Hurricane Earl Closing In On US East Coast
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Worthy News)– The category four storm is on course to lash the coast of North Carolina late Thursday, before shifting to the north. Hurricane and tropical storm warnings and watches are in effect along the Mid-Atlantic coast and as far north as Massachusetts.
Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami are warning of heavy rains and damaging winds from the storm, which now has sustained winds of 230 kilometers per hour.
Forecasters say a dangerous storm surge could raise water levels along the coast as much as 1.5 meters.
The governors of North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland have declared states of emergency.
President Barack Obama has also declared a state of emergency in North Carolina, allowing the federal government to coordinate disaster relief efforts there.
Earl has already skirted parts of the eastern Caribbean, flooding parts of Antigua and ripping out trees and blowing down power lines on St. Martin. Officials in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico say they are working to restore electricity to more than 200,000 people who were affected by the storm.
Forecasters are also watching Tropical Storm Fiona, which is expected to pass near Bermuda by early Saturday.
A third system, Tropical Storm Gaston, is moving slowly towards the Lesser Antilles and it not expected to impact any land until at least the middle of next week.
(Reprinted with permission from VOA News.)