STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
THE FIRST JUDGEMENT OF THE EARTH STARTED WITH WATER-IT ONLY MAKES SENSE THE LAST GENERATION WILL BE HAVING FLOODING
GENESIS 7:6-12
6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.
7 And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.
8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,
9 There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.
10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
GOD PROMISED BY A RAINBOW-THE EARTH WOULD NEVER BE DESTROYED TOTALLY WITH A FLOOD AGAIN.BUT FLOODIING IS A SIGN OF JUDGEMENT.
POWER OUTAGE
REVELATION 16:10-11
10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,
11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.
IN NEW YORK THERE WAS SOME FLOODING-TREES DOWN,BUT OVER ALL GOD PROTECTED HIS ISRAELIS IN NEW YORK FROM BIG TIME DESTRUCTION.ONCE AGAIN KING JESUS PROTECTS HIS PEOPLE(ISRAEL)AND DISINTIGRATEES THE HURRICANE TO A PURRING KITTEN OVER NEW YORK.PRAISE KING JESUS FOR PROTECTING ISRAELIS FROM HURRICANE IRENE.
State-by-state look at Irene dangers, damage
AP By The Associated Press – 7:50PM SUN AUG 28,11
Irene, the hurricane that weakened to a tropical storm, thrashed the East Coast, knocking out power to millions of homes and businesses, destroying piers and killing at least 21 people. Here's a state-by-state glance on how it's affected states along the Eastern seaboard:
CONNECTICUT
__ Irene made landfall Sunday afternoon on the state's shoreline with winds of 60 mph.
__ Power cut to much of Bridgeport, the state's largest city, because of flooding concerns at substations. Mayor imposes 8 p.m. Sunday curfew as crews deal with the problem.
__ Officials warned of possible flooding as a storm surge of 4 to 8 feet coincided with an unusually high tide in Long Island Sound.
__ Thousands evacuated along the shoreline, with more than 30 municipalities directing people to leave their homes.
__ State of emergency declared. National Guard mobilized.
__ Last hurricane to hit was Bob in 1991.
DELAWARE
__ About 31,000 homes and businesses without power as of late Sunday afternoon.
__ Apparent tornado damages 15 structures near Lewes. Another touched down in Wicomico County. No injuries reported.
__ Residents of a small coastal community were left isolated from their homes after an access road through Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge in southern Delaware was washed out.
__ Governor says worst of Irene passed Sunday; he went on a helicopter tour of affected areas.
__ Last hurricane to hit was Floyd in 1999; Tropical Storm Isabel struck in 2003.
FLORIDA
__ Hurricane kicks up heavy waves killing a 55-year-old surfer when he is tossed off his board; a New Jersey tourist, also 55, dies in rough surf.
MAINE
__ Heavy rains reached state Sunday.
__ More than 160,000 customers without power by Sunday afternoon.
__ Flash flood warnings in effect Sunday for northern and western Maine. Offshore, seas were expected to build to about 20 feet.
__ Strong winds with gusts up to 50 mph expected through the night and into early Monday.
__ Governor had declared an emergency prior to the storm. No evacuations were planned. Lobstermen began moving their fishing gear farther offshore to avoid damage.
MARYLAND
__ At least 645,000 homes and businesses without power late Sunday afternoon.
__ State police report an apparent tornado touchdown on the lower Eastern Shore; no injuries.
__ National Weather Service warns of flooding in parts of southern and central Maryland and the Eastern Shore.
__ Up to 12 inches of rain fell on Ocean City.
__Ocean City, following its first evacuation order since 1985, said Sunday morning that residents and tourists could return.
__ Maryland Transit Administration restored service Sunday after suspending it.
__Bay Bridge and other bridges reopened Sunday after being shut down at height of storm.
__ Last hurricane to hit was Floyd in 1999; state was pounded by Tropical Storm Isabel in 2003.
__In Queen Anne's County, an 85-year-old woman was killed when a tree fell into a chimney, which crashed into the sunroom where she was sitting.
MASSACHUSETTS
__ The governor deployed 500 National Guard troops, saying an additional 2,000 troops would be activated Saturday.
__ Mandatory evacuations were not ordered.
__ Red Cross positioned emergency response vehicles, mobilized disaster workers.
__ Irene reaches southern New England on Sunday.
__ More than 500,000 power customers lose service.
__ Public transportation in Boston shut down Sunday.
__ Last hurricane to hit was Bob in 1991.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
__ Drenching rain and high winds reach state Sunday afternoon.
__ More than 100,000 homes and businesses lose power.
__ No evacuations planned.
__ Governor urged people to stay off the roads and beaches.
__ The Red Cross planned to open four shelters.
__ Organizers of the annual Hampton Beach Talent Competition condensed the three-night schedule to two, telling competitors "it's one song for all the marbles."
NEW JERSEY
__ Irene makes landfall along the New Jersey coast near Little Egg Inlet with 75 mph winds, the first hurricane to make landfall in the state in more than a century.
__ Mandatory evacuations ordered for nearly 1 million visitors and residents.
__ More than 920,000 homes and businesses lose power.
__ 20-year-old woman who had called police to ask for help getting out of her flooded car in Salem County was found dead in the vehicle eight hours later.
__ Governor says more than 15,000 people in shelters.
__ New Jersey Transit trains and buses shut down.
__ Atlantic City casinos shut down for only the third time since gambling was legalized 33 years ago.
NEW YORK
__ Irene makes landfall Sunday near Coney Island.
__ Some streets flooded in Manhattan; two major thoroughfares closed.
__ More than 905,000 homes and businesses statewide lose power, about half on Long Island.
__ Southbound lanes of the New York State Thruway closed for 137 miles from Albany to West Nyack. Northbound lanes shut for 90 miles from Westchester County to Saugerties.
__ Bungalows float down streets in Queens. Rescuers search for anyone inside.
__ New York's major airports closed Sunday. Three to reopen for most flights Monday morning.
__ Before the storm, mandatory evacuations ordered for New York City residents in low-lying coastal areas that are home to 370,000. Order lifted at 3 p.m. Sunday afternoon.
__ New York City's public transit system, the nation's biggest, was shut down until at least Monday. The five main New York-area airports also closed. As of 2:30 Sunday, there was no timetable for restarting subways or regional rail systems.
NORTH CAROLINA
__ Hurricane makes landfall Saturday morning near Cape Lookout. Highest wind gust of 115 mph recorded at Cedar Island ferry terminal. Highest rainfall amount is 15.74 inches in Bayboro.
__ More than 400,000 remain without electricity early Sunday evening, down from 560,000.
__Local officials reported a 13-foot surge from Pamlico Sound into Beaufort County.
__ The Neuse River poured over its banks and into the city of New Bern. Several dozen people were rescued from homes as up to 4 feet of water rushed in.
__Ferries carry supplies to Hatteras Island after the storm caused breaches in the road connecting it to the mainland
__ More than 60 shelters were opened open in 26 counties.
__ Nearly 1900 prisoners evacuated from three coastal prisons.
__ Last hurricane to hit was Isabel in 2003.
PENNSYLVANIA
__ Flooding in several counties in central and eastern portions of the state.
__ Nearly 700,000 lost power across the state.
__ Governor declared state of emergency.
__ A half-foot of rain fell in Philadelphia. A state of emergency declared by the mayor on Saturday — the first since one triggered by racial tensions in 1986 — was lifted Sunday. The rainfall came on top of an already single-month record of more than 13 inches.
__ Mass transit serving Philadelphia resumed bus, trolley and subway service; regional trains set to resume Monday.
__ Philadelphia International Airport reopened Sunday afternoon but no departures scheduled.
__ Last hurricane to hit was Floyd in 1999.
RHODE ISLAND
__ Irene made landfall Sunday as a tropical storm.
__ More than 270,000 customers lost power.
__ Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency said state weathered the morning high tide without widespread coastal flooding. But officials were keeping a close eye on water levels heading into the high tide expected at about 8 p.m. Sunday.
