Hurricane Earl, category 1, watch out Long Island (photos, video)
Hurricane Earl is now a Category 1 storm, and it is heading to Long Island. This could affect holiday travel.
The National Weather Center says that Hurricane Earl will pass around 100-200 miles southeast of Montauk on Friday night. Winds will be around 55mph, says ABC 7 News.
See slide show here of previous Hurricane Earl photos
Airports in New York and New Jersey are expecting around 3 million travelers and already the Long Island Rail Road has announced it will stop some service on Friday afternoon.
Ferry service will stop between Fire Island and the mainland due to Hurricane Earl, reports the NY Daily News
Hurricane Earl had winds up to 105mph recently and it was positioned 130 miles northeast of Cape Hatteras, N. Carolina. The Category 2 storm, Earl, has now changed into a Category 1 storm
In North Carolina people lost electricity due to Hurricane Earl, but fortunately there were no reported injuries.
Many had left the area, although some businesses were going to wait the storm out and have parties.
In the Outer Banks, over 30,000 residents as well as tourists left due to the impending arrival of Hurricane Earl.
Some residents took shelter in a Comfort Inn in Buxton because the structure was more sturdy tha others in the area.
With winds up to 100mph, Hurricane Earl is expected to barrel through Long Island, Cape Cod and Nantucket later today.
"This is the strongest hurricane to threaten the Northeast and New England since Hurricane Bob in 1991," states Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist who works for the National Hurricane Center.
The Red Cross is preparing to let residents use 50 shelters in the area that are available for emergency purposes.
The Army Corps of Engineers says it will close the two bridges connecting Cape Cod to other areas in Massachusetts if winds get stronger than 70 mph.
San Francisco residents can follow this and other news stories on local TV station KTVU. The news comes on in San Francisco at 4pm, 5pm and 6pm.
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Source: NY Daily News
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Comments
This is quite frightening but I am glad it has been downgraded
Where will it go then after Long Island? do they know?
I thought there were more storms and hurricanes coming? No? Did they fizzle out then somewhere in the Atlantic? Thanks for this report.
Great to hear the good news that the storm is now #1 instead of category 4 or 5.
It's now easier to look at the slides, thank goodness. I don't get dizzy when changing from one slide to the next one. I hope Mother Nature is not too mean to us!
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