NY Mayor orders unprecedented mass evacuation

PanARMENIAN.Net - New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered an unprecedented mass evacuation and the closure of the subway as millions of Americans along the east coast battened down for Hurricane Irene.

U.S. President Barack Obama cut short his summer vacation and urged Americans in the path of the storm to take immediate action, saying "all indications point to this being a historic hurricane."

The Category Two hurricane, packing winds of 100 miles (160 kilometers) per hour, was set to slam into the coast of North Carolina on Saturday, August 27, before churning up the eastern seaboard towards Washington, New York and Boston.

The densely populated corridor, home to more than 65 million people, was under the threat of flooding, storm surges, power outages and destruction that experts said could cost up to $12 billion.

Bloomberg told a news conference he had ordered the first-ever mass evacuations from low-lying areas across the densely populated city that are home to some 250,000 people, calling it a "matter of life or death."

Authorities had earlier announced that New York's massive transit system would begin to shut down midday Saturday in another rare move that could hinder transport into Monday's rush hour. Heavy rains on ground already soaked from weeks of wet weather could worsen the risk of falling trees, and the wind-driven seawater could swell already high new moon tides, sending a storm surge up the Hudson river that could swamp lower Manhattan and the city's underground train system.

New York state meanwhile said major links into the city would be cut if winds exceeded 60 miles per hour, as predicted, and authorities called up 900 National Guard troops and 2,500 power workers to prepare for emergency repair work, the largest ever deployment.

Neighboring New Jersey on Thursday ordered 750,000 people out of the Cape May area. At 5:00 pm (2100 GMT) Friday, Hurricane Irene was around 265 miles southwest of North Carolina, where tropical storm-force winds were already pummeling the coast, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said.

It said Irene had weakened slightly and would lose strength once it hit land on Saturday, but would remain a hurricane as it passed over or near the mid-Atlantic Saturday night before churning north towards Canada, AFP reported.

Irene's approach stirred painful memories of Hurricane Katrina, which smashed into the Gulf Coast in 2005, stranding thousands of people in New Orleans and overwhelming poorly-prepared local and federal authorities.