Hurricane Irene has claimed four lives, including that of an 11-year-old boy in Newport News, Va., and ripped apart houses and businesses as it continues to barrel up the East Coast.
Newport News police confirms to ABC News that the 11-year-old and his mother were in the same room of their apartment when the tree crashed through the roof, hitting the boy and missing the mother. The boy was found pinned under the tree on ground level.
Other deaths included a man who suffered a heart attack in Onslow County, N.C., according to the the News & Observer, and a man whose car skidded off the road and into a tree in Pitt County, NC.
There are also reports of a man missing in the Cape Fear River in Castle Hayne.
Live Storm Tracker: Hurricane Irene
The center of Hurricane Irene hit the coast of North Carolina near Cape Lookout around 7:30 a.m. ET with Category 1-force winds of 85 mph.
Hurricane warnings for the next 48 hours have been issued for North Carolina; Virginia; Washington, D.C.; Maryland; Delaware; New York; Pennsylvania; New Jersey; and coastal Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
Charles Dharapak/AP Photo
Hurricane Irene: North Carolina Braces for Impact
Watch Video The hurricane has also produced tornadoes in Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware, with tornado watches in effect in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey.
Defense Secretary Panetta has issued a prepare-to-deploy order for 6,500 active duty troops from all the services to support hurricane relief efforts if necessary.
President Obama spoke with government officials about the storm at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) command center.
Obama said that the storm is "going to be touch and go but the federal government is prepared."
"It's going to be a long 72 hours," he said.
Eastern North Carolina has already seen three tornadoes in the past few days, and the majority of the state and areas of Maryland and Virginia are under tornado watches through Sunday.
Stacy Township, on the coast of North Carolina, was battered with 93 mph wind gusts this morning, and winds up to 115 mph have been reported in parts of eastern North Carolina.
The far end of the fishing pier in Atlantic Beach, N.C., collapsed overnight. Though much of the 100-foot long pier is still standing, but its end has disappeared into the ocean.
Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds, in the outer banks of North Carolina, are experiencing the worst flooding, according to multiple reports. Flash flood warnings across eastern North Carolina and eastern Virginia over the next several hours.
Nearly 400,000 homes in North Carolina are experiencing power outages, according to Power Energy. Winds up to 85 mph ripped power lines from their poles, causing many of the shortages. The hardest hit areas were Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach, N.C.
"Our crews are restoring service as quickly as possible, where it is safe to do so," Power Energy tweeted.
For more on how Hurricane Irene is affecting the North Carolina coast and the surrounding area, go to ABC News affiliate WTVD-TV
All airports in the New York area will stop accepting arrivals at noon today. The airports expected to be affected the most are in New York (Newark Liberty, John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia), Philadelphia and Charlotte, N.C.
The American Red Cross has opened 150 shelters across the Northeast and is preparing to open dozens more as the storm moves north.
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