Ulysses31
I'm too lazy to set a usertitle.
Stay safe guys
edit: it took me so long to post this thread that it seems someone else also started a thread on the subject whilst I was writing it (it wasn't there when I started to write the post. My bad
edit: it took me so long to post this thread that it seems someone else also started a thread on the subject whilst I was writing it (it wasn't there when I started to write the post. My bad
Get to higher ground: Bloomberg tells New Yorkers to prepare for evacuation as state of emergency is declared ahead of brutal Hurricane Irene
* Bloomberg tells tells people in Coney Island and Far Rockaway, New York, to find somewhere else to stay in case vicious storm hits
* Comes as states of emergency declared in five states - New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina - with calls for people immediately to flee Jersey Shore
* 150,000 tourists given mandatory order to leave North Carolina
* Stricken Bahamas deserted as beaches closed and tourists flee
* Storm expected to reach Category 4 today
* Set to hit North Carolina on Saturday and New York on Sunday night
* Ocracoke Island off the coast is evacuated as precaution
* Officials urge Americans to stock up on fuel and food supplies
* Obama currently on holiday in area of hurricane's projected path
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg issued a stark warning to New Yorkers today as the city braced itself to face the wrath of Hurricane Irene, which could pose serious danger to millions of people.
As the storm devastated the Bahamas, caused panic in North Carolina and threatened to continue its path of destruction right through to America's most populous city, Mayor Bloomberg urged hundreds of thousands of residents in low-lying areas to line up a place to stay on high ground ahead of a possible evacuation this weekend.
States of emergency have been declared in five states - New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina - as experts warned the huge hurricane is set to continue to hug the coast, causing an extent of damage to the East Coast not seen in more than half a century.
Warning: Mayor Bloomberg said people living in Coney Island and Far Rockaway should prepare for evacuation
The storms could rival the most notorious to have ravaged the area, such as 1954's Hurricane Carol, a Category Three storm which struck Long Island, and Hurricane Bob in 1991, a furious storm which caused billions of dollars worth of damage.
Bloomberg said today that he expected to make a decision by late Friday on whether residents in the city's so-called 'Zone-A' would need to evacuate ahead of the storm that's now expected to hit the city on Sunday.
That zone includes neighbourhoods along the coast, including Battery Park City in Manhattan, Coney Island in Brooklyn and Far Rockaway in Queens.
Panic: Shoppers in New York stock up on supplies in preparation for the storm
Orange: All those in Zone A, or the areas of New York shaded orange, face evacuation
He added that he has the power to issue an executive order to force people to move, which he insisted would only be implemented in the 'worst circumstances'.
Such an order would affect 270,000 people, he said.
The Mayor also advised the public to prepare 'go-bags' - containing water, medication, non-perishable foods and valuables - in case they have to evacuate.
Mayor Bloomberg's comments came a few hours before New York Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency.
‘In this emergency I am activating all levels of state government to prepare for any situation that may be caused by Hurricane Irene,’ he said.
‘We are communicating with our federal and local partners to track the storm and to plan a coordinated response, and we will deploy resources as needed to the areas expected to be hit the hardest.'
He added: 'I urge New Yorkers to personally prepare for hurricane conditions and to cooperate with emergency officials if needed. By working together, we will all be able to face this storm in a calm and organised manner.’
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie also signed a state of emergency in advance of the hurricane.
At a news conference this afternoon he urged people to leave the New Jersey Shore for fear of 'some significant problems'.
The declaration clears the way for the state to deploy resources, such as the National Guard, to counties and municipalities as they prepare for the storm.
Christie said the current track calls for New Jersey to face a 'serious, significant event.'
The governor is considering mandatory evacuations. In the meantime, he asked people not to go to the Jersey shore this weekend and for those with rental properties to leave Thursday or Friday.
'Do not try to ride it out. It is not the smart thing to do,' he added.
