The National Hurricane Center has issued a hurricane warning for portions of the North Carolina coast, from the Bouge Inlet, north of Camp Lejeune, north to the Virginia border. Hurricane Earl has continued to lose some of its force as maximum sustained winds are now down to 115 mph. This is still a Cat 3  Hurricane and needs to be watched closely. The storm continues to move N at 18 mph as of the 5 pm update from the National Hurricane Center. The current forecast for Hurricane Earl is to continue moving N over the next several hours before a turn towards the NE and eventually track approximately 60 miles east of Hatteras, North Carolina. Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands ar under evacuation at this time. Hurricane Earl will bring strong winds and high surf to the coast of North Carolina resulting in coastal flooding in some areas. This is still early and changes in the track of the storm are very possible and likely. A shift to the west will bring the storm even closer to North Carolina and its impact will be even more devestating and be felt even further inland.

The American Red Cross in Eastern North Carolina is preparing for any possible situation from Hurricane Earl. An evacuation shelter opened in Pitt County on the campus of North Pitt High School on Thursday morning. There were no occupants overnight. A shelter was opened at Englewood Baptist Church in Rocky Mount Thursday at 11 a.m. for evacuees from Tyrrell county but was closed at 12 noon as those evacuees will now be sent to the Pitt County Shelter.  Additional shelters are scheduled to open throughout Eastern North Carolina Thursday. Red Cross Chapters are in contact with State and local Emergency officials. The Red Cross urges everyone to monitor weather updates over the next 12-24 hours as conditions change so you will be prepared to respond accordingly. The time to prepare is NOW! Click here to learn how!

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