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By CHASE WRIGHT

Villager Staff Writer


WILTON -- As Hurricane Earl steams toward the East Coast, local experts are urging residents to prepare for damaging winds and heavy rainfall, which are expected to hit Friday.

The Category 4 storm is forecast to pass about 100 miles southeast of Nantucket, bringing no more than heavy seas, high winds and rain to the region. A slight change in track to the west, however, could make things much worse.

"We're telling people to prepare for the worst," said Connecticut Weather Center meteorologist Bill Jacquemin. "If Earl does make land, I expect it to cross southeast of Massachusetts ... It might just clip New England, but it won't make any contact with Connecticut."

That's not to say that Earl's impact won't be felt in the state.

Steady rain should begin falling early Friday morning, and tropical force winds could reach speeds of 70 miles per hour by mid-afternoon.

Earl's current track prompted the National Hurricane Center to issue a Tropical Storm Watch for the Connecticut shoreline just before 5 p.m. on Wednesday.

Jacquemin is urging residents to monitor the storm, prepare for power outages and pack an emergency kit.

The hurricane has prompted storm warnings for portions of the mid-Atlantic seaboard and storm watches for the East Coast from Virginia to Delaware.

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