the state of north carolina. thank you so much. >>> we'll have a lot more in the path of hurricane irene. is it still on a collision course directly with new york city? we'll check in again with nbc meteorologist jeff right after this break. we're also monday storing twitter all throughout the storm. send us your tweets to@msnbctv and including the hash tag irene. gas and bloating. with three strains of good bacteria to help balance your colon. you had me at "probiotic." [ female announcer ] phillips' colon health. wso to save money, i trained my dog and this cockatoo" to play all the hits of the '80's woman: hit it, mr. butters. ♪ ♪ take on me... ♪ ....take on me ♪ take me on... anncr: there's an easier way to save. get online. go to geico.com get a quote. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. >>> hurricane irene has made landfall. this storm is currently slamming the north carolina coast after weakening very slightly, but the forecasters say the storm remains dangerous. at least 160,00

he's in atlantic beach, north carolina. they've been having some trouble there with the signal and we're going to try to get kerry back. kerry, are you with us? >> reporter: i'm with you. and this is just the early arrival of the tropical force winds before we're going to start getting buffetted by the hurricane force winds. as good as our technology is sometimes mother nature wins. we're with you right now. i'm in a little bit of a protected spot to try to talk to you. what we're seeing as irene is making her way here as bill karins told us it looks like the eye is headed right for this location. we're seeing the waves just buflting the beach and beach erosion taking place right before our eyes. there's a pier behind me, it's kind of hard to see in this crazy early hour here in the darkness, some of those baefs are so powerful and strong and so big that they're crashing over the end of that pier that goes out about 350 yards or so into the water. the community is mostly evacuated and that's what the north carolina governme

let me start in north carolina, kill devil hills, north carolina, where reynolds wolf is now. reynolds, it's official, it's made landfall. what are you noticing there? and we see your picture there reynolds. it seems like it continues to kick up every time we come talk to you. >> reporter: well, t.j., i've got to tell you that i've been lucky enough to cover tropical weather at cnn for about six years now, covered about 17 on the beach. i've been lucky enough to cover them in the pacific ocean, in hawaii, been in the gulf of mexico and now obviously on the atlantic. and each and every one of those storms is a little bit different, but there is one common thread. they each have one key moment in whatever location we happen to be in. that key location, that key moment, right now with irene at kitty hawk, north carolina, is right about now. the strongest wind we've had so far and the rain has just been blinding at times, coming through not only is it just rain coming through but also a lot of sand being picked up right behind us and being thrashed right toward the lens cap of the

carolina as irene moves north. the best thing people can do is stay home, stay inside. a lot of people like to get out and travel about. it's very hazardous with downed power lines, trees down, plus the responders and the utility crews don't need to get behind you when they're trying to go help. >> all right, we're at 15 minutes past the hour, listening to the update from the officials, federal officials, fema, as well as the homeland security secretary, reminding people just how dangerous this storm is, and it is just getting started in some places. north carolina in particular is getting battered by this storm. reminding people here of the risk, even though you hear it's a category 1, this is very important, even though you hear category 1, it sounds like a storm that's weakening, some of the biggest threats, though, are going to come from the rain, which will result inned flood g i ing and also the storm will result tornadoes. that's another major risk of this storm. don't let category 1, the fact that it was we

we're fully mobilized in north carolina. we've even got the water rescue teams in place across the state. so we really have done it so many times in north carolina. we feel like our system is good. we've prepared as much as we can. but there's all always things that are channels. so again during the night we urge people to stay in, to use caution. we urge people to just be really aware that this doesn't sound like a huge storm right now, 50 or 50-mileer-hou hours. and that's where the problems become. that bowl that you were talking about earlier full of water is going to dump somewhere. when it dumps there's going to be a surge of water and who knows what will happen. >> and that's obviously a big concern here in manhattan as well. the storm surge and also the slow-moving winds just kind of staying in this area for 12 or more hours as you say. governor, appreciate your time tonight. i know you're busy. thanks for checking in with us. we appreciate it. >>> want to go next to david mattingly in kill devil hills in north carol

we're fully mobilized in north carolina. we've even got the water rescue teams in place across the state. so we really have done it so many times in north carolina. we feel like our system is good. we've prepared as much as we can. but there's all always things that are channels. so again during the night we urge people to stay in, to use caution. we urge people to just be really aware that this doesn't sound like a huge storm right now, 50 or 50-mile-per-hour winds, but we think it's going to stay over our state 10 or 12 hours. and that's where the problems become. that bowl that you were talking about earlier full of water is going to dump somewhere. when it dumps there's going to be a surge of water and who knows what will happen. >> and that's obviously a big concern here in manhattan as well. the storm surge and also the slow-moving winds just kind of staying in this area for 12 or more hours as you say. governor, appreciate your time tonight. i know you're busy. thanks for checking in with us. we appreciate it. >>> wan