__ Federal and state emergencies declared.
__ Mandatory evacuations ordered for low-lying communities including Bristol, Charlestown, Narragansett, South Kingstown, and Westerly. Other communities have voluntary evacuation orders.
__ Residents warned to expect prolonged power outages and property damage.
__ 300 National Guard troops on standby.
__ Last hurricane to hit was Bob in 1991, which made landfall twice.
SOUTH CAROLINA
__ Beach erosion reported at high tide Friday evening on Edisto Island and Folly Beach.
__ About 5,000 customers lost power from storms in Irene's outer bands.
__ No mandatory evacuations ordered.
__ Irene moved away from the state Saturday morning.
__ Last hurricane to hit was Charley in 2004.
VERMONT
__ Heavy rains began falling early Sunday, with flash flooding and evacuations ongoing in southern Vermont by late morning.
__ Flooding expected to occur in northern Vermont as the storm moves in that direction during the day. Rivers in northern Vermont should crest late Sunday night or early Monday.
__ The Red Cross opened shelters, with one in Brattleboro housing about 50 people by midday Sunday.
__ About 18,000 power outages reported by midday Sunday.
VIRGINIA
__ Nearly 800,000 without power early Sunday evening, down from a peak of about 1 million.
__ Officials say the scope of the damage may not be known for days because some roads could remain impassible and rivers have yet to crest.
__ Suffolk received 11 inches of rain and other localities east of Interstate 95 received about 5-10 inches.
__ Mandatory evacuations were ordered for at least 11 communities, including the Sandbridge section of Virginia Beach, a barrier island dotted with rentals, Accomack on the Eastern Shore, and low-lying areas of Norfolk, Hampton and Portsmouth.
__ The Navy ordered the Second Fleet out to sea to escape the storm.
__ Apparent tornado heavily damaged five homes in the Sandbridge area.
__ Last hurricane to hit the state was Isabel in 2003.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
__ About 30,000 homes and businesses without power.
__ About 200 trees were down around the city.
__ Washington National Cathedral officials say Hurricane Irene has not worsened any damage from last week's earthquake that caused significant damage at the church.
__ Approach of hurricane forced postponement of Sunday's dedication of Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.
__ Public transit in nation's capital never shut down.
__ Last hurricane to hit was Hazel in 1954.
Hurricane Irene by the Numbers
ContributorNetwork William Browning – AUG 28,11-SUN 7:30PM
Hurricane Irene left a path of flooding and destruction from the coast of North Carolina and into New York City. The remnants of the storm will very quickly move north into Maine and eventually be swept out into the extreme northern Atlantic Ocean.Hurricane Irene has left behind some huge numbers and statistics to ponder.
4.5 million: The estimated number of residents without power due to the storm. ABC News reports customers from North Carolina to Maine, residents along the coast will deal with flooding and power problems. As many as a quarter of the power outages were in New Jersey and New York combined. Maine had about 85,000 customers lose power even after Hurricane Irene weakened.18: The number of deaths attributed to the storm so far. CNN reports North Carolina alone had six fatalities. Virginia saw four deaths total as coastal areas were hit by heavy rain and high winds.
115: The maximum sustained winds that were associated with Hurricane Irene, in miles per hour. As the storm approached North Carolina Aug. 26, winds had lessened to 100 mph as Irene made landfall along the coast.3 billion: The amount of money, in dollars, predicted to cost insurers of the storm. Bloomberg reports original estimates were $14 billion a few days before Hurricane Irene hit. Now that the winds have died down and flooding wasn't nearly as big of a problem, the damage estimates were lowered. The actual amount of damage won't be known for months.65: The wind speeds, in miles per hour, as Tropical Storm Irene pounded Coney Island, N.Y. The eye of the storm made a direct hit on New York City.10,300: The approximate number of flights canceled to and from New York City because of Irene. Bloomberg reports mass transit sites were shut down, airports were closed and even the George Washington Bridge was made inoperative by the approaching wind and rain.370,000: The number of residents evacuated from low-lying areas in New York City. The New York Times reports the mandatory evacuation order affected those residents living closest to the water who would be affected by the storm surge. When flooding was reported,
9,600: The estimated number of New York City residents who stayed in approximated 90 shelters set up by the city. Many of these people were part of the mandatory evacuation zone. Less than 24 hours later, the evacuation order was lifted. New York City officials say they made exactly the right call by evacuating the hardest-hit areas.
NYC mayor: Evacuees can soon return home AP By COLLEEN LONG - Associated Press,DAVID B. CARUSO - Associated Press | AP – AUG 28,11 SUN - 2:30PM
NEW YORK (AP) — The nearly 400,000 New Yorkers who had been ordered to evacuate low-lying neighborhoods because of Hurricane Irene were told they could go home Sunday afternoon, but officials said the city's transit system probably won't be up and running again by the start of the work week.That could mean a rough commute for millions of New Yorkers come Monday morning.Overall, the city made it through the storm fairly well, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in announcing he would lift the evacuation order covering 370,000 people by 3 p.m.He said the storm inflicted significant damage, with retaining walls collapsing in some places and serious flooding across all the five boroughs.But whether we dodged a bullet or you look at it and said, God smiled on us,the bottom line is, I'm happy to report, there do not appear to be any deaths attributable to the storm,the mayor said. He added: All in all, we are in pretty good shape because of the extensive steps we took to prepare.
Among those steps was the shutting down of city subways, commuter rails and buses.
Jay Walder, chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said damage to the various parts of the system would have to assessed before service could be restored.Walder said the shutdown — the first time the nation's biggest transit system suspended all service because of a natural disaster — was the right move, noting that some train yards were under water.I think it's fair to say you're going to have a tough commute in the morning,Bloomberg said. Tough commute tomorrow, but we have tough commutes all the time.Around the city, firefighters rescued dozens of people from flooded homes on Staten Island, residents removed garbage and debris from clogged sewer gates, and once-quiet roads became busier soon after a weakened Irene came ashore at Brooklyn's Coney Island around 9 a.m. as a powerful tropical storm.In Queens, bungalows floated down the street and emergency crews were checking to make sure no one was inside. There was heavy flooding in other parts of the city, but Manhattan was mostly spared.
Coney Island boardwalk landmarks like the red parachute drop tower, the Cyclone roller coaster, and Dino's Wonder Wheel appeared intact. Residents there pitched in to dislodge debris from the sewer gates.It's working, said Daniels Stevens, as a small whirlpool appeared where the water was draining out. When we started, the water was almost up over the hubcaps on that parked car.Irene weakened after landfall over the North Carolina coast Saturday, but it was still a huge storm with sustained winds of up to 65 mph as it hit the city. Coinciding with a tide that was higher than normal, water levels rose, but not as high as anticipated. They were quickly receding.In Manhattan, some streets were flooded on the east and west side of the island, closing major thoroughfares such as the Henry Hudson Parkway and the FDR Drive. The Tappan Zee Bridge was closed because of flooding on the highway leading up to it.Twelve-year-old Alex Cuglewski said he set his alarm for 3 a.m. so he could get up and watch Irene from his family's eight-floor oceanfront apartment in a stretch of Rockaway Beach where everyone was supposed to evacuate.It wasn't that bad. People evacuated for no reason,he said. Waves went up to the boardwalk but did not spill into his street.Water from New York Harbor washed onto the sidewalk at Battery Park along the tip of the island. About a foot of water lapped over the wall of the marina in front of the New York Mercantile Exchange in lower Manhattan. A low-lying section of the promenade hugging Battery Park was also submerged, and much of the operational equipment for the ferries out to Staten and Ellis Island was damaged. It could take a day to get it up and running.But the Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum sent a Twitter message that read: None of the memorial trees were lost.About 400 trees have been planted ahead of the 10th anniversary next week. And the city's biggest utility said it was cautiously optimistic that it would not have to cut off power to Wall Street and 17,000 people.Slowly cabs started appearing downtown and residents returned despite the evacuation order.
