Plywood came off buildings, terra cotta pots were returned to porches and Labor Day weekend business resumed as usual Saturday morning after Hurricane Earl, downgraded to a tropical storm by the time it reached the Island late Friday night, left the Island unscathed. The storm kicked up high surf along beachfront areas and delivered more than six inches of rain overnight. By early Saturday morning Earl was near Nova Scotia. There was some grumbling about poor coordination among towns on travel advisories and early closures of businesses, but for the most part emergency managers said the storm proved to be a good drill for the real thing.

A complete story about the storm with photographs will appear in the Friday Gazette.