Northeast escapes worst from Earl

YARMOUTH, Mass. – Tropical storm Earl’s worst damage in New England was to seasonal businesses hoping to end their summer on a high note.

The tropical storm, far less intense than feared, brushed past the Northeast and dumped heavy, wind-driven rain on Cape Cod cottages and fishing villages but caused little damage. It left clear, blue skies in its wake. It was the perfect start to a Labor Day weekend that Cape Cod’s restaurants and hotels hoped to salvage after business was decimated ahead of the storm.

The storm made landfall Saturday near Western Head, Nova Scotia. It was blamed for the death of a man who drowned while trying to secure his boat near Halifax.

And police in Avon, N.J., said a body found Saturday was identified as that of a swimmer who went missing Thursday in rough ocean surf. The medical examiner’s office hadn’t determined the cause of the man’s death.

Massachusetts suffered a few hundred power outages, a handful of downed power lines and isolated flooding. Maine saw rain and churning surf but no gusts strong enough to produce damage.

After skimming past North Carolina and Massachusetts, Earl finally made landfall Saturday morning near Western Head, Nova Scotia.

The storm brought heavy sheets of rain and swift gusts, toppling some trees and knocking out power to more than 200,000 customers in Nova Scotia.