| The governors of North Carolina and Virginia have declared a state of emergency as Hurricane Earl approaches the east coast of the United States. Ocracoke Island in Hyde County and Hatteras Island in Dare County have issued evacuation orders to prepare for the onset of Hurricane Earl. Ocracoke Island's evacuation order includes all visitors and residents. As of Wednesday morning, Hatteras evacuation orders were limited to visitors. Hyde County Health Director Wesley Smith, said that a state of emergency was declared for Ocracoke Island at 9 p.m. Tuesday EDT and the mandatory evacuation was issued at 5 a.m. EDT. Smith said there are about 800 permanent residents on Ocracoke, but the population with visitors "during peak season can get as high as 10,000." Estimates for the number of people currently on the island is about 5,000. According to Smith, "the only way on and off" the island is a ferry, which is a first-come, first-served basis. While Smith said they are encouraging everyone to get off the island, he said, "generally in a mandatory, you have some who refuse to evacuate."Overall rainfall from the system will depend on how far west Earl tracks. As of Wednesday morning, Strait said the forecast was for about 2-3 inches of precipitation, but if the storm shifts to the west, as much as 5 inches could be dumped on much of the Outer Banks. How quickly Earl moves will also influence rainfall totals. Tropical storm-force winds of 50-70 mph will also affect the Outer Banks, and hurricane conditions may be seen if the Earl moves inland. Hatteras Island is also evacuating visitors, but not permanent residents at this time. Sharon Sullivan of the Dare County Emergency Services said that the evacuation order, which was issued at 8 a.m. Wednesday, EDT, was for the safety of visitors who may be unused to the conditions a storm like Earl could bring. Hatteras is connected to Highway 12 and the bridge, Sullivan said, may become inaccessible if there is ocean over wash. Sullivan said that a rough estimate of the number of people on Hatteras, including full-time residents and visitors, is about 30,000. Dorothy Toolan, public information officer for Dare County said that in addition to the visitor evacuation order for Hatteras Island, they are also "encouraging people to make necessary preparations." Toolan said they are also asking people to continue to watch reports and warnings about the system. |