moorhead city, north carolina. once again, hurricane irene still hovering along the north carolina coast. it's making its way north. when it does, it will impact the nation's capital, washington, d.c. already starting to come to a grinding halt in anticipation of hurricane irene. pictures right now kind of ominous look there of the washington monument on that washington mall, not far from the monument there. there was to be a pretty sizable dedication of the martin luther king memorial to take place this weekend. all that now on hold as a result of hurricane irene. people are also throughout the city being relocated. specifically from walter reed medical hospital to the naval hospital in bethesda, maryland. that's where a number of military injured have been for a long time at walter reed, now being relocated in anticipation of this state of emergency now declared by the mayor of the city. athena jones is also live in washington, d.c. athena, the relocation of a number of those veterans, that was to take place anyw

right now, i want to take you to our north carolina affiliate where a good part of north carolina is already feeling the effects of the outer bands of hurricane irene. let's listen in. >> reporter: why would we be in a horse stable during hurricane coverage? there's more than 80 horses from the coast here in raleigh riding out hurricane irene like this horse here. and actually i've met marilyn beers who joins me now. this is shiloh. they've made the trip trying to ride out the storm. tell us what brings you here to raleigh? >> i wanted to get out of the hurricane. i didn't want my hurricane to be in a hurricane. the winds were going to be 100 miles per hour. and i couldn't see him standing in a pasture in that kind of weather. >> reporter: and what have you heard? what's been the latest you've heard from home? >> back at home, there's trees down, power's out. but the water has stayed down. so that's good. >> reporter: when are you going to venture back out and head back east? >> i think tomorrow morning, we'll see what the roads are like, see if we can get back to where we live and g

carolina as irene moves north. the best thing people can do is stay home, stay inside. a lot of people like to get out and travel about. it's very hazardous with downed power lines and trees down, plus the responders and utility crews don't need to get behind you when they're trying to help. in the aftermath of the storm unfortunately we've seen as many people injured and lose their lives after the storm came through because it's still very dangerous. finally yesterday we had announced over our blog that we had released one of our apps for android. i want to show you right now that we are out with information coming out over the app, and again, what's good about this is it has the information that if you do lose connectivity, it has preparedness information about what to do during and after hurricanes as well as other hazards. again, this is for the android. it's on the market. it's the official fema app out there. if you go to blog.fema.gov it will give you that. the blackberry appears and iphone is coming soon, b

wherever you live along the east coast north of north carolina. let's look at the hurricane right now as we see it approaching the outer banks it's a big hurricane. and it's projected to get even bigger in scope in size. now it's actually going to get the top -- winds are going to get lower, but the size of it is actually going to grow as it moves to the north. it's in this case it really is about the size. first of all, it is going to batter north carolina that doesn't look like any way to avoid a direct megahit on the outer banks of north carolina and other portions eastern portions of that state. but then up the coast and the tide water as you know the fleet is out there. but the tide water is going to take a very, very hard 4 it in virginia. then the delmarva peninsula, ocean city, jersey shore all these we don't see any way now to avoid extremely dangerous situations in all of these areas. then we get up to new york city. but also long island and closer to the water you have these life-threatening conditions expected there. so heed all evacua

that's atlantic beach, north carolina. the storm was expected to make landfall in an hour or two just east of this area. in all, listen to this, 2.5 million are under evacuation orders along the east coast. officials are suspended mass transit today in new york city. that is a first. also in parts of new jersey and philadelphia the storm was expected to make a second landfall sunday around noon eastern time directly over new york's long island. airlines they have cancelled at least 6100 flights through monday krounding hundreds of thousands of passengers across this country. the storm could strike major airports from washington, d.c. to new york as well as boston being hit with heavy rains and dangerous winds. joining me on the phone is the town manager of duck, north carolina. a good morning to you. give us an update of how things are going? >> things are going well right now. the storm hasn't really hit us yet. we are experiencing heavy rain and the winds are beginning. we expect the hurricane force winds to begin around

