ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: CNN is your hurricane headquarters, tracking Hurricane Earl by the second. We have just receive word minutes ago it's been downgraded again to a Category 3 storm. We have seen this show before. Hang on a second. It's still very powerful. It's packing winds of 125 miles an hour. It's expected to sideswipe coastal North Carolina tonight or early tomorrow morning. Let me give you some perspective. Larger than the state of California, hurricane warnings now extend all the way up the Eastern Seaboard to Massachusetts. The next few hours are crucial to determining what is happening with this. That's why officials are urging people along North Carolina's Outer Banks to heed the warning and leave. Many are doing just that. Here's a live look from Kitty Hawk in Dare County. That county expanded a mandatory evacuation today for tourists to leave as Earl approaches. While many are leaving, others plan to ride out the storm. They're boarding up their homes and their businesses. Some folks have been stocking up on groceries. One of the fastest-selling items, water. High demand leaving behind some empty shelves. And some airlines are also taking action. AirTran, American, Continental, Delta, waving rescheduling fees for travelers flying to and from cities along the Eastern Seaboard this Labor Day weekend, which also marks the end of the summer travel season. Meteorologist Chad Myers in the CNN hurricane headquarters.</s>VELSHI: Listen, attention, parents. Your participation is needed to fix our schools. The choice is yours -- make or break your child's future. Coming up next.
East Coast Braces for Hurricane Earl