Top developments:
? Falling trees, rough surf blamed for deaths
? Power failures leave 2 million in dark
? More than 9,000 flights canceled through Monday
At least 10 people were dead and more than 2 million homes and businesses were in the dark early Sunday as Hurricane Irene took aim at New York City after pummeling the Eastern Seaboard to the south.
Forecasters and authorities warned that the storm's run north to New England from its landfall in North Carolina could be catastrophic. The National Hurricane Center said Delaware Bay, the Jersey shore, New York Harbor and Long Island Sound faced strong storm surges.
-
Get updates
-
Get the latest updates on this story and others from @breakingnews.
-
Text NEWS to 67622 to receive mobile alerts
In Norfolk, Va., officials reported a storm surge Saturday evening of just over 8 feet at the downtown flood gate, about the same size as a surge from Hurricane Isabel eight years ago.
Hampton Roads saw 9 inches of rain, but 16 inches reportedly fell to the west on Route 460, Gov. Bob McDonnell said.
"Flooding is going to be significant," McDonnell warned.
At 2 a.m. EDT Sunday, Irene's eye was about 15 miles southwest of Ocean City, Md. with sustained winds of 80 mph. With the worst danger past, hurricane warnings were canceled south of Cape Lookout, N.C. Hurricane warnings were in effect from Cape Lookout north to Sagamore Beach, Mass.
Irene was moving north-northeast at 17 mph, up from 13 mph a day earlier, and skirting the Delaware-Maryland-Virginia peninsula. Hurricane-force winds were in a relatively small area east of the center, the National Hurricane Center said. Winds of tropical-storm power extended up to 240 miles from the eye. Earlier, the hurricane-force winds covered about 190 miles.
The leading edge of the storm reached New York City late Saturday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.
Tropical-storm force winds whipped the tri-state area early Sunday morning. Rain fog and mist accompanied by 56 mph wind was reported at John F. Kennedy International at 2 a.m.
Tropical-storm force winds were expected to reach Long Island and southern New England by sunrise Sunday, with hurricane force winds hitting about noon, the National Hurricane Center said. Winds on the upper floors of high-rise buildings will be significantly stronger than those near ground level, it said.
A storm surge raising water levels 4 to 8 feet was expected as far north as Cape Cod.
-
Live Irene video
-
NBC Washington
-
NBC New York
-
NBC Philadelphia
-
NBC Connecticut
Rainfall of up to 16 inches was reported earlier in a large portion of eastern North Carolina and southeastern Virginia.
Curfews were in effect until Sunday morning in at least seven communities in Virginia and North Carolina, where Irene first made landfall early Saturday.
Early Sunday, about 450,000 homes and buildings were without electricity in Maryland; 90,000 in Delaware; 273,000 in New Jersey; 864,000 in Virginia; 300,000 in North Carolina; nearly 17,000 in Long Island, N.Y.; and 140,000 in eastern Pennsylvania.
Storm wields death
Storm-toppled trees, roiled surf and other effects left left at least 10 people dead by Saturday night as Irene passed.
In Virginia, falling trees were blamed for the deaths of a man in his 60s at his Chesterfield County house, a car passenger in Brunswick County, and a boy in a Newport News apartment.
A falling tree in Maryland killed one person in a Queen Anne's County house.
In North Carolina, girl died in a wreck after the car she was in crashed at an intersection where Irene had knocked out power to the traffic lights. One person died in a vehicle crash in Pitt County; a man died after a branch fell on him in Nash County; and a man died of a heart attack in Onslow County as he was boarding up his home.
In Florida, a surfer was killed in 10-foot waves at New Smyrna Beach while in New Jersey, a man drowned in 4-foot surf in Flagler County.
Irene-spawned tornadoes struck the Maryland, Delaware, Virginia peninsula known as DelMarVa.
A tornado that ripped through the Sandbridge area of Virginia Beach destroyed five homes and damaged several others. A tornado touched down near Lewes, Del., and damaged 15 buildings, the National Weather Service said. Maryland Police also said they spotted a tornado in a wooded area of the lower eastern shore.
Irene's impact varied by state.
Virginia and Washington, D.C.:
Wind and rain pummeled the Virginia coast, and flooding was expected. Rain in the capital was falling about a half-inch per hour around midnight Saturday night, with the worst yet to hit.
The Chesapeake Bay Bridge was closed at 7:35 p.m. Saturday after sustained winds reached more than 62 mph and wind gusts reached up to 80 mph. The bridge-tunnel connects Virginia's Eastern Shore with the Virginia mainland at Virginia Beach near Norfolk.
Also closed Saturday were the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, the Norfolk midtown tunnel and the James River Bridge.
The Norfolk Naval Air Station was enduring rain with wind of 59 mph at 7 p.m. EDT, according to the National Weather Service. By 11 p.m., winds were to 54 mph.
