Hurricane Earl could reach the North Carolina Outer Banks, a chain of islands along the state's coast, by Thursday night, forecasters say.
Earl, now a powerful Category 4 storm, was about 660 kilometres south of Cape Hatteras, N.C., on Thursday morning, forecasters at the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
The storm is packing maximum sustained winds of 230 kilometres an hour.
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Hurricane Earl Approaches
This image provided by NASA shows Hurricane Earl taken by astronaut Douglas Wheelock aboard the International Space Station and posted Aug. 31, 2010. Earl was expected to remain over the open ocean before turning north and running parallel to the East Coast, bringing high winds and heavy rain to North Carolina's Outer Banks by late Thursday or early Friday.
AP Photo/NASA
AP
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Forecasters said the centre of Earl will pass near the Outer Banks on Thursday night and approach southeastern New England on Friday night.
The storm is expected to weaken later Thursday, but officials in coastal areas warn residents to brace for strong winds, heavy rain and large swells that could create rip currents.
The governor of North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland have all signed orders declaring states of emergency.
Visitors to North Carolina's Ocracoke Island left the area on ferries Wednesday and those on Cape Hatteras were also told to leave. Both are part of the Outer Banks, with long stretches of sandy beaches popular with vacationers.
While thousands of tourists heeded calls to evacuate Hatteras Island, locals familiar with hurricanes vowed to ride out Earl, preparing to spend days stranded from the mainland.
"I worry about not being able to get back here,"' said Nancy Scarborough, who manages the Hatteras Cabanas. "I'd rather be stuck on this side than that side."
The North Carolina National Guard is deploying 80 troops to help and U.S. President Barack Obama declared an emergency in the state. The declaration authorizes the Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency to co-ordinate all disaster relief efforts.
Farther up the East Coast, emergency officials urged people to have disaster plans and supplies ready and weighed whether to order evacuations as they watched the latest maps.
Residents in the Maritimes were also being urged to prepare for the storm.
Environment Canada has issued a tropical storm watch for the coast of Nova Scotia, from Port Maitland to Medway Harbour.
"The latest forecast will still bring Earl into Canadian waters Friday into Saturday with an 85 per cent chance of remaining a hurricane," CBC meteorologist Johanna Wagstaffe said.
There is a 40 to 50 per cent chance Earl will make landfall in Nova Scotia, Wagstaffe said.
With files from The Associated Press
