Storm warning for Long Island

In Americas, Floods & Storms, News Headlines

MIAMI – A tropical storm warning has been issued for New York’s Long Island coast as Hurricane Earl barrels toward the Eastern Seaboard.

In addition, a hurricane watch was issued Thursday for areas of Massachusetts.
Farther south, tourists are largely gone from North Carolina’s Outer Banks, but those resolute residents who stayed behind say they’re prepared to potentially face down the most powerful hurricane to threaten the coast in years.

Earl has maximum sustained winds near 145 mph and is located about 410 miles south of Cape Hatteras, N.C., and moving north-northwest near 18 mph.

Previously:

BUXTON, N.C. (AP) — Tourists were largely gone from North Carolina’s Outer Banks, but those resolute residents who stayed behind say they were prepared Thursday to potentially face down the most powerful hurricane to threaten the coast in years.

Hurricane Earl with winds swirling at around 140 mph continued to barrel toward the Eastern Seaboard and forecasters were trying to pinpoint exactly how close the strongest winds and heaviest surge would get to North Carolina’s fragile chain of barrier islands. They also were trying to figure out whether the storm would stay off the Northeast coast or bring hurricane-force winds to Long Island, the Boston metropolitan area and Cape Cod.

“There is still concern that this track, the core of the storm, could shift a little farther to the west and have a very significant impact on the immediate coastline. Our present track keeps it off shore, but you never know,” National Hurricane Center spokesman Dennis Feltgen said.

Earl’s first encounter with the U.S. mainland should come around midnight Thursday, as the storm is forecast to just off Cape Hatteras, bringing wind gusts of up to 100 mph and several feet of storm surge both from the Atlantic and the sounds to the west of the islands.

Early Thursday though, the Outer Banks had only light winds and high clouds as the eye of Earl was hundreds of miles south of Cape Hatteras. Those conditions were expected to deteriorate throughout the day, said National Hurricane Center forecaster Todd Kimberline.

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