It was a fun little adventure. I tried not to think about the hype and take things as they came,said Zander Lassen, 37, who spent the night at a boathouse watching sailboats.Grace Tate, a Manhattan paralegal, found her herself stranded in the World Financial Center lobby with a front-row seat to the hurricane.She had been determined to make it downtown for Sunday services at Trinity Church, only to learn they had been canceled. Security and maintenance men who had spent the night in the building were her only company.First the earthquake and now this, she said as heavy rain pounded empty streets outside.Bloomberg was right to err on the side of overkill,Tate said of the mayor's insistent warnings to evacuate. I think we need to be more respectful of nature.Other neighborhoods weren't as lucky. Coastal areas of Staten Island and parts of Queens had the most damage from flooding. Power was out to about 110,000 customers around the city and hundreds of thousands in Long Island.
All subway, bus and commuter rail service was suspended Saturday because of the danger of flooding and downed trees.Associated Press writers Beth Fouhy, Samantha Gross, Jennifer Peltz, Verena Dobnik, Tom Hays, and Deepti Hajela in New York contributed to this report.
NYC appears to escape the worst as Irene roars in AP By MITCH WEISS - Associated Press,SAMANTHA GROSS - Associated Press | AP – AUG 28,11 - 1:15PM
NEW YORK (AP) — Tropical Storm Irene unleashed furious wind and rain on New York on Sunday and sent seawater surging into the Manhattan streets. But the city appeared to escape the worst fears of urban disaster — vast power outages, hurricane-shattered skyscraper windows and severe flooding.A foot of water rushed over the wall of a marina in front of the New York Mercantile Exchange, where gold and oil are traded, and floodwater lapped at the wheel wells of yellow cabs. As the storm marched into New England, though, authorities in its wake cautiously expressed relief.All in all, we are in pretty good shape, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. He lifted the city's evacuation orders for 370,000 people effective later Sunday afternoon. There was no immediate indication when New York might start its subways again.New York City's biggest power company, Consolidated Edison, said it was optimistic it would not have to cut electricity to save its equipment. The Sept. 11 museum, a centerpiece of the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, said on Twitter that none of its memorial trees were lost.And Irene made landfall as a tropical storm with 65 mph winds, not the 100-mph hurricane that had churned up the East Coast and dumped a foot of water or more on less populated areas in the South.
Just another storm,said Scott Beller, who was at a Lowe's store in the Long Island hamlet of Centereach, looking for a generator because his power was out.Irene weakened to winds of 60 mph, well below the 74 mph dividing line between a hurricane and tropical storm. The system was still massive and powerful, forming a figure six that covered the Northeast. It was moving twice as fast as the day before.The storm killed at least 14 people and left 4 million homes and businesses without power. It unloaded more than a foot of water on North Carolina and spun off tornadoes in Virginia, Maryland and Delaware.And even after the storm passes in the Northeast, the danger will persist. Rivers could crest after the skies the clear, and the ground in most of the region is saturated from a summer of persistent rain. In Rhode Island, thick with bays, inlets and coastline, authorities were worried about coastal flooding at Sunday evening's high tide.But from North Carolina to New Jersey, the storm appeared to have fallen well short of the doomsday predictions. Across the Eastern Seaboard, at least 2.3 million people were given orders to evacuate, though it was not clear how many obeyed them.Max Mayfield, former director of the National Hurricane Center, said the storm wasn't just a lot of hype with little fury. He praised authorities, from meteorologists to emergency managers at all levels, for taking the threat seriously.They knew they had to get people out early,Mayfield said.I think absolutely lives were saved.In Virginia Beach, the city posted on Twitter late Saturday that initial reports were promising, with the resort area suffering minimal damage. Ocean City, Md., Mayor Rick Meehan posted wind readings and reported: Scattered power outages. No reports of major damage! Charlie Koetzle was up at 4 a.m. on Ocean City's boardwalk. Asked about damage, he mentioned a sign that blew down.The beach is still here, and there is lots of it, he said.I don't think it was as bad as they said it was going to be.Under its first hurricane warning in a quarter-century, the nation's largest city had taken extensive precautions. There were sandbags on Wall Street, tarps over subway grates and plywood on storefront windows. The subway stopped rolling. Broadway and baseball were canceled.
John F. Kennedy International Airport recorded a tropical storm-force wind gust of 58 mph. Kennedy, where on a normal day tens of thousands of passengers would be arriving from points around the world, was quiet. So were LaGuardia and Newark airports. So was Grand Central Terminal, where the great hall was cleared out entirely. Part of the Holland Tunnel was closed.And 370,000 people in the city had been ordered to move to safer ground, although they appeared in great numbers to have stayed put. A storm surge of at least 3 1/2 feet was recorded in New York Harbor, and water pressed into Manhattan from three sides — the harbor, the Hudson River and the East River.You could see newspaper stands floating down the street, said Scott Baxter, a hotel doorman in the SoHo neighborhood.New York firefighters made dozens of water rescues, including three babies, and said they were searching bungalows that had floated down the street in parts of Queens. The wind and rain were expected to diminish by afternoon.The National Hurricane Center said the center of the huge storm reached land near Little Egg Inlet, N.J., at 5:35 a.m. The eye previously reached land Saturday in North Carolina before returning to the Atlantic, tracing the East Coast shoreline.Irene caused flooding from North Carolina to Delaware, both from the 7-foot waves it pushed into the coast and from heavy rain. Eastern North Carolina got 10 to 14 inches of rain. Virginia's Hampton Roads area was drenched with at least 9 inches, 16 in some spots.More than 1 million homes and businesses lost power in Virginia alone. Emergency crews around the region prepared to head out at daybreak to assess the damage, though with some roads impassable and rivers still rising, it could take days.Some held out optimism that their communities had suffered less damage than they had feared.In North Carolina, where at least five people were killed and TV footage showed downed trees and power lines, Gov. Beverly Perdue said some areas were unreachable.Folks are cut off in parts of North Carolina, and obviously we're not going to get anybody to do an assessment until it's safe,she said.A falling tree also killed one person in Maryland. A surfer and another beachgoer in Florida were killed in heavy waves caused by the storm.
A nuclear reactor at Maryland's Calvert Cliffs went offline automatically when a large piece of aluminum siding blew off and hit the facility's main transformer late Saturday night. An unusual event was declared, the lowest of four emergency classifications by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, but Constellation Energy Nuclear Group spokesman Mark Sullivan said the facility and all employees were safe.
