Earl damage appears minimal in Chatham

CHATHAM, Mass. -- Governor Deval Patrick encouraged people to resume their holiday weekends in Cape Cod following a less-than-devastating visit from tropical storm Earl.

Speaking from Chatham, Patrick said emergency management officials did a great job in preparing for the storm, even conditions weren't as bad as originally expected.

Patrick said he hoped people to return to the Cape after the storm.

"It's an important weekend here on the Cape from a commercial point of view. From a holiday, tourist point of view. It's a great weekend to enjoy and I have lifted the state of emergency and I'm here to give the all-clear," Patrick said.

Damage from Earl in Chatham appeared minimal Saturday morning.

Earl brought heavy downpours and strong winds for several hours late Friday, but many people said they slept through the storm.

"Didn't wake up in the middle of the night at all," said Rick Leavitt.

Many people headed to the beach early Saturday to look at big waves still coming in.

Most people said they were glad they made preparations for the storm, even if it didn't cause great damage.

"Better safe than sorry. Let them err on the side of caution," said Rob Blank.

There were reports of trees falling on power lines in Chatham and Orleans, resulting in power outages in around 1800 people. Power was restored to most of those homes within an hour. NStar was working to restore people to 300 people Saturday morning.

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