MIAMI, (Reuters) – Hurricane Earl strengthened into a powerful Category 4 storm yesterday after lashing the northeast Caribbean islands, and was expected to swipe the U.S. East Coast in the next few days, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
But the Miami-based forecasters said it was too early to say which part of the U.S. eastern seaboard might be impacted by Earl, the second major hurricane of the 2010 Atlantic season.
Earl had sustained winds of 135 mph (215 kph) and could strengthen in the next two days, the forecasters said.
The hurricane was moving west-northwest on a curving track that the National Hurricane Center said would take it near Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, on Thursday and Friday.
A direct hit could not be ruled out, and Earl was expected to bring drenching rain, dangerous seas and surf and gusting wind to the Atlantic Coast from North Carolina to New England and Canada, said Alex Sosnowski, a senior meteorologist for private forecaster AccuWeather.
“How nasty the weather gets in this region will depend on the exact track of Earl and its proximity to the coast,” Sosnowski said in a posting on the AccuWeather website.
If Earl swings farther west than expected, heavy rain could sweep the Interstate 95 corridor from North Carolina to Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York City, he said.
On its current path, Earl posed no threat to the Gulf of Mexico, where major U.S. oil and gas installations are located.
Hovensa LLC said operations were normal at its 500,000 barrel-per-day refinery on the island of St. Croix but that the refinery’s harbor and all other ports in the U.S. Virgin Islands had been closed because of Earl.
At 5 p.m. EST (2100 GMT), the hurricane’s center was 110 miles (180 km) northeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Earlier, the hurricane buffeted the northernmost Leeward Islands of the Caribbean with fierce winds, driving rain and pounding waves as it passed.
The world’s three largest cruise lines — Carnival Corp, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line — changed their Caribbean itineraries and rerouted at least seven ships to avoid the storm.
Residents on the island of St. Martin/St. Maarten, its two halves respectively administered by France and the Netherlands, said Earl’s passage caused power outages and toppled trees.
