Weakened Earl Sparks More Anxiety Than Damage

(Sept. 4) -- Far from the powerful hurricane forecasters and residents feared, Tropical Storm Earl made landfall in Nova Scotia this morning after spoiling weekend beach plans but wreaking less damage than expected in battened-down U.S. towns.

The downgraded storm flooded North Carolina's Outer Banks enough to allow residents to paddle kayaks down a few submerged streets, but none of the catastrophic damage feared in early forecasts was seen. Hundreds of homes in Massachusetts lost power from downed electricity lines, but there were no reports of injuries, major damage and scarcely even a tree toppled.

Earl was packing only 70 mile-an-hour winds this morning, compared to 145-mph less than two days ago. Tropical storm warnings have been dropped for Massachusetts and its islands, but a hurricane watch is still in effect for parts of Canada. "Gradual weakening is forecast during the next 48 hours," the National Hurricane Center said in its morning advisory.

More than 200, 000 homes were left without power in Nova Scotia, and they could stay that way for another two days.

"The worst conditions are probably unfolding as we speak," Canadian Hurricane Centre forecaster Chris Fogarty said on Saturday afternoon.

Vacationers in the U.S. might be able to salvage their Labor Day barbecues after all. Sunny, warm weather is forecast for New England by tomorrow. "Earl is turning out to be a pearl, for the weekend anyway," Kim Buttrick, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Massachusetts, told Bloomberg News.

But while beach weather is forecast for tomorrow and Monday, authorities are cautioning that strong rip tides and currents could persist days after Earl is gone. Huge waves drawing surfers to Long Island's east side were also to blame for minor injuries to a young girl hit in the head by a log hurled by the surf there, the New York Daily News reported. Two swimmers also drowned on the Jersey Shore, the paper said. Swimming is still off-limits at many beaches.


Judging from Earl's mild effects on the United States, some Canadians have decided not to scrap their weekend plans, anticipating that the storm will be downgraded even further. Thousands of motorcycles lined the main street late Friday in Digby, Nova Scotia, ahead of a biker rally there today that wasn't canceled ahead of the storm.

"We're putting our motorcycles in a buddy's garage," one of the bikers, Bob Martin, told The Associated Press. "We're just going to party and let the storm go by."

Surfers were also making the most of the extreme weather in Nova Scotia.

Three professional surfers put on a virtuoso performance amid driving rain off the coast of southwest Nova Scotia, yhe Montreal Gazette reported.

"These are pretty optimal conditions for hurricane surf in the Atlantic," extreme sports photographer Jason Murray said.

More than Earl's power, preparations for the worst changed the pace of life this week along the Eastern seaboard. Businesses shut early in the Carolinas on Thursday and in New England on Friday, and residents reinforced windows with plastic tape and plywood. Amtrak suspended service between New York and Boston, and 151 flights across 21 airports along the East Coast were canceled, Bloomberg reported. The Coast Guard closed ports in southern Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

On Martha's Vineyard, where President Barack Obama vacationed with his family last month, skippers hauled their boats out of the water and residents stocked up on bottled water and canned goods just in case. But the island got only a few inches of rain.

"I am happy it got downgraded but it's better to be prepared," Taylor Evangelista, who manages a gift shop in nearby Cape Cod, told Reuters.

At one point, Earl was the strongest hurricane forecast to hit New England in two decades, and memories are still fresh from Hurricane Bob, which caused millions of dollars of damage in 1991. Obama called a preemptive state of emergency in Massachusetts, authorizing federal aid ahead of time, and state utilities deployed 1,000 extra workers to protect power lines, The Boston Globe reported.

But with their homes reinforced and little damage actually done, residents from Nantucket to Long Island decided to launch a series of "hurricane parties" instead.

"Everyone's so worried about the hurricane that no one's going to enjoy it," 29-year-old Ben Barry told The New York Times. "And there's nothing else to celebrate right now."
AOL's Hugh Collins contributed to this story.