HURRICANE EARL 5 a.m.: Arrival comes before daybreak

Hurricane Earl churned past the North Carolina Outer Banks and its powerful gusts and driving rains were felt in Craven County early Friday.

At 4 a.m., there were reports of a couple hundred power outages near Havelock.

Earl had weakened all day Thursday, winding down from a Category 4 storm with winds of 140 mph to a Category 2 storm with winds of 105 mph. But it still packed enough of a punch to send rain sideways and shake signs in Buxton, the southeasternmost tip of the Outer Banks.

Craven County officials declared a state of emergency Thursday and opened evacuation shelters.

The shelters are open at Havelock High School at 101 Webb Blvd., at Brinson Elementary on Old Cherry Point Road in New Bern, and at Vanceboro Farm Life Elementary at 2000 Farm Life Ave. in Vanceboro.

A pet-friendly shelter is open at Ben D. Quinn Elementary at 4275 Dr. M.L. King Jr. Blvd. in New Bern. Pets must meet shelter requirements. Call 252-626-3899 for more information.

Inland, Eastern North Carolina felt the effects of tropical winds and rain. But otherwise, before dawn, damage reports were minimal.

Residents and officials of North Carolina's barrier islands were waiting for daybreak to see how much damage the storm's winds and waves had left behind. But National Weather Service meteorologist Chris Collins said Earl had produced little storm surge and only minor flooding in some coastal counties. Predictions of storm surges between 2 and 4 feet may be too much, he said.

In Nags Heads, with the eye the closest it was expected to get to the North Carolina coast, the rain lashed against window panes and the wind kicked up. At about 2 a.m., the tops of small trees were bending in the howling gusts and beach grass was whipping back and forth on dunes leading to the ocean. A couple hundred power outages were reported.

The most likely place Earl will make landfall is on Saturday in western Nova Scotia, Canada, where it could still be a hurricane, said hurricane center deputy director Ed Rappaport.

Governors in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Virginia and Maryland declared states of emergency, joining North Carolina.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)