Near Callway, Md., about 30 families were warned that a dam could spill over, causing significant flooding, and that they should either leave their homes or stay upstairs. St. Mary's County spokeswoman Sue Sabo said the dam was not in danger of breaching.Irene raked the Caribbean last week and made its first landfall Saturday near Cape Lookout, N.C., at the southern end of the Outer Banks.Of the 15 deaths, at least 10 were caused by falling trees or car crashes into trees. The victims included five in North Carolina, four in Virginia, two in rough surf in Florida, and one each in Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.Irene was the first hurricane to make landfall in the continental United States since 2008, and came almost six years to the day after Katrina ravaged New Orleans on Aug. 29, 2005. Experts said that probably no other hurricane in American history had threatened as many people.Airlines said 9,000 flights were canceled, including 3,000 on Saturday. The number of passengers affected could easily be millions because so many flights make connections on the East Coast.The storm arrived in Washington just days after an earthquake damaged some of the capital's most famous structures, including the Washington Monument. Irene could test Washington's ability to protect its national treasures and its poor.Near the epicenter of the quake, in Mineral, Va., trees were down, but the power stayed on.I was telling people, 'All I can say is we all better go to church on Sunday,Mayor Pam Harlowe said.But unfortunately a bunch of them are closed.At the East Coast cleans up, it can't afford to get too comfortable. Off the coast of Africa is a batch of clouds that computer models say will probably threaten the East Coast 10 days from now, Mayfield said. The hurricane center gave it a 40 percent chance of becoming a named storm over the next two days.Folks on the East Coast are going to get very nervous again,Mayfield said.Weiss reported from Nags Head, N.C. Associated Press writers Christine Armario in Miami; Jessica Gresko in Ocean City, Md.; Brock Vergakis in Virginia Beach, Va.; Marc Levy in Chester, Pa.; Seth Borenstein in Washington; and Samantha Bomkamp, Verena Dobnik, Jonathan Fahey, Beth Fouhy, Tom Hays, Colleen Long and Larry Neumeister in New York contributed to this report.
Flooding in Manhattan streets as Irene arrives AP By MITCH WEISS - Associated Press,SAMANTHA GROSS - Associated Press | AP – AUG 28,11 10:30AM
NEW YORK (AP) — Seawater surged into the streets of Manhattan on Sunday as Tropical Storm Irene slammed into New York, downgraded from a hurricane but still unleashing furious wind and rain. The flooding threatened Wall Street and the heart of the global financial network.Salty water from New York Harbor submerged parts of a promenade at the base of the island. A foot of water rushed over the wall of a marina in front of the New York Mercantile Exchange, where gold and oil are traded.
You could see newspaper stands floating down the street, said Scott Baxter, a hotel doorman in the SoHo neighborhood.As the center of the storm passed over Central Park at midmorning, floodwater reached the wheel wells of some stranded cars in Manhattan, and more streamed into the streets of Queens.Still, the storm was far from the worst fears. The Sept. 11 museum, a centerpiece of the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, said on Twitter that none of its memorial trees were lost.
Irene weakened to winds of 65 mph, below the 74 mph dividing line between a hurricane and tropical storm. The system was still massive and powerful, forming a figure six that covered the Northeast. It was moving twice as fast as the day before.
As a hurricane, Irene had already killed 11 people and left 4 million homes and businesses without power. It unloaded more than a foot of water on North Carolina and spun off tornadoes in Virginia, Maryland and Delaware.Even after the storm passes in the Northeast, the danger will persist. Rivers could crest after the skies the clear, and the ground in most of the region is saturated from a summer of persistent rain.In the nation's largest city Sunday, there were sandbags on Wall Street, tarps over subway grates and plywood on storefront windows. The subway stopped rolling. Broadway and baseball were canceled.Consolidated Edison, the largest utility, said it was optimistic it would not have to cut power to 17,000 people in Manhattan, a step it had considered to protect its equipment and make repairs easier.And 370,000 people in the city had been ordered to move to safer ground, although they appeared in great numbers to have stayed put.It's nasty out there and wet, Cindy Darcy said from a 36-floor building facing the harbor.We unplugged the drains, and we fastened anything loose or removed it.She was up early making bagels for the nine workers and 24 inhabitants who stayed in the building, which is in the evacuation zone.John F. Kennedy International Airport recorded a tropical storm-force wind gust of 58 mph. Kennedy, where on a normal day tens of thousands of passengers would be arriving from points around the world, was quiet. So were LaGuardia and Newark airports. So was Grand Central Terminal, where the great hall was cleared out entirely. One tube of the Holland Tunnel between New York and New Jersey was closed because of flooding.The time for evacuation is over, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Saturday.Everyone should now go inside and stay inside.As the storm's outer bands reached New York on Saturday night, two kayakers capsized and had to be rescued off Staten Island. They received summonses and a dressing down from Bloomberg, who said at a press conference that they had recklessly put rescuers' lives at risk.The National Hurricane Center said the center of the huge storm reached land near Little Egg Inlet, N.J., at 5:35 a.m. The eye previously reached land Saturday in North Carolina before returning to the Atlantic, tracing the East Coast shoreline.
In New York, a storm surge of at least 3 1/2 feet was recorded, and forecasters said it could reach 8 feet. Wind and rain were expected to diminish by afternoon. The flooding in lower Manhattan was dangerously close to Wall Street, and while the New York Stock Exchange can run on generator power, it was unclear how many traders would show up for work Monday.Throughout the East Coast storm zone, the total extent of damage was unclear, but officials and in parts of the storm zone were relieved to find their communities with relatively minor problems. Forecasters said the storm remained capable of causing ruinous flooding with a combination of storm surge, high tides and 6 to 12 inches of rain.Everything is still in effect, National Hurricane Center spokesman Dennis Feltgen said. The last thing people should do is go outside. They need to get inside and stay in a safe place until this thing is over.Irene caused flooding from North Carolina to Delaware, both from the 7-foot waves it pushed into the coast and from heavy rain. Eastern North Carolina got 10 to 14 inches of rain. Virginia's Hampton Roads area was drenched with at least 9 inches, 16 in some spots.More than 1 million homes and businesses lost power in Virginia alone, where three people were killed by falling trees and about 100 roads were closed. Emergency crews around the region prepared to head out at daybreak to assess the damage, though with some roads impassable and rivers still rising, it could take days.Some held out optimism that their communities had suffered less damage than they had feared.I think it's a little strong to say we dodged a bullet. However, it certainly could have turned out worse for the Hampton Roads area, said National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Montefusco.In Virginia Beach, the city posted on Twitter late Saturday that initial reports were promising, with the resort area suffering minimal damage. Ocean City, Md., Mayor Rick Meehan posted wind readings and reported: Scattered power outages. No reports of major damage!
Charlie Koetzle was up at 4 a.m. on Ocean City's boardwalk. Asked about damage, he mentioned a sign that blew down.The beach is still here, and there is lots of it, he said.I don't think it was as bad as they said it was going to be.In North Carolina, where at least two people were killed, Gov. Beverly Perdue said Irene inflicted significant damage along the North Carolina coast and some areas were unreachable.
Folks are cut off in parts of North Carolina, and obviously we're not going to get anybody to do an assessment until it's safe, she said.Television coverage showed evidence of damage across eastern North Carolina with downed trees and toppled power lines.A falling tree also killed one person in Maryland. A surfer and another beachgoer in Florida were killed in heavy waves caused by the storm.The storm arrived in Washington just days after an earthquake damaged some of the capital's most famous structures, including the Washington Monument. Irene could test Washington's ability to protect its national treasures and its poor.Near the epicenter of the quake, in Mineral, Va., trees were down, but the power stayed on.I was telling people, All I can say is we all better go to church on Sunday,Mayor Pam Harlowe said. But unfortunately a bunch of them are closed.A nuclear reactor at Maryland's Calvert Cliffs went offline automatically when a large piece of aluminum siding blew off and hit the facility's main transformer late Saturday night. An unusual event was declared, the lowest of four emergency classifications by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, but Constellation Energy Nuclear Group spokesman Mark Sullivan said the facility and all employees were safe.Near Callway, Md., about 30 families were warned that a dam could spill over, causing significant flooding, and that they should either leave their homes or stay upstairs. St. Mary's County spokeswoman Sue Sabo said the dam was not in danger of breaching.
