katie is off. much of the east coast is on alert tonight for hurricane earl. as many as 26 million people could soon be feeling its impact. even if the storm never makes landfall. earl is a category three storm earl is a category two storm right now with sustained winds of more than 111 miles an hour. the eye now less than 200 miles from cape hatteras, north carolina, and it s outer banks which could be the first to feel the effects of the hurricane before it takes an expected turn to the northeast. warnings and watches are up from north carolina, where at least 100,000 people have been ordered to evacuate the coast; all the way up to the canadian border. as this view from space demonstrates, earl is a particularly large hurricane about 400 miles across. we have a team of correspondents stationed along the east coast tonight. we begin with kelly cobiella who is in kill devil hills, north carolina. kelly. reporter: erica, good evening. the winds here are getting stronger, an
good evening. it is happening right now. the roar of hurricane earl along the atlantic coast. and this is video from a plane flying inside the eye of the storm. hurricane force winds radiating out 100 miles in every direction. the storm itself almost the length of florida. we have reports from up and down the coast tonight, and from the national hurricane center. so, let s begin with steve osunsami, who is in nags head, north carolina. steve? reporter: diane, this storm is still 400 miles wide. it has forced the evacuation of more than 100,000 people. from the outer banks. the storm surge is danger with this storm. already, the waves have overtaken the beach here and we ve been forced to move. we ve been watching this storm on radar all day today, studying it. looking at that well-defind eye, as it inches towards the north carolina coast. tonight, we expect it to pass 70 miles of this point, just about every resident we talked with today was preparing for the worst. these a
hurricane earl is now centered east of cape hatteras on north carolina s outer banks. earl has weakened to a category 2 hurricane with peak winds just over 100 miles per hour. earl s projected path takes it up the east coast with its eye staying offshore. karen brown has more now from kill devil hills, north carolina. good morning, karen. reporter: good morning to you, betty. it is so intense here. we were down on the dunes you see behind me. we had to come back up because you can t see down there. our equipment is all wet. really, it is now winds at 105 miles an hour with 100-foot waves offshore. they evacuated 125,000 people from the outer banks and they re now hunkered down, waiting for the worst to be over. in north carolina overnight, earl delivered a stinging blow. just the power. it s absolutely phenomenal. reporter: high winds, heavy rain and pounding surf battered the outer banks. the system appears to be losing steam as it roars up the east coast, but it s sti
paramedics treated him and were leaving when two deputies entered his home. they came in here like there was a fire going on or some gunfight was going on. reporter: deputies wanted to take mcfarland to the hospital, fearing he would harm himself because of some things he said. at first, everything seems calm. we want to take you to the hospital for evaluation. you said if you had a gun you would shoot yourself in the head. i m depressed. that s why we want to take to you talk to somebody. reporter: then mcfarland becomes agitated. didn t ask you in my house. get out of here. stop it, honey. peter, just cooperate. reporter: no one would back down. put your hands behind your back. [ bleep ]. put your hands behind your back. quit resisting. stop resisting.
now to a very bizarre story. a northern california man tasered inside his own home is now suing the police who did it. he was apparently tasered because he refused to go to the hospital. it was all caught on tape, and we warn you, the video is graphic. here s mike von fremd. reporter: 64-year-old peter mcfarland is a cancer survivor with a heart condition. hardly the kind of person you would expect to be tasered in his own home. a camera mounted on the sheriff s weapon is rolling as mcfarland is tasered three times. why did this happen? mcfarland told abc station kgo that he slipped and injured himself on the front steps.