<p><br /> Hurricane Earl has battered North Carolina's coast with rain, winds and waves and is swirling up the US east coast towards New England and Canada as a weakened but still dangerous storm.<br /> </p><p><br /> The impact of the Category 2 storm appears to be less than originally expected as Earl churns north parallel to the US Atlantic coast hours after it was downgraded from a Category 4 hurricane.<br /> </p><p><br /> Local emergency officials said no casualties or major structural damage had been reported so far. At least one coastal road was cut off by waves washing over it.<br /> </p><p><br /> "Certainly conditions are not as severe as they could have been," said Sandy Sanderson, the director of emergency services in Dare County.<br /> </p><p><br /> Earl was gusting at a sustained top windspeed of 105 miles per hour and its centre passed east of the Outer Banks islands that jut into the Atlantic, the US National Hurricane Center said.<br /> </p><p><br /> A slight further weakening is forecast during the next 24 to 36 hours but Earl is expected to remain as a large hurricane as it turns towards the northeast and heads for southeastern New England.<br /> </p>