Irene raked the Caribbean last week and made its first landfall Saturday near Cape Lookout, N.C., at the southern end of the Outer Banks. Across the Eastern Seaboard, at least 2.3 million people were under orders to move to somewhere safer.Annette Burton, 72, was asked to leave her Chester, Pa., neighborhood because of danger of rising water from a nearby creek. She said she planned to remain in the row house along with her daughter and adult grandson. She kept an eye on the park across the street, which floods during heavy rains.I'm not a fool. If it starts coming up from the park, I'm leaving,she said. It's the wind I'm more concerned about than anything.
Irene was the first hurricane to make landfall in the continental United States since 2008, and came almost six years to the day after Katrina ravaged New Orleans on Aug. 29, 2005. Experts said that probably no other hurricane in American history had threatened as many people.Airlines said 9,000 flights were canceled, including 3,000 on Saturday. The number of passengers affected could easily be millions because so many flights make connections on the East Coast.Mitch Weiss reported from Nags Head, N.C. Associated Press writers contributing to this report were Tim Reynolds and Christine Armario in Miami; Bruce Shipkowski in Surf City, N.J.; Geoff Mulvihill in Trenton, N.J.; Wayne Parry in Atlantic City, N.J.; Eric Tucker in Washington; Martha Waggoner and Gary D. Robertson in Raleigh, N.C.; Jessica Gresko in Ocean City, Md.; Mitch Weiss in Nags Head, N.C.; Alex Dominguez in Baltimore; Dena Potter in Richmond, Va.; Brock Vergakis in Virginia Beach, Va.; Samantha Bomkamp and Jonathan Fahey in New York; Seth Borenstein in Washington; and Allen G. Breed in Mineral, Va.
After Irene: Little damage seen in many places AP By ROBERT RAY - Associated Press,TOM FOREMAN Jr. - Associated Press | AP – AUG 28,11 10:00AM
KILL DEVIL HILLS, N.C. (AP) — From North Carolina to Pennsylvania, Hurricane Irene appeared to have fallen short of the doomsday predictions. But with rivers still rising, and roads impassable because of high water and fallen trees, it could be days before the full extent of the damage is known.More than 4.5 million homes and businesses along the East Coast lost power, and at least nine deaths were blamed on the storm. But as day broke Sunday, light damage was reported in many places, with little more than downed trees and power lines.I think it's a little strong to say we dodged a bullet. However, it certainly could have turned out worse for the Hampton Roads area in Virginia, said National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Montefusco.
At the same time, officials warned of the possibility of severe flooding over the next few days as runoff from the storm makes its way into creeks and rivers. In some parts of the Northeast, the ground was soggy even before the storm because of an extremely rainy August.Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett said: The rivers may not crest until Tuesday or Wednesday. This isn't just a 24-hour event.Irene's storm surge and heavy rain of six inches to a foot in many places triggered flooding along much of the East Coast. The storm was still pummeling the Northeast on Sunday morning, dropping below hurricane strength but still dangerous with 65 mph winds and heavy downpours.Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell had initially warned that Irene could be a catastrophic monster with record storm surges of up to 8 feet.But in Virginia Beach, the city posted on Twitter late Saturday that initial reports were promising, with the resort area suffering minimal damage. And in Ocean City, Md., Mayor Rick Meehan reported: Scattered power outages. No reports of major damage!In Lusby, Md., Constellation Energy Nuclear Group said one of two nuclear reactors at Calvert Cliffs went off-line automatically because of Irene's winds. Constellation said the plant was safe.North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue said Irene inflicted significant damage along her state's coast, but that the full extent was unclear because some areas were unreachable because of high water or downed power lines.Perdue planned an aerial tour Sunday of the hardest-hit counties after TV coverage showed downed trees, toppled utility poles and power lines and mangled awnings.Officials in North Carolina's Dare County said they were advised there was extensive flooding that needed to be checked out.Elsewhere, authorities suggested Irene didn't create the kind of havoc that had been anticipated.
We were prepared for a lot worse, but we got lucky on this one, said Bruce Shell, New Hanover County, N.C., manager.He said many of the 70,000 homes that lost power Saturday were back online in the evening and a wastewater spill at Wrightsville Beach appeared to be minor.Pinehurst dentist Harwell Palmer said his home in Ocean Isle Beach, N.C., lost a few pieces of siding and there was some street flooding, but a pier that took a pounding from the waves was still standing. The storm did gobble up some of the sand.The main concern we will have going forward is the loss of beach, he said.The question still facing the region was whether Irene's effects over the next few days would match the mess left behind by such storms as Floyd and Isabel.In 1999, Floyd dropped at least 15 inches of rain on eastern North Carolina. The flooding was the most damaging in the state's history, topping $3 billion in North Carolina. Four years later, Isabel brought hurricane conditions to eastern North Carolina and southeast Virginia, causing about $1 billion in damage.In Ocean City, Md., Charlie Koetzle stayed throughout the storm. He was up at 4 a.m., walking on the city's boardwalk, and said by phone that he saw at least one sign that had been blown down but that the pier was still intact.The beach is still here, and there is lots of it,he said.Associated Press writers Jessica Gresko in Ocean City, Md., Randall Chase in Georgetown, Del., and Dena Potter in Richmond, Va., contributed to this report. Foreman reported from Raleigh, N.C.
4M without power as Hurricane Irene heads north
AP By CHRIS KAHN - AP Energy Writer | AP – 9AM AUG 28,11
More than 4 million homes and businesses were without power Sunday morning as Hurricane Irene continued to roar up the East Coast and took aim at the New York City area and New England.Winds of up to 115 miles per hour whipped across the Eastern Seaboard, ripping power lines from poles and snapping trees in half. Hospitals, emergency call centers and other crucial facilities were holding up, but officials said it could get much worse as Irene churns north.More than 1.3 million of the homes and businesses without power were in Virginia and North Carolina, which bore the brunt of Irene's initial march. Maryland, Delaware and Washington, D.C. had about three-quarters of a million outages combined.New Jersey and Pennsylvania each had about three-quarters of a million without power, and hundreds of thousands of other customers were in the dark in New York and Connecticut.Officials in southern and mid-Atlantic states had warned of mass power outages, with some recalling the destructive Hurricane Isabel in 2003, and their predictions were confirmed after Irene moved over North Carolina as a Category 1 storm early Saturday.New York's biggest utility, Consolidated Edison, said it could cut power to the city's most vulnerable areas if the storm causes serious flooding. Salt water and rain can damage electrical equipment.ConEd operations chief John Miksad said the utility didn't expect to cut power before the storm hits, but flooding Sunday could bring a shutdown to areas including the southern tip of Manhattan. That would cut off power to major Wall Street institutions through parts of next week.The New York Stock Exchange has backup generators and can run on its own, a spokesman said. The exchange expects to open as usual Monday morning, though it may change plans depending on the severity of the storm.New York is regularly blasted by winter storms, but Miksad said this hurricane will be different. Irene's wind will pack a stronger punch than a nor'easter last March that knocked out power to 175,000 customers, he said.
ConEd has called in crews from as far as Colorado to help repair damage from the storm.Spokesmen for the utilities said Saturday that hundreds more crews from as far away as Alabama, Michigan and Quebec are ready to help out in Connecticut.Officials noted that crews wouldn't begin restoring power until conditions are safe. Hurricane-force winds are expected to hit the state later Sunday morning.Winds have already caused flooding and damage to many areas. North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island have declared emergencies. For the first time, New York City ordered people in low-lying areas to evacuate.Power companies have called in several hundred workers from surrounding states to help. Crews were rushing out between bands in the hurricane, when the wind and rain ease. They're looking for damage first at towering transmission lines, where an outage could put an entire county in the dark.Gasoline supplies fell as drivers filled up before leaving town or just topped off their tanks as a precaution before the storm hit. Pump prices rose about 3 cents per gallon overnight in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.Refueling barges waited out the storm off the coast, also causing gasoline supplies to fall. Widespread power outages could lead to fuel shortages as gas stations are no longer able to pump gas or have trouble replenishing their own gas supplies.Power is the lifeblood of oil supply on the East Coast, said Ben Brockwell of the Oil Price Information Service, which tracks gasoline shipments around the country.Some gas stations in New Jersey reported that they'd run out of fuel. Those shortages could become more widespread.Retail gas prices were mostly unchanged in many cities that are expected to be hit this weekend. Rules against price gouging at gas stations took effect throughout Middle Atlantic states. Authorities will be looking for stations that try to take advantage of panicked drivers.Pump prices were up slightly overnight, as much as 3 cents per gallon, to $3.44 in Philadelphia and $3.49 in New Jersey's Atlantic-Cape May metro area. They seemed to hold in other areas, rising a penny or so on average in Maryland, Virginia and the Carolinas.
