Authorities set up emergency shelters and shut down schools, government offices and the airport Tuesday as the "extremely dangerous" storm zeroed in on American Samoa.

Gov. Togiola Tulafono declared a state of emergency and asked President Bush to issue a disaster declaration in anticipation of damage from the powerful storm.

Residents boarded up homes, businesses and church buildings in preparation for the storm, which was expected to pass near the U.S. territory's main island of Tutuila early Wednesday.

The storm with 160 mph winds and higher gusts near its center was generating giant waves that were expected to cause flooding in low-lying areas, the National Weather Service said.

The storm was about 100 miles north-northwest of Pago Pago Tuesday night, moving to the southeast at 10 mph. But forecasters said the hurricane would change track to come to within 60 miles northeast of Pago Pago by 2 a.m. Wednesday.

The storm was expected to pass close to the three Manua islands, home to about 2,000 islanders, around 7 a.m., they said.

Tutuila and other islands could expect hurricane force winds of at least 74 mph overnight and through Wednesday, forecasters said.

Authorities began evacuating residents from coastal and low lying areas to about 60 emergency shelters by late Tuesday afternoon.

People stocked up on canned food, bottled water and flashlights. The three hardware stores in Pago Pago ran out of plywood Tuesday after running out of generators the day before.

The Samoa News, the territory's only daily newspaper, closed its offices Tuesday morning and did not plan to publish a Wednesday edition.

The American Samoa Power Authority planned to cut electricity to most of the territory once winds reached 70 mph, with power remaining to the LBJ Medical Center and the emergency management office, officials said.

The last major hurricane to hit the area was Heta, which plowed through American Samoa and neighboring Samoa in January of 2004 with winds up to 200 mph.

Heta damaged more than 4,600 homes in American Samoa, according to the American Red Cross. In Samoa, winds devastated up to 90 percent of the island nation's crops.