teras, north carolina. winds are about 100 miles an hour, a category 2 hurricane. it is expected to make landfall in north carolina tomorrow and then move right up the coast to new york and new england. watches and warnings are posted from north carolina all the way up to boston including, of course, new york city. the mayor of new york has ordered the first ever mandatory evacuation for people in low-lying coastal areas. that's about a quarter of a million people. mark strassman is where irene will hit first in north carolina. >> pelley: i'm scott pellly an update on hur hur as it closes in on the east coast. the surf is up, the first bands of rain are beginning to hit the carolina coast and people are moving to safer ground. the eye of the storm is about 300 miles of carolina., 2 it is to up the coast to posted , of of is the beaches and towns are mostly deserted. just the last couple days here in dire county, 180,000 people have evacuated. the major worry with irene is flooding, major flooding from both sides of these barrier islands. it could cut them two and t

so irene is still in north carolina. let me speak very directly to people of north carolina. you just -- if you live in the coastal plain, if you live in these counties that have seen irene in our presence since last night, stay inside. it makes no sense for anybody to go outside with hot wires on the ground and trees down. don't take any unnecessary risk for you or your family. the highway patrol is activating, has activated 300 troopers. there are 600 on stand-by if we need them tonight and tomorrow. the troopers thus far have investigated 135 collisions in eastern north carolina since 8:00 o'clock last night. and again, a foot of water will turn your vehicle over and do you damage. it will float your car. so if you are out for whatever reason and you run into water, please, please stop and turn around. as you might expect, numerous roadways will be closed tonight that we don't know about due to storm debris and fallen trees and downed power lines and overwash. if you have a road damage to report or travel directions that you need about safety, you can call the dot informat

want to show you live pictures from north carolina right now. these are some of the first pictures to come out of the region this morning. you can see it the huge waves coming through. the center of the hurricane made landfall two hours ago. more than two million people along the east coast have been ordered to move to higher ground. irene sustained winds stand at 85 miles per hour. hurricane warnings have been issued from the carolinas up to martha's vineyard in massachusetts. ali rasmus is monitoring flight cancellations in the bay area. rosemary roscoe is tracking the path of the storm. but first we start with elizabeth in virginia beach where the storm is headed next. elizabeth. >> reporter: the conditions here are certainly deteriorating and they're doing so very, very quickly. only by a couple hundred miles from the eye of hurricane irene, so we're right in the outer bad right now, which means heavy winds and rains and the possibility of tornadoes. we've heard local meteorologists telling people the onlookers to see the surf because you ca

to make landfall throughout north carolina over the next couple of hours. the wind speeds is ramping up along the coastline. cape hatterras a category one strength sustained wind at 74 miles per hour. then you go a little bit inland, we're seeing sustained winds at tropical storm force strengths. by all accounts this storm system is starting to make its mark on the carolina coastline. we have a hurricane warning not only for north carolina but for those of you along the delmarva peninsula right up boo new jersey and up into long island also for the cape of massachusetts. this is a wide reaching storm system that is not only going to bring wind impacts to everyone along the coastline, we're talking about a widespread inland rainfall that could be in upwards of eight inches in some cases that's where our main flooding threat continues to exist. as we take a look at our forecast track, as we continue throughout the next couple of hours it's about north carolina and virginia with the peak of this happening through 6:00 p.m. today. as the storm track moves up sa

carolina. >> let's move back to north carolina. there's our reynolds wolf, who has been in these elements for the past several hours. reynolds, hello to you once again. >> reporter: hi, t.j. great to hear from you. i'll tell you, the situation here on the outer banks, specifically kitty hawk, the rain is intermittent, but one thing that's just been continuous for the last ten minutes, at least since i've been out here, is just blasted, absolutely blasted by the sand. it's like a stinging sensation, almost like these microskrcopic bits of shrapnel, just blowing into us. what i can tell you, if you were look at this from high above, it looks like a giant atmospheric saw blade marching its way to the north. what it's doing at ground level, picking up that moisture behind me, bringing those waves right along the shore, and i can tell you, they're coming right up to the very, very edge of the sand dune. now, you have to remember that this island, the outer banks, it's not made on limestone or some sort of coral reef. this is just pure s

