ALEIGH, North Carolina (AP) – Forecasters say Hurricane Earl has produced little storm surge and only minor flooding in some coastal counties in North Carolina.

National Weather Service meteorologist Chris Collins said early Friday that predictions of storm surges between 2 and 4 feet may be generous and that there has been very little to report in the way of flooding.

However, the center of the hurricane was still moving closer to the coast, expected to pass some 160 kilometers east of the Outer Banks around 2 a.m.

The National Weather Service forecast that waves of up to 18 feet would smash into the coast early Friday.

Coupled with an expected storm surge of about 4 feet in some places, the weather service said the waves could lead to some beach erosion and roadway overwash on the Outer Banks.

Still powerful

BUXTON, North Carolina (AP) – The last ferry left for the mainland and coastal residents hunkered down at home as Hurricane Earl closed in with 170 kilometers per hour winds Friday on North Carolina’s dangerously exposed Outer Banks, the first and perhaps most destructive stop on the storm’s projected journey up the Eastern Seaboard.

The hurricane’s squalls began to lash the long ribbon of barrier islands.

Gusts above 65 kph made signs shake and the heavy rain fall sideways in Buxton, the southeasternmost tip of the Outer Banks.

Hurricane Earl’s winds were slowing, from 220 kph early Thursday to 170 kph, Category 2 strength, later. But forecasters warned that it remained powerful, with hurricane-force winds of 120 kph or more extending 110 kilometers from its center and tropical stormforce winds of at least 55 kph reaching more than 320 kilometers out.

“It’s interesting to me to just see what Mother Nature can do,” said Jay Lopez, 36, of Frisco, as the wind howled through Buxton.

Federal, state and local authorities were waiting for daybreak to begin patrolling the coast to check for damage.

But National Weather Service meterologist Chris Collins said early Friday that 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 generous, he said.

The Coast Guard planned an airplane flyover of the Outer Banks and were prepared for search-and-rescue helicopter flights.

Collins said the eye of the hurricane was expected to get about160 kilometers east of the Outer Banks about 2 a.m. Friday. Earlier, forecasters said it would get as close as 88 kilometers and protected the coast would be lashed by hurricane-force winds with a storm surge of up to 5 feet and waves 18 feet high.

“It’s probably going to get a little hairy. We’re prepared for it. My biggest concern is the ocean, not the wind,” said Karen Denson Miller, who decided to stay on Hatteras Island with friends. The storm late Thursday was about 160 kilometers south of Cape Hatteras.

Earl’s arrival could mark the start of at least 24 hours of stormy, windy weather along the East Coast. During its march up the Atlantic, it could snarl travelers’ Labor Day weekend plans and strike a second forceful blow to the vacation homes and cottages on Long Island, Nantucket Island and Cape Cod.