Hurricane Alex Heads Out To Sea

Battered Outer Banks With Heavy Rain, 100MPH Winds

(CBS/AP)  Hurricane Alex is finally moving away from the U.S. after battering the Outer Banks.

The Category Two hurricane strengthened more than expected with sustained wind reaching 100 mph Tuesday as it tracked along the coast of North Carolina, temporarily cut power to thousands and flooded Hatteras Island's only link to the mainland.

However, the eye just barely passed by Cape Hatteras, leaving the strongest wind and heaviest rain located out at sea instead of battering communities still recovering from last year's devastating Hurricane Isabel.

"The is different from Isabel last year, which came into the coast perpendicularly and went inland and into Virginia," said Richard Knabb, meteorologist with the Miami-based hurricane center. "This is comparatively a grazing blow, but still a pretty significant one for Cape Hatteras and areas nearby there."

But most of the storm-hardened residents of the Outer Banks didn't even bother to board up their windows.

Motel parking lots and the campground at Oregon Inlet were still full Tuesday morning. Restaurants left their outdoor furniture in place and one hardware store had left bags of potting soil sitting out alongside other displays.

Upgraded from tropical storm status early Tuesday, Alex was rated a Category Two hurricane near midday as it passed near the state's barrier islands.

Because the forecast track would keep the storm's center, where the strongest wind blows, just off the low-lying Outer Banks islands, Alex did not raise the same level of concern as have previous storms that made direct hits on the resort area and stayed over land for extended periods.

"It's just going to be a couple of days of rain and a little bit of wind, then it will be life as usual," said Outer Banks resident Jim Sarsfield, who had picked up loose objects around his home but didn't plan to cover his windows. "Just your basic get-ready-to-get-ready."

"I don't think it will get that bad," said Joyce Essick, a resident of Manteo since 1984 who was stocking up on bread and milk early Tuesday. "I was out of this stuff anyway, so I had to come get it either way."

The state left evacuation orders up to local authorities; officials in the two counties most likely to be affected, Dare and Hyde, had not ordered any as of late morning.

A hurricane warning was in effect along the Outer Banks from Cape Lookout to Oregon Inlet, and tropical storm warnings extended north to the Virginia state line and south of Cape Lookout to Surf City.

At 11 a.m., the storm was centered about 40 miles south-southwest of Cape Hatteras and was moving toward the northeast at nearly 15 mph, the Miami-based hurricane center said. Hurricane-force wind, of at least 74 mph, extended as much as 25 miles out from the center.

Alex was expected to gradually turn toward the northeast.

David Pore said he and his family have been coming to the area for years but have never experienced a major storm.

"Right now it doesn't seem bad. When the wind starts blowing and stuff starts flying around, I might get nervous," said Pore, of Pittsburgh.

Alex started as a tropical depression Saturday and spun in place off the South Carolina coast most of Sunday. By midday Monday it had started moving parallel to the coast of the Carolinas.

Beachgoers were warned of the threat of rip currents, powerful channels of water running out from the beaches that can carry swimmers out to sea.

Reporting Tuesday from Wrightsville Beach, near Wilmington and the South Carolina border, Jim Cantore of the Weather Channel told the CBS News Early Show, "It's still very rough out there. You got a huge ocean swell rolling in. Wave action is still very high. It's going to be an issue for swimmers on vacation as they head out."

Ocean rescue captain Bud Woodrum said lifeguards pulled at least eight people out of the strong currents Monday.

Only two hurricane seasons on record have a first tropical depression forming later than July 31. But forecasters said a late start has no bearing on hurricane activity.