. >> north carolina's governor said it best. or she said it best. >> the outer bands of the storm are hitting our coast. >> well, right now the category two hurricane is hugging the coast of north carolina and getting very close and packing winds of up to 100 miles per hour. states of emergency are definitely in affect from north carolina all the way up to maine. >> hurricane irene is currently at a category two strength. but how different is that from a category three? and where is irene heading now? our meteorologist is live in the fox extreme weather center. what are we talking about category two? category three? >> and we have a brand-new update coming out at 3:00 a.m. we are now talking a category one. that is good news. we want it to weaken and hopefully push out to sea, but that's no what -- that's not what the models are pointing to. right now sustained winds are 90 miles an hour. swree hurricane warnings in affect stretching from wilmington, north carolina all the way up to portions of new england. martha's vineyard is

we just managed to get north carolina governor on phone. governor, your state is used to taking some major storm hits. this is a slower storm bigger than a lot of people have seen for a while. are you ready? >> yeah, we're ready, anderson. we got evacuations complete. everything is tied down. and tonight is a hard night. we're just waiting for it to hit. >> how have evacuations gone? people say mandatory evacuations. sometimes a lot of folks don't want to leave. >> sometimes some folks don't want to leave. you have to let people do what they want to do. that's why it's america. this is the last of the summer along all of coastal carolina and the southern part of the country, and so we got lots of tourists have left. a lot of real people, people who are citizens decided to stay. they are smart. we're urging them to use common sense and not go out tonight in the middle of the storm to see what's happening. again, we feel like we're prepared. the big problems will come tomorrow as we see what damage is done ands with we go into full recovery.

states of emergency declared in north carolina. that means that north carolina is already getting the full help of the federal government. president obama trying to stay on top of this situation. and thomas, there have been a lot of discussion about whether or not president obama was going to cut his vacation short because of weather conditions or otherwise, he is still scheduled to leave tomorrow as previously scheduled. >> moammar, earthquake, now irene, we'll see what happens. kristen welker, thanks so much. the president will be speaking at 11:30. we'll bring you that statement. more now on safety and concerns around the nation's capital. they have put a major ceremony on hold. this sunday afternoon the dedication of the martin luther king sculpture on the national mall has now been postponed due to the expected rain and heavy winds. nbc's luke russert is live in washington. luke, bring us up to speed. i know airlines and transit systems are trying to get ahead of the storm. >> they are indeed, thomas. they're taking some preca

carolina and areas further north. so if you live iner

hurricane irene slams into north carolina. it is now a slightly weakened but still dangerous category 1 storm whipping winds as strong as 100 miles per hour. 30-foot waves are slamming the shore, and it spawned multiple tornadoes, and there are very real fears of flooding and of beaches and homes being swept away. >> this is definitely the type of hurricane that can hurt people. >> we are live in the center of it as this monster storm works its way up the coast. >>> get out now. perhaps never in our history has a hurricane had more americans in its sight. 65 million of us and more than 2 million are being told to evacuate. >> this is the real deal. this is a big, deadly and dangerous storm. >>> in new york city this morning, an unprecedented move. nearly 300,000 people under mandatory evacuation orders. thcasis in atltltic city a shutting down. the subways in new york city shutting down, as well. some of america's largest cities are on lockdown as irene lumbers north. >>> and good morning, america. we are live this morning on

in north carolina and there they go. >> hurricane isabell helped to redrew the coast of the north carolina. and cut with 2000 foot swamp and isolated the island for months and now hearing that irene could do the same. john robert system in kill devil hills in the north carolina outer bank. how goes it, john? >> it is going well. bill. in fact kids had to go to school by ferry while they replaced the cut that isa bell made. in a couple of places by cape hatteras island the storm swell is come in to a degree it may have cut inland. there is another interesting phenom nan under way. i am going to go out in the next hour and that is waters of the sound back in kitty hawk bay are pushed back by hurricane and turned them in to mud flaps. anybody on the outer banks will know that is a lot of boats and paragliding. there is nothing but mud . in the next few hours or so waters will come back in and surge up. and in addition to the storm surge we'll get we'll get south side storm surge. we'll tell you about the lay of the land. we are in an unusual part of the hurricane. and moments when the wind is

bragg, north carolina. forces there know the drill. >> we are moving supplies in not based upon any individual state but to make sure we have enough resources within the regions. >> reporter: fema director craig fugate and his team are keeping president obama up to date as hurricane irene approaches the coast. >>> just ahead on the "morning news" irene hasn't even hit but gas prices are already headed higher. >>> plus it may be tough getting around this weekend even if you're not in the storm zone. we'll tell you why. this is the "cbs morning news." e and a breakthrough formula that nourishes deep down, like no other. dove body wash. proven effective natural nourishment. look at all this stuff for coffee. oh there's tons. french presses, espresso tampers, filters. it can get really complicated. not nearly as complicated as shipping it, though. i mean shipping is a hassle. not with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. if it fits it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. that is

