Irene's first rains reach East CoastBy Greg Toppo and Carolyn Pesce, USA TODAYUpdated 17m ago Comments 185
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – As Hurricane Irene began lashing the East Coast on Friday, officials from the Carolinas to Massachusetts pleaded with residents to evacuate and made last-minute preparations for the worst scenarios.
Many governors had declared states of emergency and ordered mandatory evacuations, making it clear that those who stay behind will have to fend for themselves.
Even President Obama, who cut short his vacation in Martha's Vineyard on Friday, said the storm was shaping up as a "historic hurricane" and urged residents to "be prepared for the worst."
"Don't wait. Don't delay," Obama said. "We all hope for the best, but we have to be prepared for the worst."
Irene's rains began reaching the East Coast on Friday ahead of a weekend of punishing weather along the coast, with at least 65 million people in the storm's track.
Irene weakened slightly Friday, dropping down to a Category 2 storm with maximum sustained winds near 105 mph. But some restrengthening was possible, and the storm was expected to be between a Category 2 and 3 storm as it reached North Carolina's coast, the National Hurricane Center said.
The storm is expected to churn up the East, with high winds and drenching areas from Virginia to New York City before a much-weakened storm reaches New England.
"The big change today (is) we've gotten closer to the coast, and the storm is growing," said Bill Read, director of the National Hurricane Center.
Read says the storm's center is still east of Jacksonville, Fla., but moving steadily toward the coast.
In New York City, nursing homes and five hospitals in low-lying areas began evacuating Friday after an order by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who also said 270,000 other people would need to be moved by Saturday if the storm stays on its current path.
The city's website crashed after users flooded it to see whether they lived in a flood zone that might be evacuated.
Delaware's governor pleaded with people to "get out of the way" in case officials have to respond to emergencies.
"We know the roads will be impassable, bridges may have to be closed, emergency vehicles may not be able to get where we want them to get, so it is important that people get out of the way," Gov. Jack Markell told MSNBC.
"The window for preparation is quickly closing," Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said at a briefing on Friday. "If you are in the projected path of the storm, please listen to your state and local officials, emergency radio or TV. If you are told to evacuate, please do so."
Already Irene has destroyed hundreds of homes on small Bahamian islands but largely spared the capital of Nassau as it tore over the sprawling archipelago Thursday. There were no immediate reports of deaths, but some small settlements reported up to 90% of their homes damaged. Assessments from other islands were not in because telephone lines were down.
On Friday, swells and 6- to 9-foot waves were reported along North Carolina's Outer Banks. Winds were expected to pick up later. Thousands had lost power as the fringes of the storm began raking the shore.
Even though the storm's winds had decreased some, the risks from Irene's wrath were many: surging seas, drenching rains, flash floods and high winds.
Read said the hurricane will bring a "huge swath" of 5 to 10 inches of rain through the densely populated Northeast corridor that has already been saturated with rain in the past 30 days.
He said the deluge will increase the risk of flash floods and river floodings and, coupled with high winds, is "going to bring trees down more readily than if the ground was dry."
People should "anticipate a significant amount of power outage," Napolitano said.
Forecasters issued a hurricane warning for much of New Jersey early Friday morning.
Irene could be "one of the most devastating storms on record in New Jersey," said David Robinson, the New Jersey state climatologist at Rutgers University.
Gary Szatkowski, the meteorologist in charge of the National Weather Service's Mount Holly, N.J., office, agreed: "If this pans out as the track suggests, this will be the worst storm in anyone's lifetime in New Jersey," he said.
In North Carolina, traffic was steady Friday as people fled the Outer Banks and beach towns. A day earlier, tourists were ordered to leave the barrier islands, and many residents heeded authorities' stern admonitions to get out.
At a gas station in Nags Head, Pete Reynolds wanted to make sure he had enough fuel for the long trip. The retired teacher spent part of Thursday getting his house ready for the hurricane. He and his wife then headed to New Jersey to stay with their son's family.
"We felt like we would be OK, and we could ride out the storm," Reynolds said. "But when they announced mandatory evacuations, I knew it was serious."
Some people were opting to ride out the storm.
In Virginia Beach, Va., as earth-moving crews rushed to build sand barriers to protect the southern tip of this beach resort, spectators sat in lounge chairs on an 85-degree Friday morning as the final day of a surfing competition unfolded nearly as planned.
Sandbridge, a low-lying area south of the beach, was already under a mandatory evacuation order by 8 a.m.
But Dylan Altman, a 40-year-old high school history teacher, sat in the sun, on a beach chair with his girlfriend, Jean, by his side. A Virginia Beach native, he said he was staying put, with several days' worth of food, water and batteries. He had spent the week removing lawn furniture and other loose items from his yard and cutting stray limbs from trees.
"This is perfect for surfers," he said. "Actually, I'll probably go out at some point and surf."
What would make him leave?
"A Category 5, I would leave," he said.
Reggie Bario and his wife, Jeanette, who are visiting from Ile-Bizard, a suburb of Montreal, stood watching the earth-movers from an elevated playground. They planned to stay put with ice and supplies in a fourth-floor oceanview room at the Schooner Inn, a boxy high-rise just off the beach.
"We're going to see everything," said Jeanette, 60, with a little laugh.
"It's a concrete building," Reggie said. "If it was a wooden house, I don't think we'd stay."
Standing shirtless and in a black swimsuit and flip-flops, he said many of the folks they've met since Tuesday are downplaying the hurricane's severity.
"The locals are not leaving," he said.
Jeanette jumped in: "And they don't panic — why should we panic?"
Contributing: Todd Bates, Asbury (N.J.) Park Press; Doug Stanglin and Gary Strauss in McLean, Va.; the Associated Press
bron:
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/storms/hurricanes/story/2011-08-26/Irenes-first-rains-reach-East-Coast/50144370/1
