Hurricane Earl barrels towards US East Coast
People boarded up windows and bought supplies in preparation
Areas along the US East Coast have delcared states of emergency as Hurricane Earl churns towards the region, forecast to brush land on Thursday night.
The hurricane has strengthened to a category four storm, generating sustained winds of 233km/h (145mph).
Evacuations have begun in coastal areas that may be brushed by the hurricane.
The governors of North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland have declared states of emergency.
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The most important thing for people living in Earl's potential tract to do is to listen to and follow the instructions of their local officials”
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Craig Fugate
Fema administrator
President Barack Obama said officials needed to be ready for a "worst case" scenario.
The storm is expected to reach the North Carolina coast - with its fragile chain of barrier islands - late on Thursday and then turn north-northeast and churn up the rest of the East Coast.
"There is still concern that this track, the core of the storm, could shift a little farther to the west and have a very significant impact on the immediate coastline. Our present track keeps it off shore, but you never know," National Hurricane Center (NHC) spokesman Dennis Feltgen said.
The NHC in Miami said hurricane strength winds may be felt as far as 145km (90 miles) from the eye of the storm.
Disaster preparations
The centre of the storm was approximately 575km (355 miles) south of North Carolina's Hatteras Island early on Thursday and is expected to brush the coast just north of the island late in the day with winds of up to 161km/h.
US officials ordered a mandatory evacuation for roughly 35,000 visitors and residents on North Carolina's Ocracoke Island and Hatteras Island on Tuesday.
Both islands are part of North Carolina's Outer Banks, a region popular with tourists.
The local authorities in the Outer Banks expect the storm to pass 80 miles (130km) away from the islands, meaning high winds and waves are likely.
North Carolina's state of emergency authorizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Department of Homeland Security to head disaster relief efforts.
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At the scene
Katie Connolly
BBC News, Atlantic Beach
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Visitors to the islands of North Carolina's Outer Banks have been ordered to evacuate. Their cars are jamming up traffic on the bridge out of Hatteras Island.
But here in Atlantic Beach, a postcard-worthy vacation town just south of the Outer Banks, although the waves are up, residents and tourists are savouring the calm before the storm. They're sipping wine, munching on shrimp cocktails, and catching a few last rays before the weather turns.
Summer hurricane warnings are almost a way of life here, and locals say they're not worried, as they're prepared.
Helen Harkley, who lives in neighbouring Beaufort, says she's ready to go to a nearby school shelter to weather Earl's worst assaults. She'll take her cue from authorities and evacuation alerts.
"This is nothing new to me," she says. "If they tell you to go, you go. And if you don't - well, you'll regret it."
The North Carolina National Guard is also sending 80 troops to assist with efforts in the region.
Fema has warned people along much of the eastern seaboard of the US to be vigilant and follow official bulletins.
Officials temporarily downgraded Earl to a category three storm on Wednesday, but the hurricane strengthened to a category four again later in the day.
"The most important thing for people living in Earl's potential tract to do is to listen to and follow the instructions of their local officials," Fema administrator Craig Fugate said.
A hurricane warning has been issued for the East Coast of the US from Bogue Inlet, North Carolina north-eastward to the North Carolina/Virginia border as well as the coast of New York's Long Island.
The hurricane watch has been adjusted northward and now extends from the North Carolina-Virginia border northward to Massachusetts, including Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.
A warning means hurricane conditions are expected somewhere within the affected area, with the first tropical storm-force winds within 36 hours. A watch expects the same within 48 hours.
On Monday the hurricane battered north-eastern Caribbean islands and Puerto Rico, causing power cuts and flooding.
Earl is being followed by Tropical Storm Fiona, currently northwest of Puerto Rico, and Tropical Storm Gaston, the fourth tropical storm to have formed in the last 11 days.
