BUXTON, N.C. — Hurricane Earl sideswiped North Carolina’s Outer Banks early Friday, flooding the vacation islands but causing no injuries and little damage, then chugged up the Eastern Seaboard toward Cape Cod, a weaker but still dangerous storm. Earl dropped to a Category 1 hurricane — down from a powerful Category 4 just a day earlier — as it wheeled over open water, with winds of 85 mph. It was expected to reach New England late Friday night, passing perilously close to Cape Cod, Nantucket Island and Martha’s Vineyard at the start of the Labor Day weekend.

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