Hurricane Earl

Hurricane Earl Forces Evacuation of Ocracoke Island – Projected Path

Powerful Hurricane Earl wheeled toward the East Coast, driving the first tourists Wednesday from North Carolina vacation islands and threatening damaging winds and waves up the Atlantic seaboard over Labor Day weekend.

As Hurricane Earl continues brewing in the Western Atlantic, authorities on the Outer Banks of North Carolina are beginning to evacuate Ocracoke Island via ferry. Ocracoke Island, which is filled with close to 5,000 people on vacation, is only accessible via ferry, making it extremely dangerous should a hurricane get close, since after a certain point it is impossible to leave.

Hurricane Earl remains a major hurricane this morning, as it moves northwest at about 16 miles per hour. The national Hurricane Center has revised their projected path slightly to the west since yesterday, indicating that the Outer Banks of NC may experience strong hurricane force winds. The path takes it just offshore of the Outer Banks sometime early Friday morning, as still a major hurricane. It’s forward speed should pick up there after, placing Earl somewhere east of Cape Cod by early Saturday morning. Please see the 8am NHC projected path inset above. All interests along the US East Coast need to pay close attention to any changes made to the projected path over the next 24-48 hours.

Emergency officials said they hoped Ocracoke's 800 or so year-round residents would heed the call to leave. But Carol Paul said she and husband Tom would stay put if the current forecasts hold. Only a direct hit from a stronger storm would drive them from the island where they've lived for seven years, running an antiques store."There's never been a death on Ocracoke from a hurricane, so we feel pretty comfortable," Carol Paul 57, said as tourists departed on ferries and her husband, also a construction contractor, worked to board up the windows of clients and friends' homes. "Everything here is made pretty much with hurricanes in mind."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., 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.

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."

Taken by BBC News