Hurricane Irene lined up a direct hit on the US east coast yesterday, as President Barack Obama warned those in its path to heed advice and flee the “historic” storm.
Meanwhile New York authorities yesterday took the rare step of ordering a complete shutdown of the subway system as the city braces for the brute force of Hurricane Irene this weekend.
Governor Andrew Cuomo said that all trains and buses covered by New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority would halt after starting their final runs from 12 p.m. (1600 GMT) today.
Mr Cuomo also said that major links into New York including the George Washington Bridge, which connects Manhattan and New Jersey, would be closed if winds exceed 97 kilometres per hour, as is predicted.
Mr Cuomo called the measures “one of the most aggressive activations of New York State government ever assembled in the face of a possible natural disaster.”
“We are fully committed and we are preparing for the worst,” he said in a statement.
Mr Cuomo also said that up to 900 National Guard troops would be ready to support civil authorities and 2,500 workers from the Long Island Power Authority would be ready for emergency repair work and tree trimming, the largest ever such deployment.
Millions of Americans are bracing for Hurricane Irene, which is expected to smash into North Carolina today before heading north toward New York. President Obama cut short his vacation in Massachusetts to return to Washington and be at the White House as the Category Two hurricane, packing 105-mile (165-kilometre) per hour winds, prepared to crash ashore in North Carolina.
With more than 65 million people on the densely-populated east coast, from Washington to New York to Boston, Irene threatened flooding, storm surges, power outages and destruction that experts said could cost up to $12 billion.
Officials in New York fear Irene could spawn a storm surge up the Hudson River that will swamp Lower Manhattan and the city’s subway system. Patients have already been evacuated from low-lying hospitals.
“I cannot stress this highly enough. If you are in the projected path of this hurricane, you have to take precautions now,” Mr Obama said outside his vacation rental on the east coast resort of Martha’s Vineyard.
“Don’t wait. Don’t delay. We all hope for the best, but we have to be prepared for the worst. If you are given an evacuation order, please follow it. Allindications point to this being a historic hurricane.”
Officials from North Carolina to New York declared states of emergency and tens of thousands of the most vulnerable residents were ordered to higher ground.
Irene’s approach stirred painful memories of Hurricane Katrina which smashed into the Gulf Coast in 2005, stranding thousands of people in New Orleans and unleashing damaging political consequences for local and federal governments.