Weakened Earl soaks Cape Cod

CHATHAM, Mass. — The remnants of Hurricane Earl dumped rain on Cape Cod's gray-shingled cottages and fishing villages late Friday, disrupting vacations on the unofficial final weekend of the New England summer.

The storm swooped into New England waters as a tropical storm with winds of 70 mph after sideswiping North Carolina's Outer Banks, where it caused flooding but no injuries and little damage.

The storm passed wide of New York City, Long Island and the rest of the mid-Atlantic region, but it brought rain and high winds as it passed just off Cape Cod, Nantucket Island and Martha's Vineyard late Friday.

Vacationers had pulled their boats from the water and canceled Labor Day weekend reservations on Nantucket, the resort island and old-time whaling port. Shopkeepers boarded up their windows. Swimmers in New England were warned to stay out of the water and off the beach because of the danger of getting swept away by high waves.

That it did not produce mammoth problems did not mean Earl had no impact. In Kill Devil Hills, on North Carolina's Outer Banks, it flooded the streets enough to allow Kellie Maier to paddle her kayak among the cars. It shut beaches in East Hampton on Long Island, N.Y., where officials blocked access with yellow ropes and signs that warned "No swimming."

It played havoc with Labor Day travel, prompting a suspension of Amtrak train service between New York and Boston until Saturday morning and leading Continental Airlines to cancel 60 flights. It shut boat harbors and the airport in Nantucket, leaving the island without a direct connection to the Massachusetts mainland.

No large-scale evacuations were ordered for Cape Cod, where fishermen and other hardy year-round residents have been dealing with gusty nor'easters for generations.

"We kind of roll with the punches out here. It's not a huge deal for us," said Scott Thomas, president of the Nantucket Chamber of Commerce.

By late Friday, Earl was a tropical storm, down from a Category 4 a day earlier.

In New Jersey, two men apparently died earlier in the week in the rough surf caused by Earl and the hurricane before it, Danielle. Fog, wind and roiling seas also hindered the search for a boater off Portsmouth, N.H.

Rain from the outer bands of the hurricane forced a 25-minute delay at the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York City. It also delayed a Red Sox-White Sox game in Boston.

Material from The New York Times is included in this report.