State of emergency as 145mph storm hits US
President Barack Obama declared an emergency in one state as powerful Category 4 Hurricane Earl headed towards the US east coast with winds of about 145 mph.
Forecasters were trying to pinpoint how close the strongest winds and heaviest surge would get to North Carolina's fragile chain of barrier islands, and whether the storm would threaten parts of the north-east.
The highest storm category is 5 with winds over 155mph. National Hurricane Centre spokesman Dennis Feltgen said: "There is still concern that the core of the storm could shift a little farther to the west and have a very significant impact on the coastline."
The North Carolina National Guard deployed 80 troops to help and the National Hurricane Centre in Miami issued a tropical storm warning for the coast of Long Island in New York.