As the Timbrook family arrives to stay with relatives in West Virginia, there's a sigh of relief.

Andrea Timbrook says, "The wind was starting to pick up yesterday. People were picking up their yards. Kind of a calm before the storm."

Hurricane Earl is closing in on the Timbrooks' home in Morehead City, North Carolina. A mandatory evacuation was ordered for parts of their county, but not Morehead City itself. Still, all the schools are closed and Andrea Timbrook did not want to take any chances.

Andrea says, "We saw a neighbor walking and we asked if she was going to leave and she said 'I've been here my whole life, I haven't left once, and I don't plan to start now."

That's kind of the attitude Randy Miller has about the storm too. He decided to stay in Morehead City and ride the storm out.

Miller says, "You never know what's going to happen but, we're trying to be confident and optimistic about it."

Earl's eye is expected to pass near the Outer Banks Thursday night and New England Friday night. Already Miller says they're seeing signs of the storm to come.

"The ocean was very rough. It was beating against the piers. The wind's blowing about 35 to 40 knots. We're getting some rain. The hurricane is still coming toward us." says Miller.

Andrea says she's not too nervous about leaving her home behind for a few days.

"I have everything important here, my family's here." says Andrea.

But she does have one wish.

Andrea laughs, "Hopefully it'll be nice weather here."

The Timbrooks say they have wind and hail storm insurance.