Hurricane Irene is bearing down on the U.S. East Coast and has turned into a frightening storm, according to NASA astronaut Mike Fossum on the International Space Station.
“Hurricane Irene, a large, powerful Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale, continues to plow through the northwest Bahamas, with the U.S. in its sights.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg sternly warned New Yorkers to follow the city's unprecedented mandatory evacuation orders on Saturday, saying approaching Hurricane Irene is "life-threatening" - "Staying behind is dangerous, staying behind is foolish, and it's against the law, and we urge everyone in the evacuation zones not to wait until gale-force winds," he said at a news conference from Coney Island. "The time to leave is right now."
Areas under a mandatory evacuation include Coney Island, Manhattan Beach, Far Rockaway, Broad Channel, South Beach, Midland Beach, Battery Park City, as well as the entire Rockaway peninsula.
As Hurricane Irene spins toward New York and New Jersey, more than 1 million tri-staters in vulnerable coastal areas are under evacuation orders -- and many say they won't leave.
Many bridges and streets were nearly empty across the city, where warnings about approaching Hurricane Irene resonated as the city's major utility weighed whether to cut power to parts of lower Manhattan.
The city does not have enough resources to evacuate the majority of the 370,000 affected residents after the weather worsens, he said.
Consolidated Edison said it would decide Saturday whether to shut off power in the evacuation zone in low-lying areas of lower Manhattan. Salt water can cause substantial damage to power lines running currents, Bloomberg said. "It's conceivable in downtown Manhattan there will be no electricity," he said.
For those who choose to stay in the city, it won't be a picnic, Bloomberg said. Elevators in public housing apartments would be shut down, and other high-rises may choose to do the same. Residents were urged to stay indoors once the weather started to get worse.
Bloomberg said he hoped the evacuation wasn't necessary but regardless the storm was expected to be serious enough to cause major damage.
The five main New York City-area airports were scheduled to close at noon Saturday to arriving domestic and international flights. Three of them, Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty, are among the nation's busiest.
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| Hurricane Irene Approaching by NASA |
“Hurricane Irene, a large, powerful Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale, continues to plow through the northwest Bahamas, with the U.S. in its sights.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg sternly warned New Yorkers to follow the city's unprecedented mandatory evacuation orders on Saturday, saying approaching Hurricane Irene is "life-threatening" - "Staying behind is dangerous, staying behind is foolish, and it's against the law, and we urge everyone in the evacuation zones not to wait until gale-force winds," he said at a news conference from Coney Island. "The time to leave is right now."
Areas under a mandatory evacuation include Coney Island, Manhattan Beach, Far Rockaway, Broad Channel, South Beach, Midland Beach, Battery Park City, as well as the entire Rockaway peninsula.
Many bridges and streets were nearly empty across the city, where warnings about approaching Hurricane Irene resonated as the city's major utility weighed whether to cut power to parts of lower Manhattan.
The city does not have enough resources to evacuate the majority of the 370,000 affected residents after the weather worsens, he said.
Consolidated Edison said it would decide Saturday whether to shut off power in the evacuation zone in low-lying areas of lower Manhattan. Salt water can cause substantial damage to power lines running currents, Bloomberg said. "It's conceivable in downtown Manhattan there will be no electricity," he said.
Bloomberg said he hoped the evacuation wasn't necessary but regardless the storm was expected to be serious enough to cause major damage.
The five main New York City-area airports were scheduled to close at noon Saturday to arriving domestic and international flights. Three of them, Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty, are among the nation's busiest.
