Tourists on a holiday island in North Carolina were ordered to board ferries and head for the mainland today as Hurricane Earl threatened to sideswipe the US East Coast.

A powerful Hurricane Earl threatened to lash much of America’s East Coast, forcing Labour Day holidaymakers to rethink spending the traditional last week of summer at the beach.

Hurricane Ophelia picked up strength as it closed in on North Carolina today, but many in the storm's path had shrugged off the threat of wind and flooding rain and ignored pleas to evacuate.