Massachusetts suffered a few hundred power outages, a handful of downed power lines and isolated flooding. Maine saw rain and churning surf but no gusts strong enough to produce damage. After skimming past North Carolina and Massachusetts, Earl finally made landfall Saturday morning near Western Head, Nova Scotia. It was blamed for the death of a man who drowned while trying to secure his boat after it became loose from its mooring off a bay near Halifax. The storm brought heavy sheets of rain and swift gusts, toppling some trees and knocking out power to more than 200,000 customers in Nova Scotia. There were numerous flight and ferry cancellations. Police said the road to the popular Peggy’s Cove tourist site near Halifax was closed to keep curious storm-watchers away from the dangerous, pounding surf. Large parts of Halifax were without power Saturday night and Nova Scotia Power was warning some parts of the city would be without electricity until Sunday morning.
The tropical storm, far less intense than feared, brushed past the Northeast and dumped heavy, wind-driven rain on Cape Cod cottages and fishing villages but caused little damage to human life except for business life in the affected areas |
The Canadian Hurricane Center issued a tropical storm warning for parts of Newfoundland. Earl had swooped into New England waters Friday night as a tropical storm with winds of 70 mph (112.65 kph) after sideswiping North Carolina’s Outer Banks, where it caused flooding but no injuries and little damage. The rain it brought to Cape Cod, Nantucket Island and Martha’s Vineyard was more typical of the nor’easters that residents have been dealing with for generations.
Winds on Nantucket blew at around 30 mph (48.28 kph), with gusts above 40 mph (64 kph). The island got more than 2 inches (5 centimeters) of rain, while adjacent Martha’s Vineyard got more than 4 inches (10 centimeters).
Worries about Earl had altered holiday weekend plans up and down the East Coast. Boaters pulled their vessels from the water, shopkeepers boarded up their windows and vacationers canceled reservations. Some hoteliers reported that business was way off. Nikolakopoulos said her hotel was at 100 percent occupancy last year on Labor Day weekend. On Friday night, it was at about 20 percent. She was hoping to recapture some of lost business with a storm special that cut rates from an average of about $130 to an average of $85.
Massachusetts officials were hopeful that last-minute vacationers would make up for the cancellations. Gov. Deval Patrick walked around Chatham on Saturday morning, proclaiming, “The sun is out and the Cape is open for business.” Earl, once a fearsome Category 4 hurricane with 145 mph (233 kph) winds, did kick up dangerous riptides up and down the coast. Officials warned that rip currents would continue to be a concern over the weekend. With offshore seas up to 20 feet, beaches would continue to see big waves that could knock people off jetties or piers, officials warned. In central New Jersey, a body found by fishermen in an inlet Saturday was identified as that of a swimmer who went missing Thursday in rough ocean surf spawned by Earl, police said. The medical examiner’s office hadn’t determined the cause of death for the man, Pardip Singh, who had gone swimming with friends at Belmar, about a half-mile (kilometer) from where his body was recovered.
