HAVERHILL — As Hurricane Earl and Tropical Storm Fiona bear down on the East Coast, people in the region are wondering if they should prepare for possible landfall of the duo of disaster.
"The more time goes by, the closer it gets, the more we know," said Mike Vets, manager of Kazmiera Marina on the Merrimack River, off Coffin Avenue. "Right now, we're just battening down the hatches."
Hurricane Earl, now a powerful Category 4 storm, barreled toward the U.S. coast early yesterday after battering tiny islands across the northeastern Caribbean with heavy rain and wind that damaged homes and felled power lines.
Earl is forecast to brush the East Coast late tomorrow, before turning out to sea, potentially swiping New England or far-eastern Canada. The National Hurricane Center warned coastal residents from North Carolina to Maine to watch the storm closely.
"Any small shift in the track could dramatically alter whether it makes landfall or whether it remains over the open ocean," said Wallace Hogsett, a meteorologist at the center. "I can't urge enough to just stay tuned."
Early yesterday, Earl was about 175 miles north-northwest of Puerto Rico's capital, San Juan, and moving west-northwest near 13 mph, according to the center in Miami. Hurricane-force winds extended outward up to 70 miles from its center.
Close on Earl's heels, Tropical Storm Fiona formed Monday afternoon in the Atlantic. The storm, with maximum winds of 40 mph, was projected to pass just north of the Leeward Islands by today and stay farther out in the Atlantic than Earl's northward path. Fiona wasn't expected to reach hurricane strength over the next several days.
The National Hurricane Center said it was too early to say what effect Earl would have in the United States, but warned it could at least kick up dangerous rip currents, and that people should be wary of the power of the storm. A surfer died in Florida and a swimmer in Maryland had been missing since Saturday in waves spawned by former Hurricane Danielle, which weakened to a tropical storm Monday far out in the north Atlantic.
Vets, like other people with waterfront businesses, is one of those people remaining vigilant. If it turns out the storms are heading right toward New England, he said he and his crew would begin hauling out boats in the next day or so.
"You hate to jump the gun if it's going offshore," he said, referring to Earl. "But it's better safe than sorry."
Vets, who also is the harbormaster in Haverhill, said there were about 100 boats in the Kazmiera Marina. For now, he and other dock workers are going around the marina tightening chains and fastenings to make sure the dock holds together in a heavy wind.
"We want to make sure everything is tight," he said.
At Crescent Yacht Club, also in Haverhill, club members are still talking about the boat races last weekend, according to Sue Bills, a member who also works as bartender at the riverfront marina.
"It might be too early" to start hauling boats, she said. "We need to wait till we find out more about what's going to happen."
She said many of the 30 to 35 boats that are docked there will be hauled by their owners if the storm takes an unfortunate turn. Meanwhile, the fleet captain will determine whether to haul out the docks, a much more daunting task.
Farther east, at MacKenzie's Landing in Amesbury, workers are "gearing up" for the storm's possible arrival, said facility manager Colin King.
"It's kind of varying at this point," he said. "It's a waiting game."
Nonetheless, workers will walk the 130-boat marina checking that lines aren't frayed and making sure mooring chains are shackled properly.
"You always need to be prepared," he said, noting that he's already received phone calls from people concerned about the storm. "A couple people have already hauled their boats on their trailers."
At area hardware stores, people haven't woken up to the possibility that a storm is coming.
Jared Clark, a salesman at Aubuchon Hardware, 233 Lincoln Ave., Haverhill, said normally people come in looking for flashlights or generators.
"Nobody's mentioned the storm," he said.
Vinny Ouellette, the head of the Recreation Department in Haverhill, who also oversees waterfront property, said that if the storm is severe, "it would be worth taking out the city docks. But all indications are that it won't be that severe here."
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