SOUTH YARMOUTH: Tropical Storm Earl barreled toward Canada past the northeastern US state of Massachusetts early Saturday after it weakened further and lost its hurricane status.
But it still lashed the US East Coast with heavy rains and strong winds.
Residents in North Carolina were mopping up after a storm surge sent waves crashing ashore, flooding roads on the low-lying barrier islands as the high winds caused sporadic power outages.
New England and the outlying tourist hotspot of Cape Cod was close to Earl`s path, although it was not expected to receive a direct hit.
"At this time we have no official reports of fatalities related to the storm track nor do we have any report of damage," Craig Fugate, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), told reporters.
Despite the downgrading of the storm, transport to and from Cape Cod and the nearby high-end destination islands of Nantucket and Martha`s Vineyard, where last week US President Barack Obama and family vacationed, was limited.
The high-speed ferry service to the islands was cancelled, as were dozens of flights by the region`s leading airline, Cape Air.
And the Friday traffic commute over Cape Cod`s two bridges was extremely light, given the Labor Day weekend usually boasts a four to five-hour gridlock.
The National Hurricane Center said winds had weakened to near 70 miles (110 kilometers) per hour as the storm lost steam churning northward over cooler waters.
"Gradual weakening is forecast during the next 48 hours," the center added.
At 0900 GMT, the center of Earl was about 160 miles (255 kilometers) east of Nantucket and 145 miles (230 kilometers) southwest of Halifax, Nova Scotia, traveling northeast at 30 miles (48 kilometers) per hour.
The storm, according to US forecasters, was making a gradual turn northeast. "On the forecast track, the center of Earl will reach the coast of Nova Scotia by late morning or early afternoon today," the NHC predicted.
Across Cape Cod, storm warnings had sent utility crews out trimming tree limbs from electrical lines and setting up rescue staging areas by the Cape`s main mall to confront power outages.
Heading warnings, local residents battened down the hatches along the beach paradise`s commercial spine, Route 28, which runs parallel to the Atlantic.
Commercial and residential properties were boarded up with heavy plywood but many businesses had signs spray painted "Still Open" in neon colors.
Weather watchers said Earl was still the most powerful storm to threaten the US Northeast since 1991, when Hurricane Bob killed six people.
Joe Gurl, owner of the Polar Cave ice cream shop in West Yarmouth, said tourists had all left Cape Cod "in a hurry" on Thursday.
"But the locals are all here," said Gurl, "We really haven`t had a major hurricane since 1991, but I`m ready. You fill up the car with gas. You fill up the generator with gas. You get ready for the power to go out. I`m ready."
Local shops were experiencing runs on batteries, water, bread and milk, "and a lot of junk food," said Shaw`s supermarket front manager Grace Szarecka, 32, in South Yarmouth.
At Bass River Liquors in South Yarmouth, manager Mark Lauzon, was boarding up his shop with plywood. "But it is not Earl I`m worried about. It is Dick and Joe and Bob breaking into my store if we have no power."
As the storm passed by, Cape Cod`s main streets were quite, especially downtown Hyannis, where the bars and bistros are normally packed during the Labor Day weekend.
"I`m pretty tired, but I`m going to go to the beach quickly just to see the waves," said Paul O`Neil, a native New Yorker working as a cook for the summer on Cape Cod.
However, major beaches around Hyannis and South Yarmouth, while hosting crashing displays of magnificent white-capped waves, were generally very empty, with residents obeying local and national warnings to stay inside during the storm.
BDST: 1824 HRS, September 4, 2010
