Even if Earl stays well offshore, it will kick up rough surf and dangerous rip currents up and down the coast through the Labor Day weekend, a prime time for beach vacations, forecasters said.
Virginia's governor on Wednesday planned to declare an emergency, a preliminary step needed to muster emergency personnel should Earl hit the state.
The approaching storm troubled many East Coast beach towns that had hoped to capitalize on the BP oil spill and draw visitors who normally vacation on the Gulf Coast.
On Tuesday, gusty winds from Earl's outer fringes whipped palm fronds and whistled through doors in the Turks and Caicos Islands as tied-down boats seesawed on white-crested surf.
Islanders gathered to watch big waves pound a Grand Turk shore as the wind sent sand and salt spray flying.
"We can hear the waves crashing against the reef really seriously," Kirk Graff, owner of the Captain Kirks Flamingo Cove Marina, said by telephone as he watched the darkening skies. "Anybody who hasn't secured their boats by now is going to regret it."
Carl Hanes of Newport News, Va., kept an eye on the weather report as he headed for the beach near his rented vacation home in Avon, N.C.
He, his wife and their two teenage children were anticipating Earl might force them to leave on Thursday, a day ahead of schedule.
"We're trying not to let it bother us," Hanes said before enjoying the calm surf.
'I kind of enjoy it'
In Rehoboth Beach, Del., Judy Rice said she has no plans to leave the vacation home where she has spent most of the summer. In fact, the Oak Hill, Va., resident plans to walk around town in the rain if it comes.
"I kind of enjoy it actually. You know, it's battling the elements," Rice said. "I have seen the rain go sideways, and, yeah, it can be scary, but I have an old house here in Rehoboth, so it's probably more important that I am here during a storm than anywhere."
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In the Florida Panhandle, which has struggled all summer to coax back tourists scared away by the Gulf oil spill, bookings were up 12 percent over last year at the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort.
The resort is nowhere near Earl's projected path, and spokeswoman Laurie Hobbs said she suspects the increase in reservations was partly because of a discount the hotel is offering and partly because of the hurricane.
"Weather drives business," she said. "They go to where the weather is best."
On the coast of southern Maine, about 15 people have already canceled Labor Day reservations at Burnette's Campground in York because of concerns about Earl, said owner David Woods.
But a Labor Day weekend washout won't have the impact it would have had a decade ago.
"Labor Days have changed in the past 10 years," he said. "It used to be the big bang end to summer, but now from the 15th of August until the first of September, it sort of dwindles off."
If Earl brings rain farther inland, it could affect the U.S. Open tennis tournament, being played now through Sept. 12 in New York City.
"We're keeping our eye on it very closely," said United States Tennis Association spokesman Chris Widmaier.
On Monday, Earl delivered a glancing blow to several small Caribbean islands, tearing roofs off homes and knocking out electricity to people in Anguilla, Antigua and St. Maarten.
In Puerto Rico, it knocked out power for nearly 187,000 people and 60,000 people lost their water supplies, Gov. Luis Fortuno said.
Cruise ships were diverted and flights canceled across the region. But there were no reports of deaths or serious injuries.
On Tuesday, gusty winds from Earl's outer fringes whipped palm fronds and whistled through doors in the Turks and Caicos Islands as tied-down boats seesawed on white-crested surf.
Islanders gathered to watch big waves pound a Grand Turk shore as the wind sent sand and salt spray flying.
"We can hear the waves crashing against the reef really seriously," Kirk Graff, owner of the Captain Kirks Flamingo Cove Marina, said by telephone as he watched the darkening skies. "Anybody who hasn't secured their boats by now is going to regret it."
NBC News, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Even if Earl stays well offshore, it will kick up rough surf and dangerous rip currents up and down the coast through the Labor Day weekend, a prime time for beach vacations, forecasters said.
Virginia's governor on Wednesday planned to declare an emergency, a preliminary step needed to muster emergency personnel should Earl hit the state.
The approaching storm troubled many East Coast beach towns that had hoped to capitalize on the BP oil spill and draw visitors who normally vacation on the Gulf Coast.
On Tuesday, gusty winds from Earl's outer fringes whipped palm fronds and whistled through doors in the Turks and Caicos Islands as tied-down boats seesawed on white-crested surf.
Islanders gathered to watch big waves pound a Grand Turk shore as the wind sent sand and salt spray flying.
"We can hear the waves crashing against the reef really seriously," Kirk Graff, owner of the Captain Kirks Flamingo Cove Marina, said by telephone as he watched the darkening skies. "Anybody who hasn't secured their boats by now is going to regret it."
Carl Hanes of Newport News, Va., kept an eye on the weather report as he headed for the beach near his rented vacation home in Avon, N.C.
He, his wife and their two teenage children were anticipating Earl might force them to leave on Thursday, a day ahead of schedule.
"We're trying not to let it bother us," Hanes said before enjoying the calm surf.
'I kind of enjoy it'
In Rehoboth Beach, Del., Judy Rice said she has no plans to leave the vacation home where she has spent most of the summer. In fact, the Oak Hill, Va., resident plans to walk around town in the rain if it comes.
"I kind of enjoy it actually. You know, it's battling the elements," Rice said. "I have seen the rain go sideways, and, yeah, it can be scary, but I have an old house here in Rehoboth, so it's probably more important that I am here during a storm than anywhere."
In the Florida Panhandle, which has struggled all summer to coax back tourists scared away by the Gulf oil spill, bookings were up 12 percent over last year at the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort.
The resort is nowhere near Earl's projected path, and spokeswoman Laurie Hobbs said she suspects the increase in reservations was partly because of a discount the hotel is offering and partly because of the hurricane.
"Weather drives business," she said. "They go to where the weather is best."
On the coast of southern Maine, about 15 people have already canceled Labor Day reservations at Burnette's Campground in York because of concerns about Earl, said owner David Woods.
But a Labor Day weekend washout won't have the impact it would have had a decade ago.
"Labor Days have changed in the past 10 years," he said. "It used to be the big bang end to summer, but now from the 15th of August until the first of September, it sort of dwindles off."
If Earl brings rain farther inland, it could affect the U.S. Open tennis tournament, being played now through Sept. 12 in New York City.
"We're keeping our eye on it very closely," said United States Tennis Association spokesman Chris Widmaier.
On Monday, Earl delivered a glancing blow to several small Caribbean islands, tearing roofs off homes and knocking out electricity to people in Anguilla, Antigua and St. Maarten.
In Puerto Rico, it knocked out power for nearly 187,000 people and 60,000 people lost their water supplies, Gov. Luis Fortuno said.
Cruise ships were diverted and flights canceled across the region. But there were no reports of deaths or serious injuries.
On Tuesday, gusty winds from Earl's outer fringes whipped palm fronds and whistled through doors in the Turks and Caicos Islands as tied-down boats seesawed on white-crested surf.
Islanders gathered to watch big waves pound a Grand Turk shore as the wind sent sand and salt spray flying.
"We can hear the waves crashing against the reef really seriously," Kirk Graff, owner of the Captain Kirks Flamingo Cove Marina, said by telephone as he watched the darkening skies. "Anybody who hasn't secured their boats by now is going to regret it."
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