landfall in north carolina. and of course as we know then we will transition to the secondary landfall and that will be in new york. expecting a significant storm surge upwards of ten feet now. this thing is not going to dissipate. we are looking at a potential category one storm. we will have upwards as we take you into sunday. stay with cnn. live from hurricane headquarters. ♪ [ female announcer ] we're throwing away misperceptions about natural gas vehicles. more of the vehicles that fuel our lives use clean american natural gas today. it costs about 40 percent less than gasoline, so why aren't we using it even more? start a conversation about using more natural gas vehicles in your community. no, it's just for new people. hey ! chocolate, vanilla or strawberry ? chocolate ! chocolate it is ! yeah, but i'm new, too. umm... he's new... er... than you. even kids know it's wrong to treat new friends better than old friends. at ally bank, we treat all our customers fairly, with no teaser rates and no minimum de

you are on kill devil hills, north carolina. this storm is on its way to you, 35 miles off the coast. you have seen things change the past 24 hours. >> you pushed a button because right before we went on you had steady rains at 55 miles per hour. the thing about the system it is making eulgts way north/northeast. as it does so, we will be exposeded to gusts, possibly heavier rainfall as the bands approach. one band has given us intermittent rainfall. possibly up to a foot of rainfall along the outer banks and across the intracoastal and sound and the shore of north carolina. something else to consider, look at the radar image. if you look just imagine it being cut with a giant plus sign on it. the upper right quadrant is where you will have some of your strongest winds and momentum as it spins in a counterclockwise rotation. with that we do expect the stronger winds, maybe tornados. and of course that's where the storm surge is. right behind me you can see the waters of the atlantic. some of the white caps coming in. amazing how

is possible and coastal north carolina. it will probably damaged homes, businesses and other structures. president obama is back at the white house. here he is with the the first family at andrews air force base. they cut their vacation short because of hurricane irene. the president has been in close contact with state and local leaders in irene's pass. in just a few hours transportation will come to a standstill in new york. the port authority closed five airports for arriving flights. departing flights will stay open depending on the condition. the decision was made to avoid stranding passengers when mass transit stop service. shut down. bus and train service will be halted. in brooklyn, hundreds of patients were evacuated from coney island. this city ordered everyone in the area marked in red to move to safety. >> we are issuing a mandatory evacuation order for everyone who lives in the low-lying zones and coastal areas of new york and all five boroughs. >> those in the second zone will be told to evacuate the area rema

he is in north carolina. reynolds, it has been a harrowing past couple of hours as you have been reporting for us. >> reporter: i tell you, t.j., it has gotten worst last couple of minutes. the wind is coming in. the rain drops in sheets. it has let up a bit and then we have a quick blast. you have off the outer banks which is a body of water which is nicknamed the graveyard of the atlantic. how appropriate on the day like today and the nickname like that. the water coming up to the bottom of the dunes. places we are able to walk to the water edge yesterday. maybe 150 yards or so, all of that disappearing. it was coming in yesterday gently. towering waves. some of these easily 12 footers. i expect them to get bigger as the time continues. one big concern we have of this is not just the wind, but also the heavy rain that we can anticipate. the outer banks and parts of the tar heel state may have rainfall totals before this is all said and done could be in excess 12 inches. that means flash flooding. any spots

across parts of north carolina. that's where the direct hit is going to be. that's where we're going to see the most significant surge anywhere from 6 to 12 feet. we've got a new moon coming, so that makes the tide astronomically high. you get that plus the wave action and surge from the storm itself, that makes it more impressive. hurricane warnings have been extended north now to sandy hook, new jersey, meaning hurricane conditions are likely in the next 36 hours, hurricane watches have been posted now all wait up across the new england coastline. and that's likely we'll see hurricane conditions there also in the next 48 hours. rainfall is going to be the other big thing here and that probably will be the worst part of this storm. because we have seen so much rainfall in the past couple weeks, the ground is saturated. trees that are loaded up with foliage, haven't seen a big windstorm in a long time, that combination will cause a lot of trees to come down, regardless of whether this thing makes a secondary direct

perhaps category 1 as it crosses north carolina. the continued slow weakening will persist to new england. by the time it gets up to the new york area, southern new england, we're looking at the lower end category 1 hurricane. perhaps upper end of the tropical storm conditions. what's important about this particular storm is not so much the peak intensity but the duration. it's a very large hurricane. and in north carolina they experienced hurricane force winds as much as 10 hours. and the whole east coast near the center of the storm will experience tropical storm conditions for as much as 24 hours. so a long period. a battering of wind as well as higher levels of storm surge. and because it's so long we'll go through a full tidal cycle in the northeast as well. there will be relatively high tides coming this weekend. so the high tides, plus the storm surge, has us concerned for the shoreline. >> yeah. there's no doubt about it. a lot of damage probably in long island. i didn't realize it would be lingering, the storm winds, for 24

