Clouds from the outer bands of Hurricane Earl appear over the Atlantic Ocean at sunrise in Nags Head, N.C., on Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010, as Earl approaches the East Coast. The hurricane, with winds swirling at around 145 mph, continued to barrel toward the Eastern Seaboard, and forecasters were trying to pinpoint exactly how close the strongest winds and heaviest surge would get to North Carolina's fragile chain of barrier islands. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)