CHATHAM, Massachusetts–A weakening Hurricane Earl swiped past North Carolina yesterday on its way to the northeastern US, where officials warned residents that it still packed dangerous winds. Earl dropped to a Category 1 storm–down from a powerful Category 4 a day earlier–with sustained winds of 80 mph.
The storm could weaken to a tropical storm by the time it passes about 50 to 75 miles southeast of Nantucket today, said National Hurricane Centre Director Bill Read. Nantucket police chief William Pittman warned island residents against complacency, saying Earl was "still a dangerous storm" with severe winds that could be stronger than those carried by the gusty storms the island is used to absorbing.
The National Hurricane Centre reduced the New England areas under a hurricane warning to just Cape Cod and the islands. The rest of the New England coast remained under tropical storm warnings and watches. Earl sideswiped North Carolina's Outer Banks early yesterday, flooding the vacation islands but causing no injuries and little damage. The storm's winds had dropped by then to 105 mph from 145 mph a day before. (AP)