
Visitors to Avalon Pier play in the surf as waves and storm surge crash on the beach with the arrival of Hurricane Irene in Kill Devil Hills North Carolina, USA, on 26 August 2011. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center said Irene, a category 2 storm with winds in excess of 105 mph (169 kph), will likely score a direct hit on the Outer Banks, a fragile necklace of islands and sandbars jutting east from the North Carolina mainland, on Saturday. EPA/JIM LO SCALZO

Visitors to Avalon Pier play in the surf as waves and storm surge crash on the beach with the arrival of Hurricane Irene in Kill Devil Hills North Carolina, USA, 26 August 2011. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center said Irene, a category 2 storm with winds in excess of 105 mph (169 kph), will likely score a direct hit on the Outer Banks, a fragile necklace of islands and sandbars jutting east from the North Carolina mainland, on Saturday. EPA/JIM LO SCALZO

Visitors to Avalon Pier play in the surf as waves and storm surge crash on the beach with the arrival of Hurricane Irene in Kill Devil Hills North Carolina, USA, on 26 August 2011. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center said Irene, a category 2 storm with winds in excess of 105 mph (169 kph), will likely score a direct hit on the Outer Banks, a fragile necklace of islands and sandbars jutting east from the North Carolina mainland, on Saturday. EPA/JIM LO SCALZO

Storm clouds gather with the arrival of Hurricane Irene on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore in North Carolina, USA, on 26 August 2011. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center said Irene, a category 2 storm with winds in excess of 105 mph (169 kph), will likely score a direct hit on the Outer Banks, a fragile necklace of islands and sandbars jutting east from the North Carolina mainland, on Saturday. EPA/JIM LO SCALZO

Strong waves and a storm surge begin to wash beneath oceanfront homes with the arrival of Hurricane Irene in Rodanthe, North Carolina, USA, on 26 August 2011. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center said Irene, a category 2 storm with winds in excess of 105 mph (169 kph), will likely score a direct hit on the Outer Banks, a fragile necklace of islands and sandbars jutting east from the North Carolina mainland, on Saturday. EPA/JIM LO SCALZO

Strong waves and a storm surge begin to wash beneath oceanfront homes with the arrival of Hurricane Irene in Rodanthe, North Carolina, USA, on 26 August 2011. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center said Irene, a category 2 storm with winds in excess of 105 mph (169 kph), will likely score a direct hit on the Outer Banks, a fragile necklace of islands and sandbars jutting east from the North Carolina mainland, on Saturday. EPA/JIM LO SCALZO