Hurricane Dorian churned off the North Carolina coast, but by Friday evening had headed further into the Atlantic Ocean, prompting forecasters to lift hurricane and tropical storm warnings south of the Virginia-North Carolina border.
The 5 p.m. advisory from the National Hurricane Center showed Dorian about 330 miles south-southwest of Nantucket, Massachusetts. It was moving to the northeast at 24 mph.
Maximum sustained winds are at 90 mph. The hurricane center says some strengthening is possible during the next 24 hours. After that, forecasters expect Dorian to become a post-tropical cyclone with hurricane-force winds Saturday night or Sunday as it comes close to or passes over eastern Canada.
A storm surge warning has been discontinued north of the Virginia-North Carolina border. A hurricane warning is in effect for eastern Nova Scotia from Hubbards to Avonport.
With the storm gone, it left residents to think about returning to their homes to survey the damage. The worst flooding appeared to happen along the Outer Banks and especially on Ocracoke as winds from the back end of the storm caused a surge from the sound.
Governor Roy Cooper was expected to leave Saturday to visit Emerald Isle, which was hit with a tornado that spun out of Dorian, and then head to the Outer Banks to survey damage.