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The National Hurricane Center in Miami issued a tropical storm warning early Thursday for the coast of Long Island in New York and a hurricane watch was issued for areas of Massachusetts.

Hurricane Earl was barreling toward the Eastern Seaboard on Thursday with winds swirling at around 145 mph and forecasters were trying to pinpoint exactly how close the strongest winds and heaviest surge would get to North Carolina's fragile chain of barrier islands.

Residents and visitors on Bogue Banks in Carteret County are being told to leave the barrier island in advance of Hurricane Earl.

The Category 4 hurricane, with winds of 135 mph (215 kilometers), was expected to remain over the open ocean before turning north and running parallel to the U.S. coast, potentially reaching the North Carolina coastal region by late Thursday or early Friday.

Hurricane Earl is churning its way up the Atlantic, just as people get ready to make or carry out their Labor Day Weekend travel plans.

Rip currents are expected to be strong because of the storms.

A surfer is dead, a swimmer is missing and authorities are warning people to be careful in the water along much of the Atlantic seaboard as distant hurricanes generate rip tides.

The woman who runs an Atlantic Beach church is suing town leaders for $2 billion.

Aynor native and former Newberry pitcher Thomas Berryhill has been called up to the Myrtle Beach Pelicans from Low-A Rome

Police agencies on the Grand Strand have been using special software to analyze data and evidence, and now they hope to expand the system's reach in the hopes of making it an even more valuable tool.