday. Chairman Joe Lhota told the Daily News at a press conference that they are not making any decisions now.

"The bottom line on this is we're planning for the worst and hoping for the best, and decisions on this will be made tomorrow," Lhota said. "I think it's very important that all of the New Yorkers know what is the possibility, with the critical date being 7 p.m. tomorrow night."

The MTA has begun mobilizing emergency operations and maintenance workers, according to spokesman Joe Sviatko. "As long as it's safe, the goal is to keep everything open that we can during our normal operational hours," Sviatko said.

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Suffolk County officials are ordering a mandatory evacuation of Fire Island. Jersey Shore beach towns also began issuing voluntary evacuations and protecting boardwalks.

Atlantic City casinos have also made contingency plans to close. Several governors have also declared states of emergency and airlines have announced the expectation of cancellations.

CBS News reported that this storm could be wider and stronger than Irene, which caused more than $15 billion in damage, and could rival the worst East Coast storm on record.