The Colonial Pipeline, which transports gasoline and other fuels from the Gulf Coast to the Northeast, stopped fuel deliveries to Selma, N.C., and to Virginia's Tidewater area as the storm knocked out power. Pipeline spokesman Steve Baker said the pipeline may cut off deliveries further in Virginia and Maryland as the storm moves north.Refineries, which make fuel from oil, have started to slow operations as Irene approaches.OPIS says East Coast refineries will cut operating rates 10 to 25 percent in the next few days. Refineries in the Gulf Coast and the West should be able to keep supplies flowing to the rest of the country.Refineries along the Louisiana Coast produce more than three times the gasoline and fuel of their East Coast counterparts, according to the Energy Information Administration. East Coast demand is going to fall as businesses close and people hunker down at home.Chris Kahn can be reached at http://twitter.com/ChrisKahnAP
Hurricane Irene dumps foot of rain; 2M powerless AP By SAMANTHA GROSS and MITCH WEISS, Associated Press – 6:00AM SUN AUG 28,11
NEW YORK – Barely a hurricane Sunday but massive and packed with rain, Irene flooded towns, killed at least eight people and knocked out power to more than 2 million homes and businesses as it plodded up the East Coast, saving the strongest winds it had left for New York.The streets of the nation's largest city were eerily quiet, its transit system shut down because of weather for the first time in history. Mayor Michael Bloomberg warned late Saturday that no matter whether residents of low-lying areas heeded his calls to evacuate, The time for evacuation is over. Everyone should now go inside and stay inside.The National Hurricane Center said that although tropical-storm-force winds covered a vast area of the mid-Atlantic states early Sunday morning, the only hurricane-force winds — 74 mph or above — covered a relatively small area over the Atlantic Ocean, east of the storm's center. Those winds were expected to retain hurricane strength until they finally reached land around midday Sunday over New York's Long Island.Tornadoes were reported in Maryland and Delaware, and several warnings were issued elsewhere, including New York and Philadelphia.Irene caused flooding from North Carolina to Delaware, both from the seven-foot waves it pushed into the coast and from heavy rain. Eastern North Carolina got 10 to 14 inches of rain, according to the National Weather Service. Virginia's Hampton Roads area was drenched with at least nine inches, with 16 reported in some spots.More than 1 million homes and businesses lost power in Virginia alone, where three people were killed by falling trees, at least one tornado touched down and about 100 roads were closed. Emergency crews around the region prepared to head out at daybreak to assess the damage, though with some roads impassable and rivers still rising, it could take days.Some held out optimism that their communities had suffered less damage than they had feared.
I think it's a little strong to say we dodged a bullet. However, it certainly could have turned out worse for the Hampton Roads area, said National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Montefusco.In North Carolina, where at least two people were killed, Gov. Beverly Perdue said Irene inflicted significant damage along the North Carolina coast and some areas were unreachable.Folks are cut off in parts of North Carolina, and obviously we're not going to get anybody to do an assessment until it's safe, she said.Television coverage showed evidence of damage across eastern North Carolina with downed trees and toppled power lines.A falling tree also killed one person in Maryland. A surfer and another beachgoer in Florida were killed in heavy waves caused by the storm.The storm arrived in Washington just days after an earthquake damaged some of the capital's most famous structures, including the Washington Monument. Irene could test Washington's ability to protect its national treasures and its poor.A nuclear reactor at Maryland's Calvert Cliffs went offline automatically when winds knocked off a large piece of aluminum siding that came into contact with the facility's main transformer late Saturday night. An unusual event was declared, the lowest of four emergency classifications by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, but Constellation Energy Nuclear Group spokesman Mark Sullivan said the facility and all employees were safe.Near Callway, Md., about 30 families were warned that a dam could spill over, causing significant flooding, and that they should either leave their homes or stay upstairs. St. Mary's County spokeswoman Sue Sabo said the dam was not in danger of breaching.
Irene made its official landfall just after first light near Cape Lookout, N.C., at the southern end of the Outer Banks, the ribbon of land that bows out into the Atlantic Ocean. Shorefront hotels and houses were lashed with waves, two piers were destroyed and at least one hospital was forced to run on generator power.Across the Eastern Seaboard, at least 2.3 million people were under orders to move to somewhere safer, though it was unclear how many obeyed.Annette Burton, 72, was asked to leave her Chester, Pa., neighborhood because of danger of rising water from a nearby creek. She said she planned to remain in the row house along with her daughter and adult grandson, although with a wary eye on the park across the street that routinely floods during heavy rains.I'm not a fool; if it starts coming up from the park, I'm leaving, she said.It's the wind I'm more concerned about than anything.As the storm's outer bands reached New York on Saturday night, two kayakers capsized and had to be rescued off Staten Island. They received summonses and a dressing-down from Bloomberg, who said at a press conference that they recklessly put rescuers' lives at risk.The storm hugged the U.S. coastline on a path that could scrape every state along the coast. By Sunday morning, it had sustained winds of 75 mph, down from 100 mph on Friday. That made it a Category 1, the least threatening on a 1-to-5 scale, and barely stronger than a tropical storm. Nevertheless, it was still considered highly dangerous, capable of causing ruinous flooding with a combination of storm surge, high tides and 6 to 12 inches of rain.Everything is still in effect, National Hurricane Center spokesman Dennis Feltgen said. The last thing people should do is go outside. They need to get inside and stay in a safe place until this thing is over.Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett warned that the state will not necessarily be out of danger once the storm has passed: The rivers may not crest until Tuesday or Wednesday. This isn't just a 24-hour event.Ed Rappaport, deputy director of the National Hurricane Center in Florida, said the storm is so large that areas far from Irene's center are going to be feeling strong winds and getting large amounts of rain, he said.It is a big, windy, rainy event, he said.
