Earl threatens East Coast with weekend pounding

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Hurricane Earl was at 30.9N, 74.8W at 10 a.m. CDT with winds of 140 mph moving north at 18 mph with a turn to the north-northeast and an increase in forward speed expected. Hurricane warnings are in effect from Bogue Inlet, N.C. to the North Carolina/Virginia border, including the Pamlico and Albemarle sounds and from Westport, Mass. east to around Cape Code to Hull including Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Island. A hurricane watch is in effect from north of the N.C./Va. border to Cape Henlopen, Del. A tropical storm warning is in effect for Cape Fear to west of Bogue Inlet and from north of the N.C./Va. border to Sandy Hook, N.J., including Delaware Bay south of Slaughter Beach and Chesapeake Bay south of New Point Comfort and the eastern part of Long Island, N.Y. from Fire Island Inlet to Jefferson Harbor and New Haven, Conn. to west of Westport, Mass. Maps courtesy of NOAA
Tropical Storm Fiona was at 24.4N, 65.8W moving north-northwest at 17 mph with winds of 50 mph and a turn to the north-northeast expected. Fiona is expected to pass near Bermuda late Friday or early Saturday. Map courtesy of NOAA
Gaston was at 14.0N, 38.9W and had fallen off to a tropical depression with winds of 35 mph moving west-northwest at 7 mph Some restrengthening is expected during the next 48 hours Another tropical wave has moved off the coast of Africa and was a few hundred miles east-southeast of the Cape Verdes with some slow development expected over the next couple of days as it moves west at 10 mph. It has a 10 percent chance of becoming a tropical cyclone during the next 48 hours. Map courtesy of NOAA

September 2, 2010

Anonymous Associated Press Thu Sep 02, 2010, 12:34 PM CDT

BUXTON, N.C. — Hurricane Earl packed winds near 140 mph as it blew toward North Carolina on Thursday, putting the Eastern Seaboard up to Maine on alert for a Labor Day weekend pounding by waves, gales and rain.

A hurricane warning for the tip of Massachusetts, including Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, joined earlier warnings and watches for hurricanes or tropical storms that stretch from North Carolina up to near the Canadian border.

Earl was a dangerous category 4 storm with no significant change in strength forecast before it comes close to the Outer Banks late Thursday, then turns north in rough parallel to the coast, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

The center’s director, Bill Read, said the eye of the storm will likely remain about 30 to 75 miles east of the Outer Banks. At the closest point of approach, the western edge of the eye wall could impact Cape Hatteras, with huge waves, beach erosion and maybe some property damage from the waves.

“They’re going to have a full impact of a major hurricane,” Read said. “Maybe not the strongest winds but a large area of tropical storm force and probably gusts to hurricane force along the islands.”

There will be a similar close point of approach for the eastern tip of Long Island, Rhode Island, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket.

“They’ll be facing a similar scenario that North Carolina is facing today,” Read said. “And it will be bigger. The storm won’t be as strong but they spread out as they go north and the rain will be spreading from New England.”

That will mean strong, gusty winds much like a Northeastern, and because leaves are still on the trees, there could be fallen trees or limbs and downed power lines.

“This is the strongest hurricane to threaten the northeast and New England since Hurricane Bob in 1991,” said Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist and spokesman for the National Hurricane Center. “They don’t get storms this powerful very often.”

Tourists were largely gone from North Carolina’s Outer Banks, but residents who stayed behind said they were prepared to face down the powerful hurricane.

Gov. Beverly Perdue told reporters at a morning news conference that North Carolina is prepared for Earl. It’s now up to coastal citizens to get to a safe place as the storm passes by, she said.

“We’re very ready, as ready as anybody can be,” Perdue said. “It’s a serious storm and we all need to treat it like a serious storm.”

Three counties have issued evacuation orders, but Perdue said emergency officials can’t make residents leave their homes. She warned emergency crews often can’t immediately reach stranded coastal homeowners after a storm.

Evacuations continued early Thursday on the coast, with residents and visitors told to leave a barrier island in Carteret County and another in Dare County where the Wright Brothers National Memorial marks their first successful airplane flights at Kitty Hawk in 1903.

Residents like Nancy Scarborough, who manages the Hatteras Cabanas, said Outer Banks residents have a tight-knit community that takes care of its own.

“I worry about not being able to get back here,” she said. “I’d rather be stuck on this side than that side.”

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.

Many people — boaters, beachgoers and residents alike — were adopting a wait-and-see approach, making simple preparations like stocking up on food or attaching hurricane shutters to their houses. With the likelihood that the storm’s ultimate path will become clear on Thursday, officials expect planning to shift into high gear.

“Post-Katrina, people are really sensitive to storm preparedness,” said Atlantic Beach, N.C., Mayor Trace Cooper. “I don’t think we’re going to see too many people sticking around and saying they’re going to have hurricane parties. You see enough pictures of people waiting on their roofs to be rescued and you decide to take precautions.”

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 to coordinate all disaster relief efforts.

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