heading northeast from north carolina with new york still in her path. you see boston, atlantic city. still a big threat to the east coast. abc's john is live from lower manhattan right now where flooding is expected. >> irene's path of urban destruction makes this storm historic. >> this hurricane is real. >> this hurricane is real. it's headed our way. we are ready. we are prepared for the worse and we continue to pray for the best. >> after the carolinas she barrels straight toward new york city, hitting baltimore, new york, d.c. and baltimore on its way. then boston later. president obama, cutting his own vacation short, warned americans to take it seriously. >> i cannot stress this highly enough. if you are in the projected path of this hurricane, you have to take precautions now. don't wait. don't delay. >> new york is bracing for a direct hit. the city that never sleeps will have to walk. for the first time mayor michael bloomberg is shutting down mass transit. in manhattan a quarter million people have been told to move. >> we wouldn't do it now

this is kill devil hills in north carolina. you can see the rain coming down, the surf whipping up, and the wind blowing everything around there. drew levenson is standing there, waiting for another live shot with another station, and he's been tossed around all morning. >> been in the same spot for the last hour. >> he's certainly got a tough job to do, and everybody else is leaving the area. so many evacuations up and down the coast. some of the reporters are heading in. jim, you've been watching this whole thing go down and have been making some predictions. you don't think it's going to be as bad as we've been fearing? >> no, i'm not making predictions. >> isn't that what do you? >> well, here's the forecast. here's the official forecast. i'm going to take the official line-- >> sounds like a prediction, but i'm just saying. >> it is a category 1 skirting the eastern seaboard, as you saw headed to new york, towards new york by tomorrow. out on the west coast, low clouds, fog and drizzle, more more benign weather pattern. >>

this is atlantic beach, north carolina. hurricane irene's outer bands already bringing six to nine foot waves to that area. but much of the focus is now on the new york city area this morning. manhattan, of course, home to millions of people and on top of that, new yorkers have not seen a storm like this in decades. and now, new york city mayor michael bloomberg says that he might shut down the city's entire public transportation system. >> 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 because this is a very large and also very slow moving hurricane. >> it is and right now, hospitals and also nursing homes that are in low-lying areas of new york city are being evacuated to higher ground and officials may extend that evacuation order later today. irene expected to make landfall in new york city by sunday. it should be making landfall in the outer bands of north carolina very, very early tomorro

this is video of some of the damage left behind today in north carolina. meanwhile, 36 firefighters from alameda and contra costa county left late last night for new york. the incident management teams will coordinate response out there. you can track irene's path on our web site and see if the storm will affect your travel plans. just click on the weather alert bar at the top of the web site. >>> coming up, another major blow tool quite. the u.s. claims an attack killed the tear -- terrorists leader. >> a growing fire is burning in the sierra national forest near yosemite. yosemite. ahead, the know ♪ ♪ free access to chase atm's wherever you are. that's a step forward. chase customers can avoid atm fees with over 16,000 nationwide. take a step forward and chase what matters. >> alan: a senior obama administration official says cia drone strikes killed al qaeda's number two leader. the officials say he was killed in pakistan during a cia drone strike on august 22nd. he was a libyan national who was considered al qaeda's operational leader before rising

our coverage starts with john in north carolina. we probably don't need to ask you to set the scene for us. what does it feel like there? >> reporter: we are getting the winds as you see right now gusting and picking up a little bit. the rain has been constant. periodically heavy and then it lightens up a little bit. the past couple of hours or so here on atlantic beach, a mandatory evacuation, obviously, this is an island. the atlantic ocean is that way. that's actually south the way this beach faces. irene is coming straight up from the south. it's very likely a very good possibility that we could be the first place that sees the landfall here of the center of circulation of irene. at least very close to the center. to the north of me on the left side is bold sound. as the storm comes by, a good possibility we could see storm surge first from the atlantic. as it goes by, we get storm surge coming in this direction. you can see all the power lines crisscrossing us here as the wind once again begins to pick up. one of the great conc

