Evacuation warnings see tourists flee

POWERFUL Hurricane Earl wheeled toward the East Coast, driving the first tourists yesterday from North Carolina vacation islands and threatening damaging winds and waves up the Atlantic seaboard over Labour Day weekend.

Visitors were taking ferries off Ocracoke Island and told to leave neighbouring Cape Hatteras in North Carolina’s Outer Banks, and federal authorities have warned people all along the Eastern seaboard to be prepared to evacuate.

Virginia’s Gov Bob McDonnell declared a state of emergency as a precaution, allowing the state to position staff and resources ahead of the storm. Emergency officials as far north as Maine urged people to have disaster plans and supplies ready.