San Juan, Puerto Rico: Hurricane Earl, now a powerful Category 4 storm, barrelled toward the US coast early on Tuesday after battering tiny islands across the northeastern Caribbean with heavy rain and winds that damaged homes and toppled power lines.
Earl is forecast to potentially brush the US east coast late on Wednesday, before curving back out to sea, potentially swiping New England or far-eastern Canada. The US National Hurricane Centre warned coastal residents from North Carolina to Maine to watch the storm closely.
"Any small shift in the track could dramatically alter whether it makes landfall or whether it remains over the open ocean," said Wallace Hogsett, a meteorologist at the centre. "I can't urge enough to just stay tuned."
Impact
In the Caribbean, Earl caused flooding in low-lying areas and damaged homes on islands including Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla and St Maarten. Several countries and territories reported power outages. Cruise ships were diverted and flights cancelled across the region.
The storm's centre passed just north of the British Virgin Islands on Monday afternoon.
By night time, the hurricane was pulling away from the Caribbean, but heavy downpours still threatened to cause flash floods and mudslides in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands by drenching already saturated ground.
The Hurricane Centre said it was too early to say what effect Earl would have in the US, but warned it could at least kick up dangerous rip currents.
A surfer died in Florida and a Maryland swimmer had been missing since Saturday in waves spawned by former Hurricane Danielle, which weakened to a tropical storm Monday far out in the north Atlantic.
Craig Fugate, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said Earl's approach ought to serve as a reminder to update evacuation plans.