Norfolk officials helped rescue a couple who had attempted to outrun the storm to Annapolis, Md., in a sailboat when they began getting battered by 6- to 8-foot seas and winds gusting to 45 mph earlier Saturday. Unable to launch rescue craft, two rescue crew members swam to the sailboat, pulled the sailors off and hauled them back to shore in the Willoughby section of Norfolk near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay. The couple, who did not want to be identified, were treated by medical personnel and taken to a shelter. Their cat also survived the ordeal.
Falling trees hit houses and blocked streets in Fairfax County, Va., where street flooding was also reported.
Heavy wind and rain were pounded the nation's capital Saturday night, NBC Washington reported. About 20,000 people were without power in the Washington area, only a few of them in the city itself, where sandbags were no longer available.
The heavy rain blanketing the region was overflowing many creeks and streams, closing many area roads, including Sligo Creek Parkway, Beach Drive, Little Falls Parkway, NBC Washington reported. Residents at Four Mile Run and Cameron Run were warned to watch for high water.
A roof of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Georgetown University partially collapsed.
North Carolina:
Irene made landfall about 7:30 a.m. EDT at Nags Head, N.C. Winds howled through the power lines and felled trees, rain fell in sheets and some streets were flooded at daybreak on the North Carolina coast.
Irene was still causing damage late Saturday in North Carolina. Dare County officials said Manteo was flooded with waist-high water as the tide came in. Army vehicles were evacuating people to higher ground. Bad flooding also was reported in Roanoke Island and Kitty Hawk.
A coastal town official in North Carolina said witnesses believed a tornado spawned by Irene lifted the roof off the warehouse of a car dealership Friday night in Belhaven and damaged a mobile home, an outbuilding and trees. Six homes were reportedly damaged by the apparent tornado.
NBC News reported early Saturday that the end of the Atlantic Beach Pier collapsed into the water, and NBC station WITN-TV of Washington reported that pier at the Sheraton in Carteret County was collapsing. The hurricane also tore up docs and tossed several boats at McCotter's Marina in Beaufort County.
High winds also blew off part of the roof of Berkeley Mall in Goldsboro, N.C., on Friday night. No one was injured, emergency management officials said.
Maryland:
Gov. Martin O'Malley said he was hopeful that forecasts are correct in calling for a Chesapeake Bay tidal surge of no greater than 3 feet.
More than? 5,000 residents were in 20 shelters set up by the state, O'Malley said.
Winds from Hurricane Irene were expected to create a reverse tide, pulling water out of places like Annapolis and Baltimore, which had a larger than expected surge during Tropical Storm Isabel.
St. Mary's County issued a potential St. Mary's Lake Dam failure notification after more than 7 inches of rain fell, NBC Washington reported. People downstream of the dam were in danger of flooding.
Falling trees pulled down power lines and fell into homes.
Earlier, NBC's Tom Costello reported from Ocean City that waves driven by sustained 30-mph winds were peaking Saturday afternoon at 19 feet.
Eddie Hopkins, a spokesman for the Maryland Emergency Management Agency, agreed that "our concern is for the flooding that we could see out of this," telling MSNBC-TV that "with the saturated ground, we're also very much concerned about the uprooting of trees and power lines."
National Weather Service warned of flooding in parts of southern and central Maryland and the Eastern Shore, with up to 8 inches of rain on lower Eastern Shore.
The Maryland Transit Administration suspended service Saturday evening.
Delaware:
Areas around the Delaware River in and around Wilmington were being evacuated because of expected floods, George Giles, director of the Wilmington Department of Emergency Management, told MSNBC-TV.
The Indian River Inlet Bridge was closed Saturday afternoon to all but emergency traffic and the governor banend non-essential travel in the state.
Kent General Hospital in Dover was flooded and crews were pumping water to save its electrical system.
?
PhotoBlog: Eye of the storm
New Jersey:
Roads in coastal areas grew impassable Saturday night and New Jersey State Police urged people to stay off them. Middlesex County and a number of cities and towns, including Jersey City, declared states of emergency and banned all traffic except for emergency vehicles.
More than 1 million people were told to evacuate Cape May County, coastal Atlantic County and Long Beach Island, N.J. Gov. Chris Christie said.
At a news briefing Christie said that he remained concerned because some residents of Atlantic City, particularly senior citizens, were refusing to leave, even though "we are most certainly going to suffer property and structural damage."
Wind gusts of over 70 mph were felt at Long Beach Island and over 4 inches of rain had fallen along the coast by late Saturday.
New Jersey Transit trains and buses shut down Saturday, as did Atlantic City casinos for only the third time since gambling was legalized 33 years ago.
