Traffic backs up on the Bonner Bridge near Nags Head, N.C., Saturday as people return to Hatteras Island following mandatory evacuations of the barrier island for Hurricane Earl.

Yarmouth, Mass. ? In the end, Earl’s worst damage in New England was to seasonal businesses hoping to end their summer on a high note.

The tropical storm, far less intense than feared, brushed past the Northeast and dumped heavy, wind-driven rain on Cape Cod cottages and fishing villages but caused little damage.

It left clear, blue skies in its wake. It was the perfect start to a Labor Day weekend that Cape Cod’s restaurants and hotels hoped to salvage after business was decimated ahead of the storm.

“This traditionally for us is a sellout weekend,” said Voula Nikolakopoulos, one of the owners of Tidewater Inn in West Yarmouth, where business was down 80 percent. “I understand that we have to be careful, but I think all this hype was premature.”

Massachusetts suffered a few hundred power outages, a handful of downed power lines and isolated flooding. Maine saw rain and churning surf but no gusts strong enough to produce damage.

After skimming past North Carolina and Massachusetts, Earl finally made landfall Saturday morning near Western Head, Nova Scotia.

The storm brought heavy sheets of rain and swift gusts, toppling some trees and knocking out power to more than 200,000 customers in Nova Scotia. There were numerous flight and ferry cancellations. Police said the road to the popular Peggy’s Cove tourist site near Halifax was closed to keep curious storm-watchers away from the dangerous, pounding surf.

As of 1 p.m. CDT, Earl’s center was crossing the Northumberland Strait, north of mainland Nova Scotia, and was moving northeast at 45 mph. The Canadian Hurricane Center issued a hurricane watch for parts of Nova Scotia.

Earl had swooped into New England waters Friday night as a tropical storm with winds of 70 mph after sideswiping North Carolina’s Outer Banks, where it caused flooding but no injuries and little damage. The rain it brought to Cape Cod, Nantucket Island and Martha’s Vineyard was more typical of the nor’easters that residents have been dealing with for generations.

Winds on Nantucket blew at around 30 mph, with gusts above 40 mph. The island got more than 2 inches of rain, while adjacent Martha’s Vineyard got more than 4 inches. Hyannis, home to the Kennedy family compound, got about 4.5 inches.

Peter Judge, spokesman for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, said the damage was so minimal that the agency didn’t send out assessment teams as planned Saturday.

Worries about Earl had altered holiday weekend plans up and down the East Coast.

Boaters pulled their vessels from the water, shopkeepers boarded up their windows and vacationers canceled reservations. Some hoteliers reported that business was way off.

Nikolakopoulos said her hotel was at 100 percent occupancy last year on Labor Day weekend. On Friday night, it was at about 20 percent.