People on holiday on the East Coast of the US may want to check the terms of their travel insurance policies ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Earl.
Holidaymakers and residents alike may see plans for the Labour Day holiday scuppered as Earl moves up along the Atlantic coast, with stormy, windy weather expected to hit Long Island, Nantucket Island and Cape Cod.
Already tourists and residents have been evacuated from the Outer Banks in North Carolina before the storm arrived.
The last ferries from the dangerously exposed area to the mainland left on Thursday evening ahead of wind speeds of up to 105mph.
The North Carolina region is expected to take the brunt of the storm before its projected move up the East Coast.
Gusts above 40mph made signs shake and the heavy rain fall sideways in Buxton, the south-easternmost tip of the Outer Banks.
Hurricane Earl's winds were slowing from 140mph to 105 mph, Category 2 strength.. But forecasters warned that it remained powerful, with hurricane-force winds of 74mph or more extending 70 miles from its centre and tropical storm-force winds of at least 35mph, reaching more than 200 miles out.
National Weather Service meteorologist Hal Austin said the eye of the hurricane was expected to get as close as 55 miles east of the Outer Banks.
The coast was expected to be lashed by hurricane-force winds for a couple of hours with a storm surge of up to five feet and waves 18 feet high.