Exelon Corp. said it took its Oyster Creek nuclear power plant in New Jersey offline as a precautionary measure at 5 p.m. EDT. The reactor has a 636 megawatt capacity, enough power for 600,000 homes.
The lower level of the George Washington Bridge was shut down just after 8:30 p.m.
Pennsylvania:
"This could be the worst storm event to hit the Philadelphia area in 50 years," Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter warned.
Rain was falling heavily in the Philadelphia area around 1:30 a.m. Sunday.
Philadelphia closed its SEPTA transit service with 8 to 15 inches of rain expected. Philadelphia has already had record rainfall this summer, and meteorologists said it would take only two inches to trigger major floods.
The Schuylkill River by late Saturday had risen to levels not seen in 140 years, NBC Philadelphia reported.
Nutter said he expects the Schuylkill to crest at 15 feet and other creeks, rivers and streams could flood, threatening nearby streets.
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett warned that the state will not necessarily be out of danger once the storm has passed: "The rivers may not crest until Tuesday or Wednesday. This isn't just a 24-hour event."
Readers capture Hurricane Irene's approach
New York, New England prepare
Ahead of Irene's arrival in the densely populated Northeast Corridor, authorities ordered unprecedented evacuations and transit shutdowns.
Mayor Bloomberg, at a 10:30 p.m. EDT Saturday news conference, advised people to stay inside and make preparations for the coming storm.
Story: NYC being hit by heavy rain, storm surge feared
"No matter how tempting it is to say 'I was outside during the storm'...stay inside," he said. "We'd like to get through this with as minimal damage to human beings as possible, and after that property, but it's human lives we are really worried about."
Earlier Saturday Bloomberg warned people in Coney Island, where an evacuation order was in place, "Staying behind is dangerous, staying behind is foolish, and it's against the law.'
Coney Island is one of the areas expected to be hit hardest, along with Staten Island and the New Jersey shore, by what Weather Channel meteorologist Bryan Norcross predicted would be a "horrible storm surge" Sunday morning.
The city's subway system
closed at noon ET
, an unprecedented shutdown due to natural causes. As airlines canceled more than 9,000 flights, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey told NBC News that all five major regional airports would be closed at least through Sunday.
Interactive: Hurricane Tracker (on this page)
Greyhound suspended bus service between Richmond, Va., and Boston. Amtrak canceled trains in the Northeast for Sunday.
Once Irene passes through the New York region, New England remains Sunday.
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said that 500 members of the state National Guard had already been deployed to assist and that 2,000 more would be activated Saturday.
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority said it would suspend all modes of service, including subway, bus and commuter rail, on Sunday.
The U.S. Geological Survey issued a landslide alert for Connecticut, where Gov. Dannel Malloy warned that heavy urban flooding was possible from rain bands expected to drop more than an of rain per hour Sunday.
Video: President Obama briefed on Hurricane Irene
Dominion Generation reduced power at the two reactors at the Millstone Nuclear plant in Waterford, Conn., to help maintain grid stability in New England, spokesperson Kenneth Holt told NBC station WVIT.
In Fairfield, Conn., a mandatory evacuation took effect at noon Saturday, affecting 5,000 to 6,000 people along the shoreline, and a shelter is being opened at a high school. Other coastal municipalities including Guilford and Milford have called for voluntary evacuations.
Effects widespread
All told, about 2.5 million people have been ordered to leave up and down the East Coast.
As hundreds of thousands of fled from Irene's path at the height of summer beach season, supermarkets and hardware stores were inundated with people stocking up on food, water, flashlights, batteries, generators and other supplies.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano called Irene a "large and dangerous'' storm and urged residents to take it seriously. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, meanwhile, ordered 6,500 active-duty troops to prepare for orders to help with relief assistance.
President Barack Obama was briefed Saturday by the Federal Emergency Agency and the Department of Homeland Security. He said the storm could be "extremely dangerous and costly" for a nation that recalls the destruction in 2005 from Hurricane Katrina, which swamped New Orleans, killed as many as 1,800 people and caused $80 billion in damage.
Also contributing to this report: Bob Sullivan of msnbc.com; Greg Forbes and Bryan Norcross of The Weather Channel; Rosanne Arlia, Tom Costello, Courtney Kube, Brian LePore, Luke Russert, Kerry Sanders, Mike Viqueira, Norma Rubio and Anna Tuman of NBC News; and NBC stations WAVY of Newport News, Va., WCAU of Philadelphia, WECT of Wilmington, N.C., WESH of Orlando, Fla., WHDH of Boston, WNCN of Raleigh, N.C.; WRC of Washington, WITN of Washington, N.C., and WVIT of Hartford, Conn.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44297053/ns/weather/
shirley maclaine cspan playlist vonage john wayne gabrielle giffords smc