Humour in the face of disaster: Residents board up their homes in preparation for Hurricane Irene
Getting ready: Stuart Savage, left, and Rob Melby board up windows of their beachside property as they prepare for Hurricane Irene in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina
Stuck: A man tries to cross the Sanchez bridge which was closed by Dominican Army, in San Cristobal, Dominican Republic
On its way to America: A man walks along the waterfront as Hurricane Irene passes to the east of Nassau on New Providence Island in the Bahamas
As residents across the East Coast have been evacuated for their safety, meteorologists suggested the hurricane could develop in one of two ways.
With the possibility of it moving out to the Atlantic fading CBS News Hurricane Consultant David Bernard said either it will hit Long Island and New England as a strong Category Two storm, causing huge power disruption and wind damage - or the storm will smash New York City full on, causing unprecedented damage and bringing with it utter panic to the city.
The economic repercussions of the hurricane hitting New York with heavy rain and more than 100mph winds would be catastrophic considering how densely populated the city is and the fact that it is not used to dealing with major storms.
In New York, which is the most heavily populated U.S. city, with 8.2 million residents, officials are so concerned they have opened an emergency operations centre in Brooklyn.
It is considered a 'strong possibility' that the storm 'could impact New York City or Long Island directly,' according to the National Weather Service
The last hurricane to strike the U.S. was Ike in 2008. The Category Two storm petered out, however, veering offshore by Galveston, Texas.
Wilma, in 2005, was the most recent major hurricane to hit America, bringing with it winds of 111mph.
Hurricane Irene, which is currently battering the Bahamas, wrecking beaches and causing panic among American tourists, is expected to gain strength as it leaves the island.
The National Hurricane Centre warned the powerful Category Three hurricane will ramp up quickly over the next day, blowing into a monstrous Category 4 with winds of at least 131 mph as it races across open waters.
It is storm is expected to clip North Carolina's jutting Outer Banks region on Saturday and after that, forecasters see it hugging the U.S. eastern seaboard, swirling rains and winds across several hundred miles as it churns northward toward New England.
'Irene is a massive hurricane and that’s what’s so bad for the Bahamas,' Dave Samuel, a meteorologist at AccuWeather Inc., said yesterday. 'We’re just watching it decimating Crooked Island of the Bahamas. It is moving slow and it is huge.'
Despite the warnings, Mayor Bloomberg spoke today to reassure New York residents that the city was capable of dealing with the storm.
He said contingency plans should be made by residents in low lying areas but insisted the city's 'big buildings are built to withstand strong winds'.
He added that the city has crews working to clean out catch basins to help with street drainage. It has also moved police boats to station houses in low-lying areas, hired emergency forest contractors and topped off emergency generators with fuel in preparation for the worst.
Path of destruction: Meteorologists predict the storm will strengthen as it rises up the coast
Gaining strength: Irene is expected to gain in intensity to Category 4 as it moves over open water between the Bahamas and North Carolina's Outer Banks
Raging: Hurricane Irene is moving north towards the East Coast of America, as shown on this satellite image
Mayor Bloomberg met with city officials yesterday to prepare emergency plans. The storm is expected to hit New York late on Sunday night, flooding streets, downing power lines and causing debris to fly across the city, thrown by fierce winds.
After an earthquake earlier this week, Mayor Bloomberg said: 'Things happen in the city. Quite honestly, I am more concerned about our preparations for a hurricane that's approaching.
'Everyone should keep an eye on the storm and pay attention to the office emergency management when they put out some advisories on what we should prepare for as we get closer to the potential storm.'
Destructive: Hurricane Irene downed trees as it passed through to the east of Nassau on New Providence Island in the Bahamas
He added that the city is 'hoping for the best, preparing for the worst.'
In North Carolina, Governor Bev Perdue warned residents to 'prepare for the worst' as the huge hurricane threatened to strike.
A mandatory evacuation order has already been issued for all non-residents in Dare County and Outer Banks beaches, affecting an estimated 150,000 holidaymakers.
Preparations: Kiel Murphy, 16, places boards over windows at Surfside Casuals in Nags Head as shop owners wait to be struck by the storm
Boarding: Two men prepare their seaside shop in North Carolina for storm damage
Calm before the storm: Sarah Phillips, from Beaufort, North Carolina, looks over the surf as clouds gather ominously on Atlantic Beach
But Mrs Perdue also warned residents to get out of the way of the massive hurricane, which was expected to increase in intensity as it approaches the U.S. mainland today.
