Earl weakens, but still powerful as it smacks North Carolina

BUXTON, N.C. — The last ferry left for the mainland and coastal residents hunkered down at home as Hurricane Earl closed in with 105 mph winds late Thursday on North Carolina's Outer Banks, the first and perhaps most destructive stop on the storm's projected journey up the Eastern Seaboard.

The hurricane's squalls began to lash the long ribbon of barrier islands Thursday night. Gusts above 40 mph made signs shake and the heavy rain blow sideways in Buxton, the southeasternmost tip of the Outer Banks.

Hurricane Earl's winds were slowing, from 140 mph early Thursday to 105 mph, Category 2 strength, by late Thursday. But forecasters warned that it remained powerful, with hurricane-force winds of 74 mph or more extending 70 miles from its center and tropical storm-force winds of at least 35 mph reaching more than 200 miles out.

"It's interesting to me to just see what Mother Nature can do," said Jay Lopez, 36, of Frisco, as the wind howled through Buxton.

National Weather Service meteorologist Hal Austin said the eye of the hurricane was expected to get as close as 55 miles east of the Outer Banks early Friday. The coast is expected to be lashed by hurricane-force winds for a few hours with a storm surge of up to 5 feet and waves 18 feet high.

"It's probably going to get a little hairy. We're prepared for it. My biggest concern is the ocean, not the wind," said Karen Denson Miller, who decided to stay on Hatteras Island with friends. Earl's arrival could mark the start of at least 24 hours of stormy, windy weather along the East Coast. During its march up the Atlantic, it could snarl travelers' Labor Day weekend plans and strike a second forceful blow to the vacation homes and cottages on Long Island, Nantucket Island and Cape Cod. Forecast models showed the most likely place Earl will make landfall is western Nova Scotia, Canada, where it could still be a hurricane, said hurricane- center deputy director Ed Rappaport.

It was unclear how close Earl's center and its strongest winds would get to land. But Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate said people shouldn't wait for the next forecast to act.

"This is a day of action. Conditions are going to deteriorate rapidly," he said.

Shelters were open in inland North Carolina, and officials on Nantucket Island, Mass., planned to set up a shelter at a high school on Friday. North Carolina shut down ferry service between the Outer Banks and the mainland. Boats were pulled from the water in the Northeast, and lobstermen in Maine set their traps out in deeper water to protect them.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and Rhode Island Gov. Donald Carcieri declared a state of emergency. Similar declarations were made in North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland.

As of late Thursday, though, the only evacuations ordered were on the Outer Banks, which sticks out into the Atlantic Ocean like the side-view mirror on a car, vulnerable to a sideswiping. About 35,000 tourists and residents were urged to leave.

A slow winding down was expected to continue as the storm moved into cooler waters, but forecasters warned the size of the storm's wind field was increasing, similar to what happened when Hurricane Katrina approached the Gulf Coast five years ago.

The storm is likely to disrupt travel as people try to squeeze in a few more days of summer vacation over the three-day weekend. Continental Airlines canceled 50 departures from Newark on its Continental Connection and Continental Express routes along the East Coast, beginning Thursday night. Other airlines were watching the forecast and waiving fees for changing flights.