Emergency personnel and National Guardsmen are being called up by officials in East Coast states as Hurricane Irene continues north, leaving flooding, destruction and even death in its wake.
As four deaths were reported across North Carolina and Virginia and close to 1 million customers in coastal states lost power this afternoon, the leaders of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania prepared their states for Irene's next wallop.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo doubled the number of National Guard troops that will be deployed to Long Island, New York City, and the Hudson Valley area to help with the storm. Troops will help staff shelters, control evacuation routes, monitor flood threats at the World Trade Center site and work with the MTA to secure railways and train tunnels.
Though more than 1 million people have evacuated the Jersey Shore under New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's orders, 600 senior citizens remain in high rise buildings on a barrier island in Atlantic City, according to the governor. He expressed concern for the 75 mph winds projected to hit the barrier islands early Sunday, and possible flying glass at the height of the buildings in which they remain.
Christie said he ordered state police busses to circle in front of the buildings and will send emergency management officials inside to try and persuade the residents to evacuate.
"We're meeting the first requirement, which is to preserve human life and the best way to preserve human life is not to be on the Jersey Shore," Christie said.
Hurricane Irene: North Carolina Braces for Impact
Watch Video Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett said he feared residents were not preparing enough for the expected 6-10 inches of rain that could come with the storm.
"I need to stress that when it stops raining, doesn't mean that it will stop flooding," he said, noting that residents can expect flooding and extensive power outages.
Public transportation in all three states has been stopped for the duration of the storm; New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said today that he didn't expect the subways to resume running until sometime on Monday.
Defense Secretary Leon 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.
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, and has since left four dead and more than a million homes and businesses without power.
Residents in North Carolina, Virgininia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. are all suffering from power outages caused by the storm, which is sending wind gusts of up to 115 mph across North Carolina, according to ABC affiliate WVEC in Virginia.
The hurricane has also left widespread damage from winds, flooding, and tornadoes, in addition to multiple deaths, including that of an 11-year-old boy in Newport News, Va.
Police told 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.
沒有留言:
張貼留言