5,000 on N.C. islands flee as hurricane warning issued, Tourists evacuated off coast.

[alienmartian23]

[quote]

HATTERAS ISLAND, N.C. — With Earl packing 125 mph winds and closing in on the mid-Atlantic, a hurricane warning was issued Wednesday for most of North Carolina's coast — adding urgency to the thousands of tourists on two islands ordered to evacuate.

A warning indicates hurricane conditions are expected within 36 hours; a watch reflects 48 hours. The National Hurricane Center earlier extended a hurricane watch into Virginia.

In North Carolina, visitors to the islands of Ocracoke and Hatteras were ordered to leave with Earl expected to dump as much as four inches of rain on the Outer Banks.

At 11 a.m. ET, Earl's center was about 725 miles south-southeast of Cape Hatteras and moving at 17 mph.

The 800 or so year-round residents of Ocracoke Island were told they did not have to go, but officials hoped they would follow about 5,000 tourists forced to leave for the mainland.

"I don't remember the last time there was a mandatory evacuation order for the island," Hyde County Commissioner Kenneth Collier said.

Tourists' vehicles, some with campers in tow, lined up for the first ferries of the day from Ocracoke to the mainland. Another car ferry connects to Hatteras, which has a bridge to the mainland and came under the second evacuation order a little later Wednesday morning.

Dare County, N.C., issued a statement saying the evacuation of visitors to Hatteras was ordered "before high seas produce overwash on N.C. Highway 12 which will impede safe travel."

"The evacuation is only for visitors on Hatteras Island and does not apply for areas north of Oregon Inlet. The order does not include the towns of Duck, Kill Devil Hills, Kitty Hawk, Nags Head, Southern Shores, Roanoke Island or the mainland of Dare County," it added.

"Protective measures should be taken to secure property. Everyone should complete preparation activities, such as storing all loose outside objects. In advance of any hurricane, everyone should prepare an emergency kit including nonperishable food, water and clothing to sustain each family member for three days," the statement continued.

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More evacuations along the Eastern Seaboard could follow, depending on the path taken by the storm, which was whipping across the Caribbean with winds of 125 mph after weakening slightly from Category 4 to 3.

"Our two biggest concerns," National Hurricane Center Director Bill Read told NBC's "TODAY" show, are "the coast of North Carolina and extreme southeast Virginia on early Friday morning, late Thursday night, and then on Friday into Saturday for southeastern New England. Just a small change in the direction of the storm could raise an impact, and the large waves, beach erosion and rip currents will be a problem along the East Coast."

Any westward shift could have a major impact given that Earl has hurricane-force winds extending 90 miles from its center, and tropical storm-force winds 200 miles out.

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The center earl Wednesday extended the hurricane watch into part of Virginia. It now applies from Surf City, N.C., to Parramore Island, Va., including the Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds.

"Earl is moving toward the northwest (at) near 16 mph. This general motion is expected to continue today with a gradual turn to the north-northwest thereafter. On the forecast track, the core of this hurricane ... could approach the North Carolina coast by Friday morning," the NHC said.

Hurricane winds to Cape Cod?
NBC meteorologist Bill Karins said some computer models showed Earl's expected path had shifted west overnight, with a direct impact on the eastern New England shore possible.

"The National Hurricane Center now has Earl passing only 50 to 70 miles east of Cape Cod," Karins said.

"This would bring hurricane force winds to Cape Cod and the islands Friday around 9 p.m. At this point, 75 percent of weather computers keep Earl off the East Coast, resulting in just a glancing blow; the other 25 percent would bring a significant hurricane near or through eastern New England. A Category 1 landfall in Maine is also a growing possibility," he said.

"The weakening of Earl overnight was unexpected," he added, "but not significant since Earl was never supposed to be a Cat 4 all the way to North Carolina. Earl will be either a Cat 2 or Cat 3 off of the Outer Banks. Earl will be either a Cat 1 or Cat 2 when closest to Eastern New England."

Not since Hurricane Bob in 1991 has such a powerful storm had such a large swath of the East Coast in its sights, said NHC spokesman Dennis Feltgen.

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"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.

Fiona at 60 mph
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Fiona got stronger with winds of 60 mph as it headed toward the northern Leeward Islands in the Caribbean.

Tropical storm warnings were in effect for St Maartin and St Barthelemy and watches were in effect for several other islands, including Antigua, Barbuda, Montserrat, St. Kitts, Nevis and Anguilla.

Even if Earl stays well offshore, it will kick up rough surf and dangerous rip currents up and down the coast through the Labor Day weekend, a prime time for beach vacations, forecasters said.

Virginia's governor on Wednesday planned to declare an emergency, a preliminary step needed to muster emergency personnel should Earl hit the state.

The approaching storm troubled many East Coast beach towns that had hoped to capitalize on the BP oil spill and draw visitors who normally vacation on the Gulf Coast.

Carl Hanes of Newport News, Va., on Tuesday kept an eye on the weather report as he headed for the beach near his rented vacation home in Avon, N.C.

He, his wife and their two teenage children were anticipating Earl might force them to leave on Thursday, a day ahead of schedule.

"We're trying not to let it bother us," Hanes said before enjoying the calm surf.

'I kind of enjoy it'
In Rehoboth Beach, Del., Judy Rice said she has no plans to leave the vacation home where she has spent most of the summer. In fact, the Oak Hill, Va., resident plans to walk around town in the rain if it comes.

"I kind of enjoy it actually. You know, it's battling the elements," Rice said. "I have seen the rain go sideways, and, yeah, it can be scary, but I have an old house here in Rehoboth, so it's probably more important that I am here during a storm than anywhere."

In the Florida Panhandle, which has struggled all summer to coax back tourists scared away by the Gulf oil spill, bookings were up 12 percent over last year at the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort.

The resort is nowhere near Earl's projected path, and spokeswoman Laurie Hobbs said she suspects the increase in reservations was partly because of a discount the hotel is offering and partly because of the hurricane.

"Weather drives business," she said. "They go to where the weather is best."

On the coast of southern Maine, about 15 people have already canceled Labor Day reservations at Burnette's Campground in York because of concerns about Earl, said owner David Woods.

But a Labor Day weekend washout won't have the impact it would have had a decade ago.

"Labor Days have changed in the past 10 years," he said. "It used to be the big bang end to summer, but now from the 15th of August until the first of September, it sort of dwindles off."

If Earl brings rain farther inland, it could affect the U.S. Open tennis tournament, being played now through Sept. 12 in New York City.

"We're keeping our eye on it very closely," said United States Tennis Association spokesman Chris Widmaier.

On Monday, Earl delivered a glancing blow to several small Caribbean islands, cutting power to some 200,000 people in Puerto Rico and tearing roofs off homes and knocking out electricity to people in Anguilla, Antigua and St. Maarten.

NBC News, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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[imarawrus]

Wow, they've actually evacuated? Is it really gonna be that bad? I thought it was only supposed to be a catergory 2 by the time it reached NC.

[Zah]

[QUOTE=imarawrus;24517023]Wow, they've actually evacuated? Is it really gonna be that bad? I thought it was only supposed to be a catergory 2 by the time it reached NC.[/QUOTE]

Islands are always evacuated during a hurricane.