Hurricane Earl churns across Atlantic

The US East Coast was keeping a watchful eye on an intensified Hurricane Earl on Tuesday, amid warnings it could cause catastrophic damage from North Carolina to New York.

Packing fierce winds of up to 135 miles (215 kilometers) an hour, Earl, now a Category Four storm, was churning across the Caribbean, brushing past Puerto Rico as experts forecast it may reach North Carolina by midweek and travel northward from there.

If the forecasts are accurate, Earl will likely wreck plans for vacationers this Labor Day weekend, prompting them to desert area beaches.

It came on the heels of Hurricane Danielle, blamed for rough surf and riptides in New York and New Jersey last weekend.

On the five-point Saffir-Simpson scale used by the US National Hurricane Center (NHC), a Category Four storm carries a warning that “catastrophic damage will occur,” with a high risk of structural damage.

Earl was churning west-northwest at 14 miles (22 km) per hour, dumping heavy rains and whipping up massive waves as it continued its arc past the Lesser Antilles, with the eye of the storm centered some 110 miles (175 km) north of San Juan.

Even though it may strengthen in the next day or so, the storm was not projected to make landfall immediately, and earlier hurricane warnings for Puerto Rico and the US and British Virgin Islands were downgraded.

The NHC said tropical conditions would affect portions of Puerto Rico early Tuesday, with stronger winds likely in elevated terrain. The weather pattern was expected to subside later in the day before spreading to the Turks and Caicos islands.

One weather model has Hurricane Earl skimming the Outer Banks, in North Carolina on Friday, and possibly reaching as far north as the Canadian province of New Brunswick by Saturday.

Midway through the annual Atlantic hurricane season, the eye of the storm passed over the French islands of Saint Martin and Saint Barthelemy early Monday, bringing down trees, blocking roads and snapping power lines. Thousands of people were left without power.

French Overseas Territories Minister Marie-Luce Penchard told AFP late Monday that it appeared there had been no loss of life.

But “the wind is so strong that people still can’t go out,” she said. She was planning to travel to the two islands on Tuesday to assess the damage, but said a desalination plant had been hit and water supplies had been disrupted.

The storm could dump up to 12 inches (30 centimeters) of rain, especially in higher elevation, the US hurricane center said.

“These rains could cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides,” it warned.

Winds of up to 170 kilometers (105 miles) an hour were registered in Saint Barthelemy, emergency officials in Guadeloupe said.

The northern half of Saint Martin is French territory, with the remainder — known as Saint Maarten — belonging to the Netherlands. Saint Barthelemy lies to the southeast.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy hailed “the discipline and courage” of the islands’ residents, saying they were being sorely tested by the hurricane.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Fiona was moving quickly westward near 23 miles (37 km) per hour, and centered some 670 miles (1,080 km) east of the Leeward Islands. It was expected to skim the islands early Wednesday and packed top winds of 40 miles (65 km) per hour.

AFP