Mrs Perdue said: 'Get your evacuation kit ready. Get your medicines ready. Take your insurance documents, and have a plan to get out if you need to. Treat this seriously, but then pray real hard that North Carolina will be fine.'
'The exact centre of the storm may become a big threat for New England and perhaps Long Island,' U.S. National Hurricane Center director Bill Read said. 'Be advised, it's going to be a very large circulation as it moves north of the Carolinas.'
Evacuations began on a tiny barrier island off North Carolina's coast as Hurricane Irene strengthened to a major Category 3 storm yesterday.
Residents are allowed to stay in their homes for now, but they have been strongly advised to make necessary preparations for a large storm.
Knee-deep: A woman wades through a flooded street in San Cristobal, Dominican Republic, as Hurricane Irene continued to strengthen over the Caribbean and was en route to the Bahamas
Waters: People walk along a flooded street in San Cristobal, south of Santo Domingo, on Wednesday as winds and rain of Hurricane Irene still lash the island of Hispaniola, which the Dominican Republic shares with Haiti
Irene's maximum sustained winds have already increased to near 115mph and it’s likely to be Category 4 by the time it hits mainland U.S.
The evacuation in North Carolina was a test of whether people in the crosshairs of the first major hurricane along the east coast in years would heed orders to get out of the way.
The first ferry to leave Ocracoke Island arrived at 5.30am yesterday in nearby Hatteras with around a dozen cars on board – but it won’t be easy to get thousands of people off as they can only leave by boat.
Foreboding: A boy walks on the beach yesterday as a red flag flies and bands of rain and wind come through from Hurricane Irene in Nassau, on New Providence Island in the Bahamas
The 16-mile-long barrier island is home to about 800 year-round residents and a tourist population that swells into the thousands when vacationers rent rooms and cottages.
Newly-wed Jennifer Baharek, 23, of Torrington, Connecticut, got off the next ferry. She and her husband, Andrew, were married on Monday and planned to spend their honeymoon on the island.
‘We just got to spend one day on the beach and then we went to bed early to get up for the evacuation,’ she said.
Even if Irene does not make landfall, forecasters and emergency management officials said it would still have plenty of power to cause wind damage, flooding and storm surges along the coast.
Meteorologists measured winds with hurricane force, more than 73 mph, extending 60 miles from Irene's eye.
Federal officials have warned Irene could cause flooding, power outages or worse all along the east coast as far north as Maine, even if it stays offshore.
President Barack Obama is due to finish his east coast holiday at Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts this Saturday, but his advisers say there are no plans to change this return date.
Here it comes: This image from NASA acquired by the crew of the International Space Station shows recently-formed Hurricane Irene over the coastal waters of Venezuela
However the White House is urging people living in the path of the hurricane to follow the advice of state and local officials, who are co-ordinating with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The projected path has gradually shifted to the east, though Irene is still expected to make landfall as a major hurricane in North Carolina over the weekend, before trudging northward.
People as far north as New England have been told to prepare for the storm. When asked about concerns preparing the northeast for a hurricane, Tuesday’s earthquake was cited.
‘It's a reminder that we don't always get to pick the next disaster,’ Craig Fugate, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, told ABC’s Good Morning America.
In North Carolina, the state-run ferry service off Ocracoke Island would be free during the evacuation, but no reservations were allowed. Boats can carry no more than 50 vehicles at a time.
The island is part of North Carolina's Outer Banks, a roughly 200-mile stretch of fragile barrier islands off the state's coast.
Pristine beaches and wild mustangs attract thousands of tourists each year.
Aside from Ocracoke, the other islands are accessible by bridges to the mainland and ferries. The limited access can make the evacuation particularly tense.
All the barrier islands have the geographic weakness of jutting out into the Atlantic like the side-view mirror of a car, a location that's frequently been in the path of destructive storms over the decades.
Watch Video Here
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...Yorkers-prepare-evacuation.html#ixzz1W54TAsWg
