Hurricane Earl, after leaving a trail of devastation across the north-eastern Caribbean, is heading for the U.S. east coast.
The Miami-based US National Hurricane Center (USNHC) said Earl, which was upgraded to a category four storm, is due to make landfall on the Eastern U.S. coast on Friday.
Local officials have warned that it could cause storm surges and flooding in North Carolina and coastal Massachusetts before hitting the shores of Nova Scotia.
USNHC issued hurricane and tropical storm watches for the North Carolina coast, where Earl is expected to reach late Wednesday. Islanders off the coast of North Carolina have been ordered to evacuate.
A hurricane watch is in effect for north of Surf City to the North Carolina-Virginia border, including the Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds.
A watch is issued 48 hours ahead of the anticipated first occurrence of tropical-storm-force winds; conditions that make outside preparations difficult or dangerous.
After passing the state's coast on Thursday, the storm is forecast to head toward Canada passing through the northern U.S. coast on Friday and remain a hurricane through the weekend.
The U.S. Coast Guard has issued a notice warning that venturing into sea in Norfolk, Virginia, is risky.
The current track of Earl is not expected to make much effect on the land in the U.S., but a small deviation to the west will have an impact on the mid-Atlantic states, reports quoting USNHC Director Bill Read said. Currently, Mid-Atlantic Sea is reported to be exceptionally warm.
He told reporters on Tuesday that storm surges in coastal areas could necessitate local evacuations. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has pledged assistance to local officials of states from North Carolina to Maine.
Winds raging at a speed of 215 kilometers per hour caused power outages across the eastern Caribbean, while heavy rains drenched Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Bahamas and the Turk and Caicos islands.
USNHC said in its latest advisory on Wednesday that weather condition is likely to improve in the Turk and Caicos islands on Wednesday as Earl is beginning to move away from the region toward north-west at 22 kilometers per hour.
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