A hurricane warning has been issued for New York and much of the eastern U.S. coast as Hurricane Irene approaches in what President Barack Obama is calling “an extremely dangerous and costly” storm.
Forecasters say the storm, expected to make landfall in the U.S. Saturday, could cause widespread flooding, power outages and billions of dollars in damage.
Tens of millions of Americans live in Hurricane Irene's projected path – many of whom have been evacuated.
In New York, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has ordered the city's first ever mandatory evacuation. Some quarter-million people have been told to leave their homes in low-lying areas of the city, including the Wall Street financial district. And in another first, New York's entire public transit system, including subway trains and buses, will shut down Saturday. All three of New York's major airports will shut down starting at noon .
Airlines have already canceled hundreds of flights elsewhere on the east coast, and train services in parts of the eastern region have been suspended.
Mr. Obama says all indications point to Irene being a “historic” storm. He said the nation has to be “prepared for the worst.” He returned to Washington late Friday, leaving his vacation in Massachusetts a day earlier than planned. President Obama has directed agencies to ensure all the needed resources are available.
Irene is expected to hit first in North Carolina. The storm is expected to have an effect well inland, both from winds and flooding. The National Hurricane Center says the storm has winds of 160 kilometers an hour, but it is expected to weaken somewhat as it travels up the U.S. coast.
The governors of seven states, stretching from North Carolina to Connecticut, have declared states of emergency.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Friday that federal and local authorities are taking the storm “very seriously.” She said President Obama has directed agencies to ensure all the needed resources are available.
The threat of the hurricane also led organizers in Washington to postpone Saturday's dedication of a memorial to civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.
Irene is the first hurricane to seriously threaten the United States in three years. It has already killed at least one person in Puerto Rico and two in the Dominican Republic, and also destroyed homes in The Bahamas.
