Maine news, sports, weather | Kennebec Journal, Augusta, Maine

Hurricane Earl brings rain, surf, shrugs

BY DAVID SHARP, The Associated Press

LUBEC -- Much like Hurricane Kyle two years earlier, Hurricane Earl failed to impress Down East residents as the storm's remnants passed to the east Saturday, raking the region with rain and churning up the surf but failing to generate gusts strong enough to produce damage.

The National Weather Service dropped a tropical storm warning for the state's two easternmost counties as winds reached only 45 mph on some outer islands. There were no reports of storm damage.

Instead of strong winds, the storm brought 2 to 3 inches of much-needed rain to central Maine, said meteorologist Mark Bloomer in Caribou.

The biggest concern was the surf that was expected to build to 14 feet. People near the coast were warned to keep a safe distance from the pounding waves.

At Acadia National Park, officials closed the road where a 7-year-old girl was swept to her death by a 20-foot wave caused by Hurricane Bill last year.

Off the coast of New Hampshire, the storm interfered with the search for a boater who went missing before the storm's arrival. The Coast Guard was working under the assumption that Robert Schultze of Shapleigh, Maine, fell overboard. His abandoned boat was found anchored near Kitts Rocks on Friday.

As Earl approached, recreational boaters moved hundreds of vessels onto dry ground or to safer locations. Lobster fishermen moved their traps to deeper water or pulled them from the water altogether. Many islanders fled to the mainland because of the dismal weekend weather forecast.

But reminiscent of Kyle, Hurricane Earl lost steam and veered to the east. On Friday, it was downgraded to a tropical storm before making landfall at around 11 a.m. Saturday in eastern Nova Scotia.

While tropical storm warnings had been posted for Washington and Hancock counties, the storm didn't gain respect from rugged residents accustomed to fierce winter storms with stronger gusts.

"The wind always blows around here," Mark Jones said Saturday morning as he cooked up ham and sausage for the monthly pancake breakfast at the Masonic lodge in Lubec.

Mark Sprague of East Machias said he got the last laugh in a friendly disagreement with his brother, who monitored the storm on the Internet and warned that it packed a powerful wallop.

"I said, 'Walk over to the window and drop that computer out the window,'" Sprague said as he watched the rain falling outside the window of Peanut's Coffee Shop. "This ain't nothing."

In Lubec, the nation's easternmost town, the candy-striped West Quoddy Head lighthouse stood sentry in gray haze as rain blanketed the area Saturday morning.

The sheets of rain didn't keep dozens of residents from attending Lubec's pancake breakfast. But it did prevent buccaneers from Eastport from coming to Lubec in full pirate garb to hoist the jolly roger in celebration of Eastport's upcoming pirate festival.

Cobscook Bay's choppy waters were deemed too rough, so the pirate invasion was delayed until today. Sunny skies and mild weather are in the forecast.