New York prepares for Irene - Sandbags on the streets of downtown Manhattan to control possible flooding. Photograph: Eduardo Munoz/Reuters
The sweep of the US east coast from North Carolina to New England is bracing itself for a hurricane of historic magnitude this weekend, with power cuts and public transport shutdowns anticipated that could last for days or even weeks.
As many as 65 million people could be in harm's way as hurricane Irene begins its slow crawl along the entire east coast.
Irene was downgraded to a category two storm early on Friday, with 105 mph winds, but authorities said repeatedly it would be folly for people on its path to think they were in the clear. Meteorologists warned them for people on the east coast, this would be the storm of their lifetimes.
"All indications point to this being a historic hurricane," Barack Obama said in a statement from Martha's Vineyard before he cut short his holiday to deal with the developing weather situation. "If you are in the path of this hurricane, you have to take precautions now," he said. "Don't wait, don't delay."
As the hurricane began to bear down on the Outer Banks islands off the coast of North Carolina, bringing heavy rain and 9ft waves before its expected landfall on Saturday, officials warned residents of they could lose electricity and transport access.
Airlines have cancelled nearly 7,000 flights over the weekend and all three major New York area airports were due to close to incoming flights at noon local time on Saturday
The New York City mayor, Michael Bloomberg, told a press conference that the authorities would begin shutting down the subway system from Saturday – for the first time in its history.
He also ordered more than 250,000 people living in low-lying areas in the city – including the Financial District surrounding Wall Street in Manhattan – out of their homes by 5pm local time on Saturday.
"We've never done a mandatory evacuation before and we wouldn't be doing it now if we didn't think this storm had the potential to be very serious," he said.
If it follows its present trajectory, Irene will be the biggest storm to strike on the east coast since 2005. After making landfall the storm will lumber up the coast, bringing high winds and flooding to Washington DC, Baltimore, Maryland, Philadelphia, Atlantic City, New Jersey, Long Island, New York, and Boston, Massachusetts.
The primary concern of meteorologists on Friday was the danger of storm surges – with 11ft high waves predicted in North Carolina. Parts of New Jersey and New York City were also at risk. Those threats were magnified by the extraordinary breadth of the storm system.
Max Mayfield, a former director of the national hurricane centre, called a storm on such a scale his "greatest nightmare".
"This is going to be a real challenge … There's going to be millions of people affected," he told reporters.
Authorities have warned that the aftershocks of hurricane Irene – power outages, downed trees, flooding – could be felt for days, weeks or longer, particularly in rural areas.
"It's going to be a huge geographical area with lots of people affected," Elizabeth McGovern, president of the Red Cross, told a press conference. "From a time perspective this could take weeks maybe even months to respond to."
The authorities also pleaded with people not to take comfort from the downgrading of the hurricane. Irene could still inflict severe damage well inland. "It does not mean that there will not be damages. It does not mean there will not be power outages," Craig Fugate, the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, told the press conference.
Governors in every state from North Carolina to Massachusetts declared states of emergency. Mandatory evacuation orders were declared in low-lying and coastal areas.
"As governor of this state, I want to tell you: this hurricane is real. It is coming our way," said North Carolina's governor, Bev Perdue. Eleven counties in the state have made disaster preparations.
On Friday, flights and trains were cancelled, and travellers warned they would face further delays and the possibility of blocked tunnels and bridges if they waited until Saturday to evacuate.
Outdoor concerts were cancelled and major league baseballs games rescheduled. Students at several small colleges were told not to report to their dorm rooms.
In Virginia, the US navy took 27 ships and submarines out of its Norfolk base and dispatched them to the north. Meanwhile, the air force shifted more than 70 aircraft from bases along the east coast to Ohio.
In the northern Virginia suburbs around Washington DC, the authorities began distributing sandbags in the event of flooding and a storm surge from the Potomac river.
Maryland's governor, Martin O'Malley, warned residents in beach towns they could be forcibly removed by police if they ignored orders. "It is the height of selfishness not to evacuate," he told CNN. Authorities in New York City cancelled construction permits for the weekend, and drew up evacuation plans for low-lying, costal areas including Coney Island in Brooklyn, Battery Park City in Lower Manhattan and parts of Staten Island, Bloomberg said.
He urged able-bodied people in low-lying areas to evacuate and said a decision about wider evacuations would be made on Saturday morning. He said officials had to "assume the worst, prepare for that and hope for the best". The city evacuated a nursing home and residents were urged to stock up on groceries and flashlights and prepare for potential evacuations.
The police commissioner Ray Kelly said rowing boats were being sent to police precincts in flood-prone areas. Forestry contractors have been hired to deal with fallen trees.
Nursing homes in low-lying areas began evacuating residents on Friday.
Events including a concert by the Dave Matthews Band on Governors' Island have been postponed, street fairs and other outdoor activities have been scrapped to clear the streets for emergency vehicles.
In New Jersey, traffic helicopters showed pictures of long lines of cars streaming out of Atlantic City. Holidaymakers began leaving Fire Island, the 32-mile barrier island off the Atlantic coast of Long Island. A mandatory evacuation of barrier islands in Cape May county, New Jersey, began on Friday.
New Jersey governor Chris Christie said wider evacuations were being considered. "If I order it, I expect it to be complied with," he said. "Let me assure you, we are not overreacting."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/27/hurricane-irene-us-east-coast
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