Check back often for updates on Hurricane Earl and how it will affect Isle of Wight and Surry counties, straight from emergency management personnel.
The Navy Fleet Forces Band concert
scheduled for Friday has been rescheduled
to Sunday, Sept. 12, 7 p.m. at the Smithfield Center.
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Those who had their fingers crossed for rain can uncross them.
Hurricane Earl is not expected to bring much more than a tenth of an inch of rain, nor winds more than 30 mph.The storm will pass by the Virginia coast between 3 and 11 a.m. Friday, said Rusty Chase, director of emergency services for Isle of Wight County.
Since the storm is making its way past the coast at low tide, little or no flooding is expected in Smithfield, he said.
"We're very fortunate with this event ... it looks like it will be like a mild northeaster," he said tonight at the Board of Supervisors meeting.
Isle of Wight County volunteer fire and rescue squads are manned and ready to deploy if necessary, he said.
Isle of Wight County Administrator Doug Caskey said he had a resolution ready for a local disaster declaration but "I don't anticipate declaring a local emergency."
As of 5 p.m. Thursday, Hurricane Earl had been downgraded to a category three storm, with sustained winds of 115 mph. The center of Hurricane Earl is expected to pass by the Outer Banks of North Carolina tonight and continue to move in a north-northeasterly direction. The North Carolina coast can expect about two to four inches of rain and a storm surge of one to three feet.
