Hurricane Earl Watch for the East Coast of North Carolina. (542 hits)
Earl is barreling towards the coast of North Carolina where it is expected to arrive later Thursday. Tourists have largely evacuated vulnerable islands off of North Carolina as Earl nears.
"I'm standing in front of the beach in Atlantic Beach, N.C., and there is not a single person that I see on the beach," said CTV's Omar Sachedina.
"This city has gone from boom town to ghost town and officials are saying if you don't need to come here don't, and anybody who is here is being warned to leave."
North Carolina and Virginia have both declared a state of emergency in advance of the hurricane.
And on Thursday a tropical storm warning was issued for the coast of Long Island, N.Y. and a hurricane watch was issued for parts of Massachusetts. A hurricane warning was already in place for the North Carolina coast.
North Carolina was in the midst of evacuations Thursday morning as people fled the fragile barrier islands in Carteret County.
Earl is expected to touch down on the U.S. mainland around midnight Thursday near Cape Hatteras. It is expected to bring wind gusts of up to 160 km/h along with several feet of storm surge.
Here is a summary of watches and warnings currently in place along the U.S. and Canadian coast:
Environment Canada has issued a hurricane watch for Nova Scotia's Digby, Yarmouth, Shelburne and Queens counties.
Tropical storm watches are also in effect for several other areas in Nova Scotia and eastern New Brunswick, including the Halifax and Moncton areas
A hurricane warning is in place from Bogue Inlet, N.C. northeast to the North Carolina, Virginia border.
A hurricane watch is in effect for north of North Carolina-Virginia border to Cape Henlopen, Del. and from Westport to Plymouth, Mass.
A tropical storm warning is in effect for Cape Fear to west of Bogue Inlet, N.C., and north from the North Carolina-Virginia border to Sandy Hook, N.J. and along the coast of Long Island, N.Y.
A tropical storm watch is in place for Sandy Hook. N.J. to Woods Hole, Mass. and for the coast of Long Island west of Fire Island Inlet and Port Jefferson Harbor.
