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Tropical Storm Hanna is expected to bring high winds and heavy rain today and tonight to the Attleboro area.

From 3 to 6 inches of rain is possible for the region through Sunday morning, with winds of 30 to 35 mph and gusts up to 55 mph, said William Babcock, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Taunton.

Rain was predicted to start falling early this morning, with up to 2 inches predicted.

"There will be fairly hefty downpours through the morning, then things lighten up for the afternoon," with a few showers before a second wave of heavy rain arrives tonight as Hanna hits, Babcock said. "Scattered thunderstorms are possible, and rain will be fairly heavy, downright torrential in spots."

Another 2 to 3 inches of rain will be part of this second wave. "We're looking at quite a bit of rainfall," Babcock said. "It will be enough to cause some urban and poor drainage flooding."

Winds will start to pick up this afternoon, the meteorologist said.

Wind gusts could topple trees and power lines, weather forecasters warned. Officials advise area residents to bring in or tie down lawn items and trash barrels and anything else outdoors that could become airborne.

About 4 to 5 a.m. Sunday, the center of Hanna should come right across Bristol County, and the morning could see gusts running 45 mph and more "heavy, torrential rainfall," Babcock said.

Welcome news for the New England Patriots' home opener at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, the storm is expected to be out of the area by the afternoon, forecasters said. But residue from the storm will make it a breezy day.

"This storm will do some damage, much like winter nor'easters that are even more powerful," Senior Meteorologist John Kocet of AccuWeather said.

The storm made landfall in the southeast corner of the country overnight, including the Carolinas, before moving up the Eastern Seaboard. Hanna was close to hurricane strength Friday night - winds of at least 74 mph constitute a hurricane. Hurricane-force wind gusts are possible on Cape Cod, where a storm surge of up to 6 feet could cause flooding and beach erosion.

Because of the fast pace of the storm, rainfall totals will not be as high as they could be, meteorologists said.

Area public works departments have been preparing for days for the stormy weather.

"We'll be ready for it, as ready as you can be," Aurellio "Sonny" Almeida, superintendent of the Attleboro's park and forestry department, said Friday. "We're getting everything gassed up and ready." Almeida said the town will have cleanup crews scattered across the city to assist police and fire personnel in clearing the streets.

"We're going to go as needed, wherever they want us," he said.

In Mansfield, the town's highway department began clearing catch basins and making sure chain saws were working early in the week, according to Lee Azinheira, public works director for the town.

"The debris is usually the biggest problem," he said.

Both Attleboro and North Attleboro are lowering the water levels behind their dams to prevent the flooding that could occur with the 2 to 4 inches of rain expected to hit the area.

"We're looking to stop any major flooding," said Bob Arauja, a foreman in Attleboro's public works department. "We can't just wait and see."

Arauja said his department has fueled up generators and pumps and has sand bags on hand.

"We have to prepare for the worst and hope for the best," he said.

The Jimmy Buffett concert Saturday at the Comcast Center in Mansfield has been moved up to 3 p.m. from its original time of 8 p.m. because of the pending storm. Buffett, who ironically mentions hurricanes in some of his songs, played the first of his annual two area shows Thursday night.

The Tri-County Regional Vocational Technical High School football game has been moved up to 1 p.m. from 6 p.m. at Franklin High School.

Wrentham Day is still on for today from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. around the town common, but a fly-in at Mansfield Municipal Airport has been cancelled.

It could be a double punch to the area as Hurricane Ike is close behind Hanna, and is expected to reach the Bahamas by Sunday.

If nothing else, it's a good dress rehearsal for Ike if Ike were to come," Peter Judge, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, said of the first storm.