Earl slams NC islands

September 3, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

BUXTON, N.C.

The last ferry left for the mainland, and coastal residents hunkered down at home as Hurricane Earl closed in with 110 mph winds Thursday on North Carolina’s dangerously exposed Outer Banks, the first and potentially most-destructive stop on the storm’s projected journey up the Eastern Seaboard.

The first bands of heavy rain hit the long ribbon of barrier islands Thursday night. Forecasters said the worst winds should come after midnight as Earl passes about 50 miles to the east of the Outer Banks. Gusts of up to hurricane force were possible.

The National Weather Service reported winds on the barrier islands were gusting to around 40 mph Thursday night as Earl’s eye moved closer. 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 about 2 a.m. today. The coast is expected to be lashed by hurricane-force winds for a couple of hours.

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.

Shelters were open in inland North Carolina, and officials on Nantucket Island, Mass., planned to set up a shelter at a high school today. North Carolina shut down ferry service between the Outer Banks and the mainland. Boats were being 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 also have made in North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland.