north carolina up to new york city. the forecast path takes its inland tomorrow morning, north carolina, skirts the coast during the overnight hours, then should make landfall again in long island, new york, sunday afternoon. >> across the east coast, residents are bracing for irene, especially in north carolina where president obama has already declared a state of emergency. kristen dahlgren has more from the outer banks in north carolina. good morning. >> reporter: hey, good morning, lynn. people here are being reminded today not to be fooled by the fact that it's weakened into a cat 2, maximum sustained winds at 110. cat 3 is 111. so 1-mile-per-hour difference. there are now states of emergency in seven states between here and connecticut. we're beginning to feel the first effects. take a look there and you can see waves just beginning to pick up. but to our south and the outer banks we're told they're running between six and nine feet. the first water really being pushed ashore ahead of irene. things expected to get

they are under a tornado watch here in north carolina. one town believes that are tornado has already touched down. a roof of a car dealership ripped off. this is going to by a very long night. hurricane irene's outer bands are already whipping up the sea off of north carolina. the storm may linger over the state for 12 to 14 hours. gugovernor perdue is saying that hurricane irene will weakening around sunrise. >> this is still a large and powerful storm. >> reporter: 180,000 people have fled dare county alone with good reason. some sections of the outer banks are only as wide as a couple of football field. hurricane irene could force a wall of water and split the outer banks in half. >> i refunded five nights. >> reporter: 82-year-old dylan's motel guests have fled, but he is going to stick it out. >> it happens, it happens. >> reporter: dippen is the kind of person that authorities worry about. >> we will not be able to get to her. >> reporter: hurricane irene is moving slower than normal. there is more time to wreak havoc. even on busi

states of emergency from new york to north carolina. leaders there are warning residents to simply get out. find higher ground. even the president of the united states has an urgent message about what he calls an historic hurricane. more updates straight ahead. >>> and how one man turned a deadly diagnosis into a new mission helping haiti's poorest kids. this week's cnn hero after this. we were so blessed when we had triplets. if by blessed you mean freaked out about money. well, we suddenly noticed that everything was getting more expensive, so we switched to the bargain detergent, but i found myself using three times more than you're supposed to and the clothes still weren't as clean as with tide. so we're back to tide. they're cuter in clean clothes. [ laughs ] thanks, honey. yeah. you suck at folding. [ laughs ] that's my tide. what's yours? [ female announcer ] find the tide that's right for you at tide.com. it's true. you never forget your first subaru. >>> when this week's cnn hero was diagnosed with incurable cancer, he sold his

. >> western end of the sound in eastern north carolina. winds are reported and gusts are reported in a large part of the area in a 75 to 90 miles per hour . one is 115 miles per hour . cedar ilanterminal in the sound. and we have significant storm surge flooding in the western and southern reaches of the sound. and the storm surge with the passage of the center. over the next 6 or 12 hour. it is going to be in north carolina. and extreme southeast virginia and the hampton roads. five-10 inches of rain and isolated tornados and frequent wind gusts and sustained. there is a lot of the beach erosion. future track of irene after today will move off shore and across the del mar and affect ocean city, mar land and delaware. storm surge in delaware bay possible. and during the day on saturday, up in the injuriesy shore and crossing in long island during the day on sunday. and then finishing its trek in the canadian provinces on monday. we'll get possibly of four-eight feet of storm surge flooding anywhere on the east coast depending on the locali

this is the north carolina in its crosshairs. this is wrightsville, north carolina. you can see the pier and the waves churning up getting ready for what will be the biggest hurricane to hit the east coast in decades. >> millions are affected. up to 65 million people from north carolina all the way to maine are preparing for the worst. right now it has been downgraded to a category 2 but it could get stronger and it is expected to hit north carolina tomorrow. >>> ,000 acres in -- 1,000 acres in yosemite national park are burning after a motorhome went up in flames yesterday. now nearly 300 firefighters trying to control it. it's called the motor fire and it's burning on both sides of highway 140 in mariposa county forcing the closure of that road. >>> a massive railcar fire in placer county may have been started by an employee inspecting the tanker. the fire burned-out early yesterday morning. nearly 5,000 homes in lincoln had been evacuated before the orders were finally lifted. they are back home now. up to 29,000 gallons of propane actually burned in the last coup

eastern north carolina, 48 hours to prepare. for areas north of there, it looks like you'll have saturday morning, and that will be about it. >> i wanted to point out two things. you and i were talking this morning, because i volunteer for the red cross here in new york city, we got a hurricane briefing about how to prepare. we're very focused on preparedness. one of the things i learned about new york, you have that right angle. it's all bedrock underneath our harbor. >> the new york harbor. >> where in pensacola or new orleans, where we might poo-poo a category one, it doesn't have the same impact. number two, you were telling me this is going to be a tree event. you're expecting a lot of damage. >> there's two sides to this storm. there's the coastal side where, if you live on the coast, you should be prepared for this stuff anyway. even though it hasn't happened in a while. on the coast, it's the storm surblling and the waves. we're at an astronomical high tide because of the new moon. the high tide cycle is saturday afterno

carolina and areas further north. so if you live in

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landfall around atlantic beach, north carolina. now towards the outer banks. that's when the worst pictures and our reporters out there on the coast will see the highest storm surge. then we take the storm northwards, virginia beach northward, 8:00 p.m. saturday evening. by saturday evening, early morning, you better be done with your plans. the storm then goes northwards, ocean city, maryland, the worst for you, overnight mid night until 2:00 a.m. sunday. jersey shore, you will wake up early sunday to hurricane force winds. in new york city, around 10:00 a.m. on sunday is the worst for you. the forecast path hasn't changed much, but we're talking about two to three hours earlier for the worst of the winds up and down the east coast. >> all right. thank you very much. >>> with movie going audiences expected to be dramatically cut as a result of the weekend storm, the question is will it help staying number one at the box office or will the latest r-rated comedy pull off an upset? kim and james are what you might call overly protective. especially behind the wh

the optimist from duck, north carolina. thanks so much. not far away from duck we find our john zarrella. he too is on the north carolina coast coming to us from atlantic beach. it started to look a little milder as time goes on with you, john. >> a little bit. we're still getting gusty winds, probably close to tropical storm force here, still at this time. we're in a neighborhood here on the -- the sound side, the vogue sound side. what you can see here, fredricka, is all this debris that littered. this is somebody's dock, part of somebody's dock, just washed ashore here. here is a piece of wood. i'll do the right thing and turn it over because it has a nail sticking out. and a lot of times after storms, people end up with nails in their feet because of just such a thing. atlantic ocean is to the south over there. they have the storm surge first from the atlantic side as irene was coming at us. we saw a lot of debris piled up along the shoreline there. when the wind changed direction, the boeing side came out of its banks and where i'm st

here are live pictures from north carolina. the storm's center is now along the north carolina-virginia border. earlier, irene weakened to a category-1. but she's picking up power now over the warm waters of the atlantic ocean. virginia beach got clobbered with 80-mile-an- hour winds. irene is moving up the east coast at 16-miles an hour. at least 5 people have died. the storm - is about the size of europe. 65-million people are in her projected path. { toss to jim} a grand re- opening today for a park in one of san jose's oldest neighborhoods. the "frank watson park" was built on a former dumpsite. it's been closed since 2005 because of contamination. anne makovec talked to neighbors who welcome the park's revival. ((mariachi nats)) a celebration for a park compared to a >>> the city didn't know there was any problem here at watson park until they started building a skate park in 2004. they did environmental testing and found lead and arsenic in the soil. >> everything that was here was either carried out on trucks or buried m

we have reported of three dead in north carolina. but, frankly, one of the three could be a drunk driving sort of deal. so they are not going to call the third one storm-related and news from new bern, north carolina, they have serious flooding in new bern, we have reported that indicate 60 percent of the city is without power and 30,000 people live there. the storm has pushed water to the sound up the river, there, and right into this city, so, several feet of water surged in there as the eye of irene passed 40 miles to the east of it. to the east. and it is my understanding they have 17" of rain. is that right? 17" of rain? 17" of rain according to rick and the fox extreme weather center, 17" of rain has fallen in new bern, north carolina. on top of the rain from last week. my goodness, get a canoe on park avenue in new york if that happens. they were losing a pier, how is that going, jonathan, with the pier? >>reporter: we will zoom in and show you what is going on with the pier. a third of it is missing. it is being eaten by the

hurricane irene has made landfall north carolina, and.definitely moving north along the east coast. right now fierce winds and heavy rains are slamming the state of north carolina. irene has technically weakened slightly, but the forecasters say this remains ae very dangerous category one storm, and the weather channel reports a wind gust topping 115 miles an hour as reported. that would bump it up to a cat two. at least 200,000 customers in north carolina are without power. that number is expected to grow as the storm tbz its track up the eastern seaboard. here's what homeland security secretary janet napalitano told me moments ago. >> we still think of this storm in three phases, preparation, response, and recovery. obviously now with landfall in north carolina, we are watching the storm from a response perspective, but people who are further north up the atlantic seaboard, you can still prepare. if we issue an evacuation order, we ask that you abide by it. >> the stach emergency has been declared in the state of new jersey where a million people are under evacuation orders. let u

and that's what's moving north into the carolinas. so as you see, the famous cone that we've been looking at forever, shows it in the vicinity of cape hatteras. tomorrow the center of it coming ashore in the afternoon. and then moving up the coast. but the cone just talks about the center. so if the center is near atlantic city, that circle i drew is something like that. it's half of pennsylvania and the whole storm is powering the water toward the coast. and that's why there is such a risk, exactly where you are there on the jersey shore, and all the way along the atlantic coast. then it moves up and gets new england as well and that very heavy rain effects all the way up into canada. so this is a whole east coast situation. one thing at the coastline. that's the ocean coming in. another thing inland. that's the heavy rain. and the power outages and everything that goes with that. brian? >> brian norcross who hasn't been able to reach into his bag of tricks for anything that's going to kill this storm or move it out of the way. we'll

we lost power in this part of north carolina at 2:00 a.m. yesterday. it's still has into the come back and say 1-2 million in north carolina, virginia and further up the east coast are now with or without power. live in morehead city, north carolina, i'm jennifer davis, halpern, back to you. >> thank you, jennifer and today's raging storm in north carolina could not stop several babies from being born. >> i just kind of knew that she would take the time to come. she was already overdue and i felt she was going to come right during the hurricane. that is newborn georgia ann elliot, arriving just as hurricane irene hit wilmington. the hospital never lost power and successfully delivered 16 other babies as well and none of them by the way, is named irene. >> the storm canceled weekend plans across the east coast and that includes tomorrow's dedication of the new martin luther king memorial in washington, d.c.. still organizer went ahead of services commemorating the civil rights leader, featuring excerpts from king's last speech as well as tributes from h

and it's in the path, we'll take it northward up into north carolina. early tomorrow, as category one hurricane, i mentioned it's weakening. then passes over and continues northward towards new york. could hit new york early sunday as our category one hurricane or could have weakened to a storm. there are hurricanes very, very rare in that part of the country. it's expected to go as a tropical system early sunday continuing through new england. last time a hurricane brushed eastern tip of long island was 1991, hurricane bob. last time it passed over long island was 1985, hurricane glowera. last time it passed over new york city was 1821. new york is accustomed to dealing with snow storms in winter but not hurricanes, we'll watch this to see what it does and where it goes. >> thank you. >> and the main road, highway 140 leading to yosemite remains closed as firefighters battle a fire in mariposa county. the fire broke out yesterday before spreading into brush and forest. charg about 3,000 acres so far, firefighters believe it will take days to put out be

nearly a million people in north carolina and virginia are without power. irene is expected to arrive in new york city sometime tomorrow morning. the big concern there, flooding from this storm surge. president barack obama visited fema headquarters just a short time ago, earlier today and he said the government is ready to deal with whatever happens. the president has already declared state of emergencies in nine states, they are north carolina, virginia, maryland, new jersey, new york, connecticut, massachusetts, rhode island and new hampshire, these states now can get federal aid to help them recover from any hurricane damage. all right, let's head down to the mid-atlantic area, ocean city, where they are starting to see the storm right now. it's windy, it's rainy. >> reporter: it's not much of a beach day here in ocean city, this is one angry, hungry city, sometimes these waves are coming right up to where we're standing and threatening the dunes which were built to try to protect all this valuable real estate here. fortunately these buildings are prett

north carolina's outer banks are getting battered by irene's fury. gusty winds and rain are hammering kill devil hills. we have david mattingly getting whipped up by the storm right now. >> every hurricane that comes through is unique. it has its own special qualities and always remembered by certain things. this storm is going to be remembered by its size and its duration. right now, we have now been rained on for about 22 straight hours. about 20 straight hours of tropical storm force winds. now i'm feeling some strongest winds of this storm yet. this hurricane is not done with the outer banks and north carolina by any stretch of the imagination. we have been watching the surf all day long. there hasn't been that much of a problem with storm surge from the atlantic ocean. but what he wiwe are bracing fo what we have seen to the south of here is when this storm moves out, and all these strong winds that you see around me right now, it is going to shift and it is going to pull and push water that is in the sound on the west side of these islands on t

and roll towards the coast of f north carolina. make landfall as a category 3 hurricane, between moorehead city and capaphatteras. that brings wind gusts up to or over 115 miles per hour, 120 miles per hour. along with massive storm surge. you can see the winds will move northward, up into new england and the northeast. many spots seeing the sustained hurricane wind gusts. trees down, power outages, widespread along with heavy rainfall. significant flooding threat, all the way through new england into the weekend. rob and tanya, back to you. >> get out your row boats. thanks, jim. >>> now, a quick look at the rest of today's forecast. irene's outer bands are bringing thunderstorms and waves as high as 15 feet, from florida up to the carolinas. showers around d.c., baltimore and philly. and some light rain in the northern rockies and desert southwest. >> phoenix is 111. albuquerque, 91. boise, 97. 80s from fargo to indianapolis. and another triple-digit day in dallas. 85 here in new york. 95 in atlanta. and 91 in miami. >>> as we me

the low country of north carolina is going to get hit hard. what surprising when you look back at hurricane history, it's been over ten years since north carolina got hit by a major storm. and it's been almost six years since we have seen a major storm hit the u.s. and this is not a major storm technical right now. it's got winds of 110. we need winds of 111. talking about splitting hairs right there. don't worry about that and don't so much worry about the track because it's close enough to the coatline once it gets past north carolina everybody across the chesapeake and new jersey and new england coastline will be affected and a large storm with a big circulation and surge on top of high tides as well. exactly how much surge you get in your neighborhood will determine by the track and where you exactly live. not necessarily the elevation. it's going to be interesting and it will be historic. just try to prepare as best you can and we will hope for the best as mom likes to say. >> we will be covering this very, very closely. as we always do a

in north carolina evacuations are underway. the order to pack up and get to safety went out this morning. john roberts is standing by live in the town of kitty hawk, north carolina where this thing is expected to hit. john. >> reporter: good afternoon to you. what you see behind me is the wright brothers memorial bridge, that is the only way off of this part of the outer banks. there are really two roadways to get off. the order to evacuate went out last night. 150,000 started doing that this morning. you americansed the hurricane track update coming up in a few minutes time. it's not something they are liking to see on the outer banks, it's slowly been ticking to the west every time a new advisory comes out. i talked to the mayor of kill devil hills, part of the outer banks about that change in track. here is what he told me. >> that is not good news for us, the track had been trending to the east for a few days and we were hopeful that that trend would continue. now that it's back to the west they are on a deadline up the mid

first, mark strassmann in wrightsville beach, north carolina. >> reporter: off north carolina's coast, scott, evacuations began before daybreak, and with each passing hour, more people are leaving as irene moves closer. the first major hurricane on the east coast in years. >> it's heavy. >> reporter: with the new generator and groceries, patricia cardwell is afraid irene could be north carolina's katrina. >> i'm here by myself, and... it's just scary. >> reporter: but cardwell's more scared no hotel would take her dog, zack. so she's staying put at her home in wilmington. >> i won't go. that's my... that's my dog. he's the only thing i got here. >> reporter: mandatory evacuations for 3,000 tourists started today on ocracoke island, off north carolina's outer banks, accessible only by boat. melanie gordon and patrice parks put up no fight. >> mandatory. we didn't have a choice. we had to go. >> no charge for the ferry, though, back. >> that was cool. ( laughter ) >> reporter: edna mckelvey headed in the opposite direction, back to ocracoke to pick up her mother. >> it's mandatory for t

ernie seneca from north carolina. thanks for helping us out. >> thank you very much. >> we, of course, will stay on all of the storm news throughout this hour, throughout the day, all day, all night right here on msnbc. >>> fresh fighting is now erupting in libya's capital today. rumors are flying about the location of moammar gadhafi. now one of the world's most wanted men. nbc's stephanie gosk is live in tripoli. stephanie, all these rumors. what is the best sense you have, the best ground troops on where gadhafi is? >> reporter: the truth is, andrea, i have no idea, and i don't think anyone really does. the rebels thought they had an idea earlier this afternoon in the neighborhood of abu salim. this is a neighborhood that's very close to gadhafi's compound, and the suspicion was that his officers and perhaps even gadhafi himself and his sons escaped through tunnels and actually found themselves in that neighborhood. there was a heavy gun battle there today, and there are rumors circling around that gadhafi himself

new york and new jersey and connecticut and north carolina have the declarations. the storm is smacking north carolina as we speak. sustained winds of 90 miles an hour. it is a category one storm. it was a category two yesterday. don't let that fool you. that it seems to have downgraded. i should not use the word downgrade. this is a serious storm. a big storm as well. storm bands are hundreds of miles wide right now. the radar suggesting it may be losing organization. sloppy is the word that our jacqui jeras was using earlier. >> and john zarrella. >> you want to contribute it to john? >> yes, he is the one who said sloppy. >> i went along with sloppy. what is the word? >> it is not an organized storm. that is a better term to talk about. we had a lot of wind shear on the southwest side of the storm. we had a lot of dry air which has been moving into it. all of these factors have been weakening the system overall. i like that you said, t.j., that we don't want to downplay it and say it is downgraded to a category one. this is a monster. look at how big this thing

north carolina state officials say early indications are damage is minimal. duncan reeds who rode the storm out with his 80-year-old parents said he is thankful eye clean had been a category 3 hurricane showed mercy when she made landfall here as barely a category 1. >> i just kind of battened down the hatches and put everything away that can blow around. >> reporter: irene came ashore here in the early morning hours. the eye of the storm passing directly over atlantic beach. >> this is the back end of the hurricane coming through here. these are the hurricane force winds. and it is brutal, i've got to tell you. the sand is like a sand blaster. i can barely turn that direction. >> reporter: along the north carolina coast, more than 200,000 home are still without power. for those who evacuated inland, emergency managers say there will be at least one more night away from home before the all-clear signal. >> it is really danger. you endanger your safety and the safety of the first responders who might come to try to rescue you. please stay inside. >> again, tha

but as the storm was moving into the coastline first in north carolina where it first hit. the navy fleet head out to sea. those are coming from behind hurricane irene ready to provide the support that is necessary. the commander of the u.s. coast guard and he joins us by phone. thank you for being with us. >> thank you, it is a delightt to be here. >> i am wondering what you can provide. you have a jump on this whole thing. what can you provide? >> we do have a jump. we worked with the navy counter parts and our own preparation just like citizens will enter. we have been at this sense a week when it went to puerto rico and units down there with drew and repond and search and rescue and hazardous materials. and it ripped through the bahamas. and we had units down there. this is our thir hit coming in north carolina and our head quart ares in fort smith,virginia. i am actual i calling you from st. louis. i have actually had helicopters that went to look at the situational awareness in wilton. and then helicopters and recognizance airplanes and ready to go to do surveys in th

north carolina, new york, and virginia have declared states of emergency. steve jobs sits down as the company's chief executive. he's set to stay on as chairman. it's 9:00 a.m. here in singapore. >> it's 2:00 a.m. here in london, broadcasting to viewers on pbs in america and around the world. this is "newsday." >> hello, and welcome. as fighting continues in libya, the rebels say they're transfering their government's capital of tripoli from their base in benghazi. colonel gaddafi isn't ready to give up yet. he urged libyans to destroy the rebels. the heaviest fighting is still near olede gaddafi's old capitol in the capital. this report does contain some graphic images. >> descending into colonel gaddafi's underground fortress. the tunnels ran for miles and could have been his escape route. today, rebel fighters were taking the tour. seeing where gaddafi's troops had been holed up. abandoned in a corner, some of their supplies. this underground labyrinth, the secret world was incredibly well constructed. the ceilings here are very high. the walls are very

north carolina, by saturday. and, she could plow through the northeast, by sunday. >> this is a big storm even if we don't get a direct hit the tropical storm force winds will be on us an extended period of time and i expect we'll have infrastructure damage and considerable power outages and expect the worst. it could happen. martha: you have to expect the worst because it can happen and you just never know how this thing and where it will hit and what the damage will be. john roberts is live from at atlantic canada beach, north carolina. where people there are starting to prepare. good morning, john. >> reporter: good morning, to you, martha. this is the shot where you say, the correspondent is standing there and the weather is beautiful, where the heck is the hurricane? it is 900 miles away and is coming this direction and people are getting concerned about that. mayor trace cooper will be meeting later on this afternoon with his emergency management people and they'll look at the latest tracks from the nationa

it's battering north carolina right now. but new york, it doesn't have a lot of practice with this quite frankly. and the mayor admitted as such. so people right now, even this morning the sun was out a little bit, and certainly it was yesterday. people not thinking bad weather or bad storm is coming. don't wait until the storm gets bad, until the weather gets bad and then think, oh, maybe i should get out of here now. he's saying now is the time to do it. it's 40 minutes past the hour. we'll be talking to our jacqui jeras, our meteorologist and also our reporters up and down the coast today, including in north carolina. we have extensive coverage for you of hurricane irene, which made landfall just over an hour or so ago in north carolina. stay with me. >>> all right. 43 minutes past the hour. let's say hello wuonce again to brian todd. he's in wilmington, north carolina, for us this morning. brian, can you hear me? >> reporter: i can hear you fine and give you a quick update what's going on here. the rain and wind hasn't l

this north carolina woman's cruise to canada is over. the saga to get back home has only begun. >> ooer going to have no choice. we have to stay here until monday morning. we got tickets out on monday morning. hopefully, we'll still have jobs and then go back. >> the waters of new york harbor just off our camera position here. starting to get a little bit restless. a lot of the folks have been evacuated. hunkering down with family and friends, others have fwon to shelters. we saw a pretty good size line to get in one of those today. >> ron mott thanks for your report being. all the new yorkers are hoping the dire projections are wrong. it's the last saturday night in august. summer of 2011. that is the crossroads of the world. times square in new york. it's not the people have been ordered out. it's that there are no people to fill it. it's a rainy night, so many people in the city have been evacuated and have generally stayed away. you just won't see a sight like that for a good long time. we're going to take a break. when we come back,

stumpy point, north carolina. brian, are there folks out there in any danger that the 2500 people out there on the outer banks? >> reporter: they've not reported any cases of imminent danger or any emergency medical needs yet, brooke. that's going to be an issue if and when that happens. as you mentioned, 2500 people have been stranded since saturday. the reason is because of that breach on highway 12 that connects the outer banks to hatteras island there. it was completely washed over. it caved in. downed power lines all over the place. it's a real mess. so the people there are stranded. this is one of the life lines here. we're going to show from you this side. this is the ferry here at stumpy point they're bringing passengers in this way add then bringing the ferry over here to load vehicles on. they'll be doing that shortly. they're bringing in electrical trucks, highway repair equipment, food, medical supplies to hat rat island. it's slow going. this takes 2.5 hours each way to hatteras island. it's kind of a

in north carolina, people are boarding up and heading out. irene is expected to bear down on or near the outerbanks on saturday bringing winds of more than 100 miles an hour. >> i hope people heed the warnings that everybody should take this very seriously. >> reporter: ahead of the storm's expected intensity, 7 states from north carolina to connecticut have declared states of emergency. in ocean city, maryland, officials want everyone out by 5 p.m. today. >> first we would like our visitors to return to their place of residents. we are also going to ask that all citizens of ocean city seek shelter elsewhere and evacuate ocean city. >> reporter: many people aren't taking chances. >> no chances. we seen what it can do. and not a pretty sight. got to respect the power. >> reporter: irene's second landfall threatens major cities like boston and new york. >> what we have to do is assume the worst, prepare for that, and hope for the best. irene's exact course, strength and time of arrival remain difficult to be predicted with precision. >> reporte

hurricane advisories from the south carolina, north carolina border all the way up to new england. i want to make sure folks know we are no longer thinking this storm is going to go out to sea. we are going to be dealing with it all weekend long. we get a new track, a new advisory as of 11:00. it will give us more information as to the exact time line and the exact intensity we'll be dealing with heading into the weekend. intensifying to a category 3 within the next advisory. there are indications we are seeing some strengthening, then the delmarva peninsula, chesapeake bay area dealing with cat 2. then heading into new york city, i want to make sure you know the time line has changed a little bit for the new york area. saturday evening overnight into sunday will be the worst conditions when we'll feel those hurricane-force winds with 12 inches of rain and a strong storm surge that could shut down all sunways, roads. it really could be the case scenario. martha: we haven't seen anything like this in new york city in such a long time, and the nation's biggest city is preparing. they

in north carolina people are boarding up and heading out. irene is expected to bare down on or near the outer banks on saturday bringing winds of more than 100 miles an hour. >> i heap heed the warnings. >> reporter: ahead of the storms expected intensity seven states from north carolina to connecticut have declared states of emergency. in maryland people want everyone out by 5:00 p.m. today. >> we would like our visitors to return to their place of residence. we will also ask that all citizens of ocean city seek shelter elsewhere. >> reporter: and many people aren't taking any chances. >> our chances we have seen what we can do. and it's in the a pretty sight. >> reporter: irene's second landfall threatens major cities like boston and new york. >> what we have to do is assume the worst. prepare for that and hope for the best. irene's exact course strength and time of arrival remain on course. >> reporter: north carolina has already declared the state of emergency in 39 counties mainly on the eastern part of this state. major concern for off

in north carolina people are boarding up and heading out. irene is expected to bare down on or near the outer banks on saturday bringing winds of more than 100 miles an hour. >> i hope people heed the warnings. everybody should take this very seriously. >> ahead of the storms expected intensity seven states from north carolina to connecticut have declared states of emergency. in ocean city maryland officials want everyone out by 5:00 p.m. today. >> first we would like our visitors to return to their place of residence. also we will ask that all citizens of ocean city seek shelter elsewhere and evacuate ocean city. >> reporter: many people are not taking any chances. our chances we have seen what it can do. and it's not a pretty sight. you have to respect the power of nature. >> reporter: irene's second landfall effects major cities like boston and new york. >> what we have to do is assume the worst and prepare for that. irene's course and strength and time of arrival remain unknown. >> reporter: amtrak and major u.s. airlines are canceling r

we report from north carolina. >> fierce winds and heavy rainfall started hitting north carolina coastline saturday and cities along the east coast are bracing for hurricane irene. >> for some people in the northeast this will be the strongest hurricane they have experienced in perhaps 20 years. >> irene makes landfall this morning in north carolina and people have been ordered to evacuate many coastal cities. new york has order an unprecedented mandatory evacuation for low-lying areas of the city. >> the best thing that could happen to us is the storm turns due east and heads out to east but that's not likely to happen. there will be, unfortunately, a serious storm coming in, and ice better to take precautions and get out of the way of the storm. mother nature is much stronger than all of us. >> people have been warned to prepare for power outage, flash floods and storm surges. broadway is going dark and even the new york subway system is scheduled to stop running this afternoon. the president says that the government is ready, but said people on the east coast need to stay alert. >> i ca

that's what we do in north carolina. >> indeed, that's what they do in north carolina. kate myers with the american red cross traveling north carolina's outer banks looking for people who need supplies or help getting out. kate, are people getting the message? what are you seeing there? >> we drove out to the outer banks this morning, and as we were driving in, there were long lines of cars with luggage racks and the jetskis on the back, and they were leaving, but at the same time we've been talking to local residents who said we've seen this before. we're staying. we're going to stick it out. >> are you trying to advise them to leave? is the red cross supplying them with things they may need after the fact? >> the red cross message is to be prepared, make sure that you're staying informed, make sure that you know how to keep you and your family safe, get a kit. get a disaster get together. those emergency supplies you're going to need. if you are going to stick it out. make sure you've got that first aid kit, flashlight, extra batteries, water. have a plan if you need

particularly we'll take you to north carolina. that was the first place hit by -- >> hurricane category 2 at the time. josh levs in on the action, all kinds of news he's about to share with you. we'll be right back. e: i am. i'e name your own price division. i find empty hotel rooms and help people save - >> - up to 60% off. i am familiar. your name? > naomi pryce. >> what other "negotiating" skills do you have? > i'm a fifth-degree black belt. >> as am i. > i'm fluent in 37 languages. >> (indistinct clicking) > and i'm a master of disguise >> as am i. > as am i. >> as am i. > as am i. >> well played naomi pryce. >>> new images coming in from our ireporter fred moore. west haven, connecticut. the surf may be coming up right there as you see. possibly into the restaurant you saw a little earlier. fred says after he put the camera down he and a few others felt a little bold. they decided to take a swim. >> did you see those waves, fred? >> yes. clearly they tdid okay. >> some of the most compelling, dramatic video has come from you,

we got some additional photographs from ground level of north carolina highway 12. you can see here where the road literally just disappears. from the air it looks like a dotted line. the north carolina department of transportation plans to have ferry service to get people in and out of there while they deal with the longer-term project of rebuilding that road, brian. >> that picture on top, the flag on top of the capitol really gets your attention. kerry sanders, i'm glad the news is so relatively good where you're standing. thanks for your reporting over these two days. we're going to take a break. when we come back, two of the very best in the weather business taking on the question, what did we just witness happening here? e announcer ] from nutritional science comes centrum silver, with vitamins and minerals balanced to support your energy and immune function. everyday benefits from advanced formulas. discover the complete benefits of centrum silver. can become romantic just like that. a spark might come from -- a touch, a glance -- it can come along anywhere,

and that is live pictures from north carolina. we did hear from someone from the national hurricane center early who said it would possibly be downgraded to a category 1 storm and it seemed it was slowing down at the moment. but only ever so slightly. east coast bracing itself because hurricane irene is still due to hit land shortly, in a few hours' time beginning with north carolina. the next day in new york, of course. also an update on new york area airports. we are being told by the port authority, according to the reuters news agency, new york area airports will remain open to departing flights but will close to arriving flights at noon saturday, new york time. just an update from the port authority. new york area will remain open for departing flights will will remain closed for arriving flights.Ñi an update for you on hurricane irene. you are watching "bbc world news." still ahead -- carnival countdown. london prepares to play host to europe's biggest street party. the son of the former pakistani governor was killed earlie

i was talking to my sister in north carolina. she has a new yorker mentality and she is living in north carolina. i'm hoping she doesn't take that mentality -- megyn: it's not just north carolina. mayor bloomberg says each of the five burr on yous has an area d each of the five burr boroughs will be under mandatory evacuation orders. >> some of them don't believe anything can happen. it's built on a marsh. a lot of my friends are saying we are out of here. we are leaving. the last time a category 3 hit new york city i believe it was 1921. and it was pretty bad, and there is a lot of new construction in the city. teresa who does our hair here says i have got dogs, birds, cats, what do i do? megyn: we should roll that video trace gallagher showed, the damage back in 1938. they are going to get that queued up. only five hurricanes have passed new york city since 1851. why are you so focused on new york? 6% of the nation's population is in the new york metropolitan area. we don't get a lot of hurricanes. >> better safe than sorry. yo

it is on track to hit the north carolina coast. and major cities like new york and boston are preparing for the worst. abc's linsey davis is in the nassau, bahamas. >> reporter: good morning, rob and tanya. hurricane irene is one of the biggest we've seen in years. and here in the bahamas, irene is pretty much just getting started. we are not expecting to see the brunt of the storm on this island until 8:00 in the morng 100-mile-per-hour winds. up to now, the bahamas is relatively flat, which prime merely means two things. one, it's not going to do much to disrupt the power of the storm. and, two, it will be especially vulnerable to the crushing winds and water. >> we know this hurricane is coming our way. we don't know where it's going to hit or how bad it can get. >> it's taken more shape since >> it's takee'vthe o ape since nights. thereiteley form >> and we see that, it's hard to >> reporter: the ma iren is o asmove off intohe atlantic in the next few days. rob and tanya? >>> and as we said, irene is a major storm. it could imp

threatening north carolina to maine. the president has already declared an emergency for north carolina which means federal agencies can coordinate disaster relief efforts in that state. forecasters project irene will make landfall in the outer banks on saturday and move up the coast over the weekend. right now irene is leaving the bahamas. >> the entire eastern seaboard are going to see rain and flooding. >> reporter: strong hurricanes in new york are extremely rare but they do happen. south carolina, georgia and florida should be spared. but the effects of the storm have been felt in south florida. irene churned up the ocean water causing eight injuries and one near drowning. a wind gust of 53 miles per hour was recorded by a meteorologist. >>> and here is the very latest on irene. it is a powerful hurricane. it is now a category 3 hour 3 hurricane. it's still a category 3 as it moves into the carolinas. as we move into saturday, it's a category 2 and it's right over the carolinas. the outer banks north carolina.. here

location about 140-miles from cape lockout north carolina. you can see the it approaching this location. the forecast track here we go as we take it into saturday morning between 4:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. winds 190 miles an hour, and moving up north. you can see the track for the rest of the weekend moving into new york and possibly as a category one hurricane, and then coming up we will have the rainfall expectations and the surge expectation on the eastern sea board. >>> we are getting a better look at the after math of irene in the bahamas. if these pictures are my indication, it could be extensive. hundreds of homes were i dod or -- hundreds of homes were damaged or destroyed. >>> hurricane irene forced the president to cut short his vacation. the president issued a warning before returning to the white house tonight. >> i cannot stress it highly enough. if you are in the projected path of this hurricane, you have to take precautions now. >> the first family had been at the popular tourist spot until today, they landed at andrews air force

kristen there for us in north carolina. thanks. >>> let's get to libya now where rebels are on the hunt for moammar gadhafi, placing a bounty for his capture. all of this as battles continue with loyalists vowing to fight on. brian mooar is in washington with the latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, lynn. gadhafi's whereabouts still unknown this morning as libyan rebels continue to crush the last pockets of government resistance in the capital of tripoli. there's a $2 million bounty now on gadhafi's head, but gadhafi, through that audio message, is urging supporters to march on to victory or martyr dom. safe passage now looking very unlikely. meanwhile, the united states has vowed to there's a report that while foreign journalists have been held, four more italian journalists have been captured. >> unfortunate development. brian, thanks. >>> we have learned former vice president dick cheney kept a secret letter of resignation hidden away in his safe from the earliest days of the bush administration. cheney has a

al roker on the coast of north carolina starting us off. al, thanks. >>> this storm has already taken a good deal of time en route north churning up the bahamas. next's lily luciano was there this morning just as the storm was bearing down. >> reporter: we're now at the height of hurricane irene here in nassau, this is the most severe wind we have gotten so far, we're getting heavy rain and sleet as well that's starting to hit us as we speak right now. objects are falling and flying through the air, we have gotten some street signs that have been coming off their posts as the winds changed directions. a couple of trees have fallen right in front of us. but the storm is getting worse. lily luciano with some of what this storm has been offering in the bahamas today. as we said, all the forecasts and computer models show the next stop for hurricane irene, the north carolina coast. nbc's mark potter in nags head tonight. mark, good evening. >> reporter: good evening to you, brian. as you can see, there are very few people out here on the beache

the heavy rains are just off the south carolina and north carolina coasts. you literally only have about 12 hours, maybe ten hours left in wilmington to make your final preps, along with our friends in the marines in camp lejeune in coastal north carolina, including emerald isle, okracoke island, kitty hawk, and kill devil hills area of neern north carolina. now, as far as the warnings go, this means hurricane conditions within 36 hours. that's north carolina, the area in red through virginia beach, norfolk, all the way through the delaware coastline and all of new jersey. now we have a hurricane watch from new york city, long island, coastal connecticut, into boston. that means hurricane conditions are possible. but not definite. i'm here to tell you those will probably be switched to warnings later on today. here's the latest forecast from the hurricane center. the path goes across the outer banks, as we go throughout your saturday, late morning, into the afternoon. so the worst damage from the storm, as far as storm surge and winds, will occur as we go th

mostly north carolina. possibly structural damage north from there. we have spots all the way up the coast and from the west to center, there's a large potential for flooding from rainfall. we are talking about six to ten inches of rain. in the northeast where grounds are saturated, that's a particular problem. again, the winds were all around the center, within two to 300 miles of the center, the rainfall to the east and storm surge to the east. >> ed, unfortunately we always talk to you when something is bad is happening, but thanks so much. >> new york city, we think we are so tough here. but look the at front page of the newspaper. tar et new york. there is a run on flash lights and batteries and water. you go to the local store and for sure you can't find anything. because we've been hearing this. a storm as the big ease the city has seen. sounds like a disaster movie. what is the worst case scenario? you're watching a special edition of "hardball," only on msnbc. >> it's hard to believe when you look outside and see the sun, but it is in some se

strong winds and heavy rain hammering north carolina. a prelude of what could be a potentially devastating weekend on the east coast. >>> charged with dozens of crimes and convicted of all of them. today they were sentenced. why one victim's family says the three-life term is still not enough. >>> the new reality niner fans will be facing tomorrow at candle stick. good evening, i'm ken. >> and i'm dana king. get out now. tonight more than 2 million people have been told to leave their homes and businesses behind as hurricane irene takes aim for the u.s. coast. >> here's a look at irene from space. it weakened slightly, but still on track to bring hurricane force winds all the way up the east coast. new york, it's about to shut down its mass transit system. north carolina has ordered more body bags. everybody is preparing now. karen brown is standing by live in kill devil hills, north carolina, where this place has a potential for catastrophe. >> things are really starting to pick up here in the outer banks. a little bit south of here, th