hurricane watches and warnings are up from north carolina to new jersey, with landfall expected in north carolina on saturday. we have a team of correspondents posted throughout the hurricane zone. first, cbs news hurricane consultant david bernard in miami. david, what is the latest on the track and the intensity? >> well, no change at all today, scott. this storm is steady state. it is still a major hurricane and, in fact, the latest information from the hurricane center indicates it might get a a little bit stronger tonight. now, here is the track. it remains virtually unchanged. we're expecting that landfall in the eastern plains of north carolina during the day saturday and then it's going to continue a march right up the eastern sea board, possibly near the jersey shore or the new york city area during the day on sunday. that would be a rather dramatic track and it could cause quite a bit of disruption, to say the least. >> pelley: and your best estimate of what happens in the next 72 hours is what? >> well, it's all about the track, and as we can see from the hurricane center, the

of north carolina certainly. and so that the trees snap. so, one of the concerns among many, many is that people will be coming incapacitated because the trees snap and close their ability to leave their homes or the car will be caught in some fashion by a downed tree. so we are advising people to have a week's worth of supplies to stay home in case you get trapped where you are, and either because of the roads down and the transportation systems are out or because your car has been damaged. one of the most difficult things to protect from a hurricane is a car. if you can't park it inside, it is, what do you do with it to keep it away are from the hurricane? it is really, really tough. lots more on this. >> we are bracing for everything, power outages and everything is sadly on the menu for what the hurricane could deliver to us on the east coast. thank you, bryan, and we will check back in with you in a short time. a short time ago, north carolina governor bev perdue declared a state of emergency. we know kerry

wind gust of 84 miles per hour reporting in a pier in duck, north carolina. further down the outer banks. sustained wines at cape hatteras. itate officials closed highway 12 south of the bridge water is covering it. people are parking their vehicles on the highest part of the island. there is four feet of sand on one part of highway 12 and the bay there, and the sound has emptied out of the water. you understand how they move in a counter clock wise. it is pulling the and bays on the left hand side of the storm. that sound is on the left hand side. and as it moves by. wins will shift and then hit from the other side and then the sound will fill up. it will happen minutes from now. and the question about the storm, we have word from the state of virginia, that they are closing down roads and shutting off mass transit. it is scheduled to end at 5:00 with a light rail in baltimore. bus service to end at 9:00. all of they shore. jersey shore. they are expect being high wind and heavy surf and do you know problems as well. and then as the storm move further to the

>> fredricka and brooke, we are in north carolina. we're in mantio, north carolina. we just got back from hatteras island. hatteras island, about 2,500 people are completely cut off from civilization right now. they chose to stay and ignore the mandatory evacuation warnings. as a result, they're stranded right now. at least temporarily. because highway 12 which connects them to the northern most outer banks islands and then these roads that go to the mainland, that is completely washed out. on cape hatteras, 2,500 people there stranded. the only way we could get there is because we were imbedded with a national forward unit. these helicopters. the only way we could get to hatteras island was to accompany them. we were imbedded with them, flew over and saw some of the damage from the flooding which is pretty significant there. people there are prepared to ride out however long they need to ride out in order to get supplies. right now they're cut off. you can see the damage. a lot of pretty severe damage along the coastlines of these barrier islands. >> all right. we'r

in north carolina people are boarding up and heading out. irene is expected to bear down on the outer banks bringing winds of more than 100 miles an hour. >> i hope everyone will heed the warning. >> reporter: seven states from north carolina to connecticut have declared states of emergency. in ocean city, maryland, officials want everybody out by 5 p.m. today. >> first, we would like our visitors to return that their place of resident -- residence and evacuate ocean city. >> reporter: many people aren't taking chances. >> no chances. we've seen with this can do. >> reporter: it 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. eye reason's exact course, time of arrival -- >> reporter: and north carolina has already issued a estate of emergency in 39 counties, mainly in the eastern portion of the state. authorities are trying to get ready helping people evacuate some of the coastal areas in this state. reporting live from north carolina. now back to you. >> all

we're fully mobilized in north carolina. we've even got the water rescue team in place across the state. so we really have done it soems times in north carolina. we feel like our system is good. we've prepared as much as we can. but there's always things that are challenges. and so again during night we urge people to stay in, to use caution. we urge people to just be really aware that this doesn't sound like a huge storm right now. 50 or 55-mile-per-hour winds. but we think it's going to stay over our state 10 or 12 hours. and that's where the problems come. that bowl that you were talking about earlier full of water is going to dump somewhere. when it dumps there's going to be a surge of water and who knows what will happen. >> that's obviously a big concern here in manhattan as well. the storm surge and also the slow-moving winds just kind of staying in this area for 1 -- for 12 or more hours. appreciate your time tonight. i know you're busy. thanks for checking in with us. >>> we want to go to david mat i will in kill de

