Hurricane Arthur Is the Biggest Spoilsport

Messing up traveling plans, firework displays and the all-important 4th-of-July-barbecue, Hurricane Arthur made landfall over North Carolina Thursday night, making its ominous way to the northeast Friday morning. Just yesterday, Arthur went from a casual tropical storm to a full-fledged hurricane, forcing tens of thousands of residents to evacuate and making pretty much everyone hate the name "Arthur."

Heavy winds, rain and riptides dampened 4th of July celebrations in North Carolina's coastal areas Thursday night and Friday morning, as Hurricane Arthur made its way up the coast of the United States. According to the BBC, the Category 2 hurricane reached land just after 11 pm Thursday night, sustaining winds at frightening 100 miles per hour. Residents in the Outer Banks, a stretch of islands off of the coast of North Carolina, were particularly hard-hit — roughly 22,000 had their power cut in those areas, Duke Energy's website said. A town of roughly 1,600 north of Wilmington also reportedly saw tornado damage early Friday.

Hurricane Arthur has also been the source of some major disgruntlement amongst holiday travelers. TIME reports that over a thousand flights have been cancelled, thanks to the hurricane. In North Carolina particularly, over 200,000 people were supposed to visit the island beaches — obviously, that plan had to be put on the back-burner. Firework displays in New Hampshire, Maine and New Jersey were also put off till the weekend because of the storm; and the 41st annual Boston Pops Fourth of July concert and fireworks show ended abruptly as the storm forced an evacuation of the area.

Adding insult to injury? Last night, South Carolina's Hyde County banned selling and buying alcohol until 8 am this morning, PilotOnline reports. Way to get into the Fourth spirit.

Although Arthur is expected to become less powerful as it goes along the East Coast, the Outer Banks are still under a hurricane warning as of Friday morning. There are also tropical storm warnings for the Chesapeake Bay area and Virginia, and — though New York City itself should be saved the brunt of it, and the Macy's parade should go unscathed — people have been warned to stay away from beach-side barbecues in New York.

“So far, thank God, some of the worst possibilities are passing us by, but we still want to take this very seriously,” New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

Can someone say an NBC Macy’s annual 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular drinking game?