Martin Luther King Jr’s "I Have a Dream" Quotes Adorn his New Memorial in Washington
Thousands, which included President Obama, flocked to the MLK Memorial dedication in Washington D.C. to honor Martin Luther King Jr., the leader who spearheaded the nation's civil rights movement. REUTERS/Jason Reed

Hurricane Irene has caused the indefinite postponement of the dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial that was slated for Sunday.

After the National Weather Service said that Hurricane Irene was bearing down on the East Coast the memorial’s executive architect announced the postponement of the dedication.

The National Weather Service predicted that the Category 3 hurricane will hit the D.C. region on late Saturday and early Sunday morning.

Executive architect Ed Jackson Jr. told the Associated Press in an email statement that no new date has been set for the dedication originally planned for Sunday.

President Barack Obama was scheduled to speak at the dedication on Sunday. Organizers had previously said that President Obama and around 250,000 people were expected in the dedication. But Irene ruined the possibility for the memorial to be dedicated on the 48th anniversary of King's I Have a Dream speech that was delivered at the Lincoln Memorial.

The memorial to Martin Luther King Jr. was opened to the public on Monday in Washington D.C.

Hurricane Irene continued its path of destruction towards the U.S. East Coast on Thursday, posing extreme danger to some of the country's largest cities.

The National Hurricane Center extended its Hurricane Warning from North Carolina to the Virginia border in its 5 p.m. advisory. Additionally the NHC issued a Hurricane Watch -- which indicates a possible hurricane within the next 48 hours -- from the Virginia/North Carolina border all the way up to Sandy Hook in New Jersey.

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