>>shepard: good afternoon at 2:00 on the coast of north carolina and up the eastern seaboard. this is fox news channel's continuing coverage of the march of the hurricane. i am shepard smith. the national hurricane center updated the strength and direction. still a category one hurricane producing maximum sustained wind of 85 miles per hour. the storm made landfall in the outer banks of north carolina and pounding that state. relentless pounding. it is moving so slowly up the coast. the storm flooding parts of the outer banks and the sound knocking out power to half a million people. crews have tied two deaths to the storm. they say a tree fell on one man and another man had a heart attack putting plywood over his windows and a traffic collision caused a third but that is not confirmed. the center is closing in on the state of virginia where the governor is warning the next 12 hours "are going to be very, very bad for virginians." people who have not evacuated the coast could face prosecution. the storm is later said to sweep the new jersey shore and past atlantic city where t

. >> 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

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

after slamming ashore in north carolina. it's sending heavy rain and powerful winds through maryland and virginia. now starting to knock on the door right here in washington, d.c. where i am. the storm has claimed at least six lives so far. and more than a million households have already lost power. millions more are bracing for the impact, even in new york where there's a fast, first-ever evacuation and bus service and rail service has been halted. our correspondents are deployed all along the east coast to bring you the kind of storm

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

a hurricane warning now in effect from north carolina. all the way north to massachusetts. president obama cutting short his family vacation on martha's vineyard, which is an island off the coast of massachusetts. he did not cut off his vacation before he took time to warn the other 65 million americans in the path of this storm to take this hurricane extremely seriously. >> all indications point to this being a historic hurricane. i cannot stress this highly enough. if you are in the projected path of this hurricane, you have to take precautions now. don't wait. don't delay. >> the state of virginia residents are stacking sand bags against expected flooding. the governor there warning coastal residents to expect a storm surge of up to six feet when the hurricane comes ashore. in washington d.c. the mayor of d.c. declared a state of emergency warning of possible power outages and flooding. residents of ocean city, maryland, given mandatory evacuation orders. the mayor of baltimore declaring a state of emergency in his city. in delaware the governor ordered tens of thousands

north carolina to maine. how big a challenge when there are that many large population centers being affected by it, how big a challenge is that for fema and how are you guys working to handle that? >> just fema would be overwhelming. but it's not just fema. we're talking about a lot of local officials. state teams, national guard, throughout this area. all working together. that's why it's so important for the public to get ready and get prepared. because power is going to go out in a lot of areas. and if people haven't gotten ready that's going to put more strain on the system and it's going to divert attention to the most critical rescues and the most critical, most vulnerable population. so this is really about a team effort. from the federal family, we're all working together to support our governors and their teams. but the public can help by getting ready and go to ready.gov or on their phones m.fema.gov and take the steps now. time is running out but they can still get ready. >> all right. fema admini

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

it's heading right for north carolina. we think life-threatening conditions along the coast of north carolina along the day on saturday and affecting the entire eastern part of the state. on up to the chesapeake. the am of water tremendous amount of water being pushed into chesapeake bay over the delmar have peninsula along the beaches there life-threatening conditions through delaware and then to the jersey shore with tremendous water pushed into delaware bay all along the jersey shore one of the we think historic hurricane events for the jersey shore. same thing with long island. in new york city there will be flooded areas but in the core of the city the high rises being inside a high rise should be safe and then we're talking about of course up into new england. everyone prepares inland they evacuate the coast be ready to be out of power for at least a week. that's it, chris. this is in some ways the big one. >> thank you so much. we'll keep checking back, obviously throughout the coming hours and days. now in virginia

hurricane warnings in effect from north carolina to new jersey. don't let the calm picture fool you. final preparations are being made in atlantic beach, north carolina, where workers seen here removing a parking hut near the beach before irene storms ashore. woman: day care can be expensive. so to save some money, i found one that uses robots instead of real people. 'cuz robots work for free. robot 1:good morning... robot 1:...female child. sfx: modem dial-up noise woman: are there flaws? yeah, um, maybe. anncr: there's an easier way to save. anncr: get online. go to geico.com. get a quote. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. crisp, clear, untouched. that's why there's brita, to make the water we drink, taste a little more, perfect. reduce lead and other impurities with the advanced filtration system of brita. toi switched to a complete0, multivitamin with more. only one a day women's 50+ advantage has ginkgo for memory and concentration, plus support for bone and breast health. a great addition to my routine. [ female announc