WBRZ - Baton Rouge

Forecasters say they think Earl will still be a hurricane when it passes Cape Cod in Massachusetts later today.

But the winds have decreased to just 85 miles an hour, making it a Category 1 storm.

Earl is expected to reach New England late tonight, passing close to Cape Cod, Nantucket Island and Martha's Vineyard at the start of the Labor Day weekend.

Forecasters say hurricane-force winds apparently didn't reach North Carolina's Outer Banks as the storm moved up the coast overnight.

The storm knocked out power to thousands along the coast, and closed a road to a main bridge between the barrier islands and the mainland.

There was water a foot or two deep on some Outer Banks roads this morning, but officials report no serious damage.