Hurricane Earl approaches East Coast
Powerful Hurricane Earl spun toward the East Coast on Wednesday, driving tourists from North Carolina’s vacation islands and threatening to bring damaging winds and waves to the Atlantic seaboard through Labor Day weekend.
Democratic Govs. Bev Perdue of North Carolina and Martin O’Malley of Maryland declared states of emergency in their states, and federal authorities have warned people along the coast to be prepared to evacuate if necessary.
The evacuation of the Outer Banks, a stretch of thin barrier islands, had begun in North Carolina, and hundreds of cars were backed up on the highway that is the sole link to the mainland. Earl’s strongest winds were expected to hit the coast Thursday night into Friday morning.
Earl’s effect on the East Coast will depend on when it makes its expected turn to the northeast.
A later-than-expected turn could mean the storm’s eye makes landfall on the extreme eastern tip of North Carolina as a Category 3 hurricane late Thursday or early Friday.
If that happens, hurricane-force winds could reach Long Island, N.Y., and Cape Cod, Mass.
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, a Republican, declared a state of emergency as a precaution, allowing the state to mobilize staff and resources before the storm. Emergency officials as far north as Maine urged people to have disaster plans and supplies ready.
Earl was on track to approach the North Carolina shore and then blow north along the coast, but forecasters cautioned that it was still too early to tell how close the storm might come to land.
The National Weather Service issued a hurricane warning for much of the North Carolina coast and hurricane watches from Virginia to Delaware.
Not since Hurricane Bob in 1991 has such a powerful storm had such a large swath of the East Coast in its sights, said Dennis Feltgen, spokesman for the National Hurricane Center.
“A slight shift of that track to the west is going to impact a great deal of real estate with potential hurricane-force winds,” Feltgen said.
Hurricane Earl approaches East Coast
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