Weaker Earl still packing punch

2010-09-03 14:03

Buxton - A weakened Hurricane Earl churned past North Carolina's Outer Banks and began to lash south east Virginia early on Friday, while two more states along the US East Coast were declared states of emergency.

Earl lost strength on Thursday, winding down from a Category four storm with winds of 225km/h to a category two storm with winds of 169km/h.

But it still packed enough of a punch to send rain sideways and shake signs in Buxton, the south-easter tip of the Outer Banks.

Residents and officials were waiting for daybreak to survey the damage by the storm's winds and waves.

National Weather Service meteorologist Chris Collins said, however, that Earl had produced little storm surge and only minor flooding in some coastal counties.

While more than 30 000 residents and visitors were ordered to leave the Outer Banks, more hardy residents gassed up their generators and hunkered at home behind their boarded-up windows, even though officials warned them that it could be three days before they could expect any help.

‘Nerve-racking’

"It's kind of nerve-racking, but I've been through this before," said 65-year-old Herma De Gier, who has lived in the village of Avon since 1984.

De Gier said she will ride out the storm at a neighbour’s house but wants to be close enough to her own property so she can quickly deal with any damage.

Farther up the coast, governors in Massachusetts and Rhode Island declared states of emergency, joining North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland.

Earl is expected to move north-northeast for much of Friday, staying away from New Jersey and the other mid-Atlantic states, but also passing very close to New York's Long Island, and Cape Cod and Nantucket in Massachusetts.

Much of New England should expect gusty winds, along with fallen trees and downed power lines, forecasters said.

"This is the strongest hurricane to threaten the Northeast and New England since Hurricane Bob in 1991," said Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist with the National Hurricane Centre.

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick urged people living in low-lying areas prone to flooding to consider leaving their homes by Friday afternoon.

Shelter

Officials on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, planned to set up a shelter at a high school.

"We're asking everyone: ‘Don't panic’," Patrick said. "We have prepared well, we are coordinated well, and I'm confident that we've done everything that we can."

Earl also threatened to snarl travellers’ plans for Labour Day weekend, which is from September 3 to 6, as several flights are already cancelled.

The most likely place Earl will make landfall is on Saturday in western Nova Scotia, Canada, where it could still be a hurricane, said hurricane centre deputy director Ed Rappaport.

- AP