Hurricane Earl takes aim at US East Coast

Powerful Hurricane Earl bore down on the US East Coast on Thursday on a path toward North Carolina's barrier islands, which it was expected to lash with dangerous winds and pounding surf.                                           
 

The US National Hurricane Centre said the massive Category 4 storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of intensity had strengthened with its top sustained winds reaching 145mph (230kph).                                           
 

Earl's centre, located about 355 miles (575 km) south of Cape Hatteras at 8am EDT (1200 GMT), was expected to pass near North Carolina's Outer Banks on Thursday night before turning gradually toward the north-northeast as it tracked up the East Coast on Friday.                                           
 

While a direct US landfall was not forecast, Earl was on track to deliver a sidelong blow to the North Carolina coast ahead of the Labor Day holiday weekend marking the end of the summer vacation season.                                           
 

"Folks should not focus on the exact track because this is a very large hurricane," said Hugh Cobb, a meteorologist with the Miami-based hurricane centre.                                           
 

"Hurricane force winds extend out 90miles (145 km) from the centre," Cobb said. "So even if it doesn't make either a direct landfall, or even come within 60miles (96km) of the Outer Banks, they're still going to get hurricane force winds just because of the sheer size of the storm."                                           
 

Large swells roiled the coastline, and experts warned Earl would bring dangerously high seas.                                           
 

North Carolina officials expanded mandatory evacuation orders across new areas of the state's low-lying barrier islands on Thursday.                                           
 

The islands jut out into the Atlantic and are frequently smacked by hurricanes and storms. Cobb said 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.                                           
 

"The trees are starting to shake a little from the wind. I was out on the beach and even though it's low tide, the waves have been coming up to the dunes," he added.                                           
 

Watches and warnings were posted along the Atlantic coast for most of North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and part of Massachusetts, alerting residents that hurricane and tropical storm conditions were possible within 36 to 48 hours.                                            
 

Though forecasters said Earl was expected to keep off the US Coast, they warned it would be very near southeastern New England on Friday night and any westward deviation from the forecast track could bring the storm's core over the mainland.