NAGS HEAD, N.C. — Hurricane Earl steamed toward the Eastern Seaboard on Wednesday as communities from North Carolina to New England kept a close eye on the forecast, worried that even a slight shift in the storm's predicted offshore track could put millions of people in the most densely populated part of the country in harm's way.
The governors of North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland declared states of emergency and the crew of the Navy's USS Cole rushed to get home to Norfolk, Va., ahead of the bad weather.
Earl was expected to reach the North Carolina coast late today and wheel to the northeast, staying offshore while making its way up the Eastern Seaboard. But forecasters said it could move in closer, perhaps coming ashore in North Carolina, crossing New York's Long Island and passing over the Boston metropolitan area and Cape Cod.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Earl was a powerful Category 4 hurricane centered more than 680 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C., with winds of 135 mph.
The only mandatory evacuations were for 30,000 residents and visitors ordered to leave Hatteras Island on the Outer Banks.
The North Carolina National Guard is deploying 80 troops to help and Gov. Bev Perdue sent a letter to President Barack Obama requesting a federal emergency declaration before landfall in anticipation of damages.
Hurricane warnings were posted for most of the North Carolina coast, with a hurricane watch extending to Delaware and part of Massachusetts.
Red Cross officials in New York prepared to open as many as 50 shelters on Long Island that could house up to 60,000 people in an emergency. No evacuations were issued, but officials were going to reexamine the situation this morning.
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