Hurricane Earl is currently a Category 4 system on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, merely one rank below that of Hurricane Katrina. Earl was about 300 miles (485 km) south of Cape Hatteras, N.C. at 11 a.m. EDT Thursday and heading north with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph.
The president ordered federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts and authorized the Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate all disaster relief efforts and provide assistance for required emergency measures, according to a White House release.
The National Hurricane Center predicted that tropical storm-force winds will reach the North Carolina coast by Thursday afternoon.
“Even if the center of Earl remains offshore, hurricane force winds are expected to occur in the Outer Banks by tonight. Tropical storm-force winds will likely reach the coast from Virginia northward to New Jersey tonight or early Friday,” reads a National Hurricane Center advisory.
Homeland Security and the Emergency Management Agency, named Michael Bolch as the federal coordinating officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area.
