MELISSA BLOCK, host: In the Caribbean today, Hurricane Earl tore past the islands of Anguilla, Antigua and St. Maarten. It downed power lines and damaged buildings, but there are no reports of injury. The storm is a category 4 hurricane with winds of 135 miles per hour.</s>ROBERT SIEGEL, host: Earl is expected to begin a gradual turn to the north. Meteorologists predict it might reach North Carolina as early as Thursday before continuing up the coast.</s>ROBERT SIEGEL, host: Today, federal officials warned U.S. residents to prepare for possible evacuations on barrier islands and low-lying areas.</s>MELISSA BLOCK, host: This is the height of the hurricane season. No matter what happens with Earl, another storm, Fiona, has already formed in the far Atlantic.
NPR's Robert Siegel and Melissa Block update listeners on Hurricane Earl — a category 4 storm — as it heads toward the East Coast. Federal officials are warning U.S. residents to prepare for possible evacuations.