Irene was the first hurricane to make landfall in the continental United States since 2008, and came almost six years to the day after Katrina ravaged New Orleans on Aug. 29, 2005. Experts said that probably no other hurricane in American history had threatened as many people.Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told 6,500 troops from all branches of the military to get ready to pitch in on relief work, and President Barack Obama visited the Federal Emergency Management Agency's command center in Washington and offered moral support.It's going to be a long 72 hours, he said,and obviously a lot of families are going to be affected.In New York, authorities undertook the herculean job of bringing the city to a halt. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority shut down its subways, trains and buses for a natural disaster for the first time, a job that began at noon Saturday and took into late that night to complete.On Wall Street, sandbags were placed around subway grates near the East River because of fear of flooding. Tarps were spread over other grates. Construction stopped throughout the city, and workers at the site of the World Trade Center dismantled a crane and secured equipment.The city was far quieter than on an average Saturday. In some of the busiest parts of Manhattan, it was possible to cross a major avenue without looking, and the waters of New York Harbor, which might normally be churning from boat traffic, were quiet. About 370,000 people living in low-lying areas of the city, mostly in Lower Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, were under orders to clear out.New York has seen only a few hurricanes in the past 200 years. The Northeast is much more used to snowstorms — including a blizzard last December, when Bloomberg was criticized for a slow response.Airlines said 9,000 flights were canceled, including 3,000 on Saturday. The number of passengers affected could easily be millions because so many flights make connections on the East Coast.Greyhound suspended bus service between Richmond, Va., and Boston. Amtrak canceled trains in the Northeast for Sunday.In Philadelphia, Mayor Michael Nutter declared a state of emergency, the first for the city since 1986, when racial tensions were running high. We are trying to save lives and don't have time for silliness,he said.In New Jersey, the Oyster Creek nuclear plant, just a few miles from the coast, shut down as a precaution as Irene closed in. And Boston's transit authority said all bus, subway and commuter rail service would be suspended all day Sunday.Mitch Weiss reported from Nags Head, N.C. Associated Press writers contributing to this report were Tim Reynolds and Christine Armario in Miami; Bruce Shipkowski in Surf City, N.J.; Geoff Mulvihill in Trenton, N.J.; Wayne Parry in Atlantic City, N.J.; Eric Tucker in Washington; Martha Waggoner and Gary D. Robertson in Raleigh, N.C.; Jessica Gresko in Ocean City, Md.; Mitch Weiss in Nags Head, N.C.; Alex Dominguez in Baltimore; Brock Vergakis in Virginia Beach, Va.; Samantha Bomkamp and Jonathan Fahey in New York; and Seth Borenstein in Washington.
Tornado warning for NYC expires; watch in place
AP SUN AUG 28,11 5:30AM
NEW YORK – The National Weather Service says a tornado warning issued for the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens has expired, and a watch is in place.The agency said radar had spotted rotating clouds in a severe thunderstorm approaching the area before 4 a.m. Sunday. The agency says the warning expired at 4:15 a.m. Sunday with a report of a toppled tree in the area but no immediate confirmation of any tornadoes.Authorities had said that the approaching hurricane might spawn tornadoes. Irene is expected to make landfall in the New York City area at around 10 a.m.A tornado watch remains in effect until 5 a.m. Sunday for New York City, Long Island and southern Connecticut. A tornado watch means conditions are favorable for tornadoes to form.
8 dead as typhoon slams northern Philippines
AP By JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press – 4:45AM SUN AUG 28,11
MANILA, Philippines – Slow-moving Typhoon Nanmadol remained dangerous Sunday despite weakening as it struck the tip of the mountainous northern Philippines, leaving at least eight people dead and scuttling a visit by a U.S. Navy battleship group, officials said.Taiwan issued sea and land warnings and planned to evacuate about 3,700 people in its eastern and southern regions as it braced for the typhoon. Troops and rescue equipment have been deployed in advance for any contingency, Taiwan's Defense Ministry said.With its enormous cloud band, the typhoon drenched northern provinces with rains for days before pummeling them with fierce winds, setting off landslides and floods and knocking down walls that left at least eight people dead and six more missing, said Benito Ramos, who heads the Office of Civil Defense.Strong winds knocked down a concrete wall, which hit a small eatery in the capital's suburban Quezon City Sunday, killing a man and injuring two others in the latest casualties of the typhoon, police said.In the northern mountain resort city of Baguio, a garbage dump's concrete wall collapsed and buried three shanties under tons of garbage Saturday, killing two children. Their grandmother remained missing, Ramos said.Five others perished in landslides or drowned, including a fisherman, whose body was found floating Saturday off eastern Catanduanes province after he went missing late last week. A decision by many villagers to flee to safety before the typhoon struck and vigilance helped reduced the number of casualties, Ramos said.
A bus driver ordered his 18 passengers to rapidly alight after sensing the soggy mountain road they were on was about to collapse late Saturday in northern Benguet province. After they ran to safety, the road collapsed with the bus down a deep ravine, said regional disaster-response official Olive Luces said.The driver's presence of mind prevented a disaster, Luces said.About 20 landslides cut off access to a number of Benguet towns, she said.U.S. officials postponed a Manila visit by the U.S. Navy's John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Group, originally scheduled for this weekend, due to the bad weather.The U.S. Embassy said all tours of the aircraft carrier, as well as the reception on board, had been canceled.Domestic airlines also canceled more than a dozen flights to areas affected by the typhoon in the northern and central Philippines.Nanmadol had sustained wind of 121 miles (195 kilometers) per hour and gusts of 143 mph (230 kph) Friday, becoming the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines so far this year. It weakened after grazing northern Cagayan province Saturday. It would skirt the northernmost Batanes islands with 75 mph (120 kph) winds Sunday before starting to blow away from the country, Philippine government forecasters said.Nanmadol was expected to hit Taiwan as early as Monday, Taiwan's central weather bureau said.On Sunday, local TV footage showed parts of eastern and southern Taiwan drenched in rain and with minor flooding, and strong winds blew a van across a road in the eastern Taiwanese county of Taitung.Ferries connecting Taiwan's mainland to islets and some domestic flights were canceled, while train service in southern and eastern Taiwan was to be suspended starting late Sunday afternoon.Two eastern Taiwanese counties said people did not have to go to school or work on Monday.Associated Press writers Oliver Teves in Manila and Debby Wu in Taipei contributed to this report.
NYC streets empty ahead of Irene; subways stop 10:15PM AUG 27,11 AP By SAMANTHA GROSS and LARRY NEUMEISTER, Associated Press
NEW YORK – The normally bustling streets emptied out and the rumble of the subways came to a stop.New York buttoned up Saturday against Hurricane Irene, which threatened to paralyze Wall Street and give the big city its worst thrashing from a storm since at least the 1980s.City officials cautioned that if Irene stayed on track, it could bring gusts of 85 mph overnight that could shatter skyscraper windows. They said there was an outside chance that a storm surge in Lower Manhattan could send seawater streaming into the maze of underground vaults that hold the city's cables and pipes, knocking out power to thousands and crippling the nation's financial capital.Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered the first mandatory evacuation ever in New York. More than 370,000 people were told to be out by 5 p.m. from low-lying areas on the fringes of the city, mostly in Lower Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.Many New Yorkers seemed to take it in stride, staying off the streets and hunkering down. Some planned hurricane get-togethers and hot tub parties.We already have the wine and beer, and now we're getting the vodka, said Martin Murphy, a video artist who was shopping at a liquor store near Central Park with his girlfriend.If it lasts, we have dozens of movies ready, and we'll play charades and we're going to make cards that say, We survived Irene,he said.All subway service was suspended because of the threat of flooding in the tunnels — the first time the nation's biggest transit system has shut down because of a natural disaster. Sandbags and tarps were placed on or around subway grates.Heed the warnings,Bloomberg said, his shirt getting soaked as the rain fell in Coney Island. It isn't cute to say,I'm tougher than any storm.... I hope this is not necessary, but it's certainly prudent.
People arrived in a trickle at a shelter set up at a high school in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn. Some carried garbage bags filled with clothing; others pushed carts loaded with their belongings.They were evacuated from a public housing project in Brooklyn's Red Hook section. Tenants said management got them to leave by telling them the water and power would be shut off at 5 p.m.For us, it's him, said Victor Valderrama, pointing to his 3-year-old son. I didn't want to take a chance with my son.In Times Square, shops boarded up windows, put sandbags outside entrances and the street performer known as the Naked Cowboy, who stands at the Crossroads of the World wearing only underwear and a guitar, had a life vest on.Construction came to a standstill across the city, and workers at the World Trade Center site dismantled a crane and secured equipment. The mayor said there would be no effect on the opening of the Sept. 11 memorial on the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks.Con Edison brought in hundreds of extra utility workers from around the country. While the foot of Manhattan is protected by a seawall and a network of pumps, Con Ed vice president John Mucci said the utility stood ready to turn off the power to about 6,500 customers there in the event of severe flooding.Mucci said it could take up to three days to restore the power if the cables became drenched with saltwater, which can be particularly damaging.The New York Stock Exchange has backup generators and can run on its own, a spokesman said.Con Ed also shut down about 10 miles of steam pipes underneath the city to prevent explosions if they came in contact with cold water. The shutdown affected 50 commercial and residential customers around the city who use the pipes for heat, hot water and air conditioning.
