BUXTON, North Carolina (AP) — Hurricane Earl barreled toward the U.S. East Coast on Thursday with winds swirling at around 140 mph (225 kph).
Forecasters were trying to pinpoint how close the strongest winds and heaviest surge would get to North Carolina’s fragile chain of barrier islands, and whether the storm would threaten parts of the Northeast.
Already, the governors of North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland had declared states of emergency as Earl whirled into a powerful Category 4 storm. The highest storm category is 5 that has winds of 156 mph (251 kph) and higher.
"There is still concern that this track, the core of the storm, could shift a little farther to the west and have a very significant impact on the immediate coastline. Our present track keeps it off shore, but you never know," National Hurricane Center spokesman Dennis Feltgen said.
Clouds from the outer bands of Hurricane Earl appear over the Atlantic ocean at sunrise in Nags Head, N.C., Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010 as Earl approaches the east coast.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami issued a hurricane warning for part of the Massachusetts coast including Nantucket and a tropical storm warning along the Connecticut and Rhode Island coasts into Massachusetts.
Earl’s first encounter with the U.S. mainland should come around midnight Thursday, as the storm is forecast to pass just off North Carolina’s Cape Hatteras, bringing wind gusts of up to 100 mph (161 kph).
Almon Telling looks at the surf as he walks along the beach as Hurricane Earl heads toward the eastern coast in Atlantic Beach, N.C., Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010.
Early Thursday, North Carolina’s Outer Banks had only light winds and high clouds. By 11 a.m. (1500 GMT), the eye of Earl was 300 miles (500 kilometers) south of Cape Hatteras. Those conditions were expected to deteriorate throughout the day.
Joe Murray, of Snowcamp, N.C., right, helps friend Dick Grubar, of Greensboro, N.C., left, remove his boat from the water for protection as Hurricane Earl heads toward the eastern coast in Atlantic Beach, N.C., Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010.
While thousands of tourists heeded calls to evacuate Hatteras Island, locals familiar with hurricanes vowed to ride out Earl, preparing to spend days stranded from the mainland.
"I worry about not being able to get back here,’" said Nancy Scarborough, who manages the Hatteras Cabanas. "I’d rather be stuck on this side than that side."
A window is boarded up with a message at the Buxton Beach Motel in Buxton, N.C., Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010 as Hurricane Earl approaches North Carolina’s Outer Banks.
Along with the 30,000 residents and visitors asked to leave Hatteras Island, 5,000 more tourists were ordered to leave Ocracoke Island, which is only accessible by ferry and airplane.
Evacuations continued early Thursday, with residents and visitors leaving a barrier island in Carteret County.
A fisherman waits on the end of the Oceanana Pier as Hurricane Earl heads toward the eastern coast in Atlantic Beach, N.C., Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010.
The North Carolina National Guard is deploying 80 troops to help and President Barack Obama declared an emergency in the state. The declaration authorizes the Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to coordinate all disaster relief efforts.
Farther up the East Coast, emergency officials urged people to have disaster plans and supplies ready and weighed whether to order evacuations as they watched the latest maps from the hurricane center.
This image provided by NASA shows Hurricane Earl taken at 12:45 a.m. EDT Thursday Sept. 2, 2010.
If Earl moves farther east, Friday might just be modestly wet and blustery for millions in the Northeast. If the storm runs along the western edge of the forecast, dangerous storm surge, heavy rain and hurricane-force winds could hit.
Jay Farley, top, installs covers to a homeowner’s oceanfront window as Jason Wheeler, bottom, looks on as Hurricane Earl heads toward the eastern coast in Atlantic Beach, N.C., Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010.
Behind Earl, Tropical Storm Fiona was about 550 miles (885 kph) south of Bermuda and Gaston weakened into a tropical depression farther out in the Atlantic. A tropical storm warning was issued for Bermuda ahead of Fiona, which had top sustained winds of 50 mph (85 kph).
Senior hurricane specialist Lixion Auila studies computers at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010 as powerful Hurricane Earl wheels toward the East Coast, driving tourists from North Carolina vacation islands and threatening damaging winds and waves up the Atlantic seaboard over Labor Day weekend.
