Cape Braces for Earl, First Hurricane in 19 Years
FOX News — September 3, 2010 — At Crosby Yacht Yard on Cape Cod the last 48-hours has been a marathon effort to haul boats before Hurricane Earl makes its way to up the east coast to Massachusetts.
On Thursday, with the storm projected as a category 3 and multiple tracks showing it coming dangerously close to the Cape and Islands, the phone at Crosby’s rang constantly with anxious boat owners requesting their vessels be pulled to protect them from punishing wind gusts. “Its always a question of whether the storm is going to come or not,” said Greg Egan, the vice president of the yard, “and basically we’ve got to be cautious and base what we do on the forecast to protect the property and people’s boats.” Even with Earl downgraded to a category 1 the giant marine forklift lifted outboards from the water one after the other Friday morning and yard workers dropped the boats onto stands, squeezing them inches from each other to maximize space.
Cape Codders are familiar with Nor’easters, nasty ocean storms that bring high winds and lashing rains, but its been 19 years since a hurricane hit the region. In 1991, Bob, a category 1, rolled across the Cape leaving extensive damage in his wake. Downed trees left thousands without power and hundreds of boats broke free from their moorings, piling up on beaches from Cotuit to Yarmouth.
Bob and Beth Bommhardt of Osterville remember Bob well and are taking no chances.  They spent the morning moving lawn furniture and making sure their home is battened down. “My wife expects the worse! I don’t know – I think it’s going to blow through and not be that strong,” said John Bommhardt.  Beth Bommhardt dug out old VHS footage of Hurricane Bob she shot from her front door almost twenty years ago.  “The first thing that comes to my mind with a hurricane coming is we’re going to lose our power,” she said as she watched the old footage of trees swaying, the crack of snapping limbs clearly audible. “It doesn’t take much for us to lose our power here – and that is what I remember from the last one – we were six days without power with a six year old and a two year old.”
Hoping to avoid a similar situation this time Massachusetts officials were taking no chances. Governor Deval Patrick declared a state of emergency yesterday, and dozens of electrical workers in bucket trucks streamed onto the Cape, stationing themselves in centrally located Hyannis so they can respond to downed power lines.
Unlike seasoned storm veterans along the Gulf coast, few people on Cape Cod are boarding windows with plywood. With the storm shifting just slightly to the east the impact is expected to be significant but not as serious as a direct hit. Shelters were opened at high schools for those seeking protection from Earl, some pet friendly so man’s best friend could also bunk overnight. Barnstable High School in Hyannis had room for 500 people.  Those who decide to evacuate to the mainland will probably need to do so by late afternoon as officials have said both bridges over the Cape Cod Canal will be closed if winds hit 70mph.
Usually Cape Cod is full of tourists for the Labor Day weekend but beaches in Barnstable were closed, cables strung across entrances and ‘no lifeguard on duty’ signs affixed to lifeguard stands.  In Hyannis Harbor a ferry bringing people back from Nantucket emerged through the early afternoon fog, its horn sounding its arrival. The island is expected to take the brunt of the storm with Earl passing some 30 miles to the east and officials from the state run Steamship Authority said service will be halted as it approaches.  The hurricane is projected to arrive at low tide and blow through in a matter of hours during the middle of the night, which is good news for those hoping to salvage the holiday weekend.  The forecast for Saturday calls for sunshine and beautiful weather and the only question now is how much damage the storm will cause and if residents will spend the day at the beach or picking up debris.
