Earl Fades Off Into Canada

The remnants of Hurricane Earl took aim at Nova Scotia early today after a brush with the Northeast that was far less intense than feared, dumping heavy, wind-driven rain on Cape Cod cottages and fishing villages accustomed to heavy storms. The worst of the damage amounted to a few hundred power outages, a handful of downed power lines, and isolated flooding in Massachusetts. The storm didn't make much of an impression on the dozen people who stayed overnight at a Red Cross shelter on the Cape.

"Everybody was ready for something big to happen," said a Red Cross worker. "But when it came, most of us hardly even noticed." Earl swooped into New England waters last night as a tropical storm with winds of 70mph after sideswiping North Carolina's Outer Banks, where it caused flooding but no injuries and little damage. The rain it brought to Cape Cod, Nantucket Island, and Martha's Vineyard was more typical of the storms that residents have been dealing with for generations—except this one disrupted the unofficial last weekend of summer. "We feel very fortunate that we're not dealing with major issues this morning," says a Massachusetts official. "Hopefully, people will be able to enjoy the weekend." (More Hurricane Earl stories.)