HATTERAS ISLAND, N.C., (Reuters) – Hurricane Earl began to strafe North Carolina’s barrier islands with dangerous surf and winds yesterday as it spun parallel to the U.S. East Coast on a northward trek toward New England and Canada.
Earl was downgraded to a Category 2 storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of intensity and had top sustained winds of 110 mph (165 kph) after weakening on Thursday from its Category 4 peak, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
Additional weakening was expected but Earl was still a large and strong hurricane, the forecasters said.
As oil refineries, exploration and drilling platforms, and nuclear power plants along the Atlantic seaboard monitored Earl’s path, EnCana Corp said it suspended drilling and pulled personnel from a Nova Scotia rig in Canada.
Exxon Mobil said it had pulled nonessential staff from its Sable field in offshore Nova Scotia.
At least 100,000 people were ordered to evacuate from North Carolina’s Outer Banks islands as Earl bore down on the Atlantic shore. It was about 160 miles (260 km) south-southeast of Cape Hatteras at 8 p.m. EDT 0000 GMT).
It was due to pass near the Outer Banks overnight, making its closest approach near Cape Hatteras around 2 a.m. EDT (0600 GMT) today, before turning gradually northeast to sweep up the East Coast today and into Canada tomorrow.
“Even if the center of Earl remains offshore, hurricane-force winds are expected to occur in the Outer Banks by tonight,” the hurricane center forecasters said. “Tropical-storm-force winds will likely reach the coast from Virginia northward to Massachusetts on Friday.”
The U.S. Census Bureau estimated 26 million people in coastal counties from North Carolina to Maine could feel Earl’s effects in the next two days.
While a direct U.S. landfall was not forecast, Earl was due to deliver a stinging blow to the North Carolina coastline and farther northward before the Labor Day holiday weekend marking the end of the summer vacation season.
Forecasters warned that hurricane-force winds from Earl extended out 70 miles (110 km) from its center, so it would not need a direct landfall to inflict damage from strong wind and high seas.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said about 1.1 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil refining capacity lies in the likely U.S. affected area.
Breaking waves 15 feet (4.6 metres) or higher were expected along North Carolina’s Outer Banks, picturesque barrier islands that jut out into the Atlantic and are frequently smacked by hurricanes and storms.
Earl was one of the biggest storms to menace the state since Hurricane Floyd killed more than 50 people in North Carolina in 1999.
On Ocracoke Island, charter boat captain Ryan O’Neal, 31, said he was staying put with his dog despite an evacuation order. He spoke as the last ferry off the island, accessible only by boat, left on Thursday morning.
“I’ve been here for every hurricane since I was born. This one may be bad, but I’m sure we’ve had worse. I’ve got to watch out for my house and boat,” O’Neal said.
Watches and warnings were posted along the Atlantic coast for North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine and parts of Canada’s Nova Scotia and New Brunswick provinces, alerting residents hurricane and tropical storm conditions were possible in the next day or so.