Irene came ashore in North Carolina on Saturday morning, slightly weakened but still powerful, and was expected to roll up the densely populated Interstate 95 corridor. More than 8.3 million people live in New York City, and nearly 29 million in the metropolitan area.A hurricane warning was issued for the city Friday afternoon, the first since Gloria in September 1985. That storm blew ashore on Long Island with winds of 85 mph and caused millions of dollars in damage, along with one death in New York.While Bloomberg strongly cautioned against staying put, he also said no one was going door-to-door to force residents out. And many apparently chose not to go.
The city opened more than 90 evacuation shelters with room for about 70,000 people. But by early evening, only about 5,500 had checked in, officials said.The evacuation order went unheeded by many tenants at a large public housing complex in Brooklyn.
Oh, forget Bloomberg. We ain't going anywhere, said Evelyn Burrus, 60. Go to some shelter with a bunch of strangers and bedbugs? No way.The area's three major airports — LaGuardia, Kennedy and Newark Liberty — closed at noon to arriving flights. Departing flights were to be shut down by 10 p.m.Subway trains began grinding to a halt at noon.
The transit system won't reopen until at least Monday, after pumps remove water from flooded stations. The subways routinely flood during even ordinary storms and have to be pumped out.The city's transit system carries about 5 million passengers on an average weekday. The last time it was seriously hobbled was an August 2007 rainstorm that disabled or delayed every one of the city's subway lines. It was also shut down after the 9/11 attacks and during a 2005 strike.Many New Yorkers were left to hail taxis. To encourage cab-sharing and speed the evacuation, taxis switched to zone fares, meaning passengers were charged not for the mileage on the meter but according to which section of the city they were going to.Boilers and elevators were shut down in public housing in evacuation areas to encourage tenants to leave and to prevent people from getting stuck in elevators if the power went out.Some hotels were shutting off their elevators and air conditioners. Others had generators ready to go.Dozens of buses arrived at the Brooklyn Cyclones minor league ballpark in Coney Island to help residents get out. Nursing homes and hospitals were emptied.At a shelter set up at a high school in the Long Island town of Brentwood, Alexander Ho calmly ate a sandwich in the cafeteria. Ho left his first-floor apartment in East Islip, even though it is several blocks from the water, just outside the mandatory evacuation zone.Objects outside can be projected as missiles, he said.I figured my apartment didn't seem as safe as I thought, as every room has a window.Associated Press Writers Amy Westfeldt, Verena Dobnik, Tom Hays, Meghan Barr, David B. Caruso, Colleen Long and Deepti Hajela in New York contributed to this report.Samantha Gross can be reached at _http://www.twitter.com/samanthagross
Nearly 900,000 lose power as Irene moves north
AP By CHRIS KAHN - AP Energy Writer | AP – 8PM AUG 27,11
Nearly 900,000 homes and businesses lost power as Hurricane Irene slammed into the East Coast. A million or more could be in the dark by Saturday night as the storm charges north.Winds of up to 115 miles per hour whipped across the Eastern Seaboard, ripping power lines from poles and snapping trees in half. Hospitals, emergency call centers and other crucial facilities were holding up, but officials said it could get much worse as Irene churns north.Gasoline supplies were falling as drivers fill up before leaving town or just top off their tanks as a precaution before the storm hits. Pump prices rose about 3 cents per gallon overnight in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.So far, the power losses were concentrated in Virginia and North Carolina, where Irene charged ashore early Saturday morning. Thousands more are expected as the storm moves up the heavily populated Interstate 95 corridor.Dominion Resources reported outages for 598,000 of its customers in Virginia and North Carolina, while Progress Energy reported 263,000 customers without power, with much of the damage in Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach, N.C.We expect those numbers to increase, Progress spokeswoman Julia Milstead said.Duke Energy said 13,800 customers were in the dark. Pepco, which serves Maryland, Washington D.C., parts of New Jersey and Delaware reported nearly 14,000 outages. Baltimore Gas & Electric said 9,000 of its customers were without power.New York's biggest utility, Consolidated Edison, said it could cut power to the city's most vulnerable areas if the storm causes serious flooding. Salt water and rain can damage electrical equipment.ConEd operations chief John Miksad said the utility doesn't expect to cut power before the storm hits, but flooding Sunday could bring a shutdown to areas including the southern tip of Manhattan. That would cut off power to major Wall Street institutions through parts of next week.The New York Stock Exchange has backup generators and can run on its own, a spokesman said Friday. The exchange expects to open as usual Monday morning, though it may change plans depending on the severity of the storm.
New York is regularly blasted by winter storms, but Miksad said this hurricane will be different. Irene's wind will pack a stronger punch than a nor'easter last March that knocked out power to 175,000 customers, he said.ConEd has called in crews from as far as Colorado to help repair damage from the storm.Irene is expected to be a brutal test for Middle Atlantic States, which haven't seen a hurricane since 1999. The storm is expected to stay just offshore — and thus retain much of its power — as it inches up the coast from North Carolina to New England. When a hurricane hits land, wind speeds diminish.The entire Eastern Seaboard lies in the storm's projected path. Flooding and damage from winds are likely. North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island have declared emergencies. For the first time, New York City ordered people in low-lying areas to evacuate.Power companies have called in several hundred workers from surrounding states to help. Crews were rushing out between bands in the hurricane, when the wind and rain ease. They're looking for damage first at towering transmission lines, where an outage could put an entire county in the dark.The storm has already caused gasoline supplies to fall as refueling barges wait out the storm off the coast. Widespread power outages could lead to fuel shortages as gas stations are no longer able to pump gas or have trouble replenishing their own gas supplies.Power is the lifeblood of oil supply on the East Coast, said Ben Brockwell of the Oil Price Information Service, which tracks gasoline shipments around the country.Some gas stations in New Jersey reported that they'd run out of fuel. Those shortages could become more widespread.Retail gas prices were mostly unchanged in many cities that are expected to be hit this weekend. Rules against price gouging at gas stations took effect throughout Middle Atlantic states. Authorities will be looking for stations that try to take advantage of panicked drivers.Pump prices were up slightly overnight, as much as 3 cents per gallon, to $3.44 in Philadelphia and $3.49 in New Jersey's Atlantic-Cape May metro area. They seemed to hold in other areas, rising a penny or so on average in Maryland, Virginia and the Carolinas.
The Colonial Pipeline, which transports gasoline and other fuels from the Gulf Coast to the Northeast, stopped fuel deliveries to Selma, N.C., and to Virginia's Tidewater area as the storm knocked out power. Pipeline spokesman Steve Baker said the pipeline may cut off deliveries further in Virginia and Maryland as the storm moves north.Refineries, which make fuel from oil, have started to slow operations as Irene approaches.OPIS says East Coast refineries will cut operating rates 10 percent to 25 percent in the next few days. Refineries in the Gulf Coast and the West should be able to keep supplies flowing to the rest of the country.Refineries along the Louisiana Coast produce more than three times the gasoline and fuel of their East Coast counterparts, according to the Energy Information Administration. East Coast demand is going to fall as businesses close and people hunker down at home.Chris Kahn can be reached at http://twitter.com/ChrisKahnAP
