Hurricane Irene continues on its path of destruction towards the U.S., setting its aim on North Carolina and the Northeast this weekend.
Hurricane Irene is strengthening, and taking aim at New York, America's largest city. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is urging city residents to focus on potential damage Irene could cause, in a rare hurricane strength strike.
The last hurricane to pass directly over the new York, in 1821, caused tides to rise 13 feet in one hour, flooding all of Lower Manhattan up to Canal Street. According to official estimates, a storm similar to the great Long Island Express of 1938 would cause $40 billion in damage if it hit Long Island now.
Hurricane Irene is taking shape as a historic storm, strengthening and taking aim at the Northeast. Forecasters are calling Irene an extreme threat with the potential to be a serious multi-hazard threat for the major metropolitan areas of the Northeast along the I-95 corridor including New York City.
Tropical cyclones that have caused at least 25 deaths on the U.S. mainland during the given period have been categorized as the most deadly by NOAA and NHC.
Hurricane Irene thrashed the Bahamas Wednesday, knocking down trees, tearing up roofs and posing the most severe threat to the smallest and least populated islands, and is now moving toward the North Carolina coast with sustained winds of 115 mph.
New York is getting ready for Hurricane Irene, which is thrashing the Bahamas, moving toward the North Carolina coast, and expected to strike the densely populated U.S. Northeast Saturday and Sunday.
Hurricane Irene, now lingering in the Bahamas and expected to hit the East Coast, is strengthening with time and could become a Category 4 by Thursday, say forecasters.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center has issued an advisory that Hurricane Irene could grow to Category 4 from its current Category 3 stage as it moves across the Bahamas.
After inflicting what officials call a serious beating on the southeastern Bahamas, Hurricane Irene is now charting its path into the central parts of the islands and inching closer to the East Coast of the United States.
North Carolina's Dare County on Wednesday told all visitors to evacuate Carolina as of 8 a.m. on Thursday to get out of the way of Hurricane Irene.
New York City officials have begun preparations to evacuate residents from low-lying areas of New York City, if necessary, as the rapidly strengthening Hurricane Irene could reach the New York area by midday Saturday.
Category 3 Hurricane Irene is now entering Central Bahamas after giving a serious beating to some southeastern islands in the Bahamas. The powerful storm still inches closer to the East Coast of the United States and has the potential to upgrade to a Category 4 hurricane by Thursday.
The latest predictions show Hurricane Irene cutting a path up the East Coast of the United States from the Carolinas up through New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Maine.
Hurricane Irene battered parts of the Bahamas on Wednesday, leaving some southeastern islands without electricity, debris-blocked roads, and damaged homes. The Category 3 hurricane is now taking aim at the New York area and the rest of the East Coast of the United States. Irene could become a Category 4 storm by Thursday as it approaches the U.S.
While Hurricane Irene continues to make its way through The Bahamas with heavy winds and rain, residents in the capital Nassau are stocking up on the goods they need to in order to ride out the Category 3 storm. Irene is still threatening the east coast of the United States.
Hurricane Irene is heading right for Northeast. It remains unclear when and where the storm will break.
Even if Irene reaches New York as a weakened Category 1 or Category 2 hurricane, it could still wreak havoc because the city is simply not prepared to handle such storms the way Florida or the Gulf Coast are. In a worst-case scenario, here are the top five threats New York City would face from a major hurricane.
Tourists are beginning to evacuate Ocracoke Island, just off the coast of North Carolina, ahead of Hurricane Irene, which is expected to maintain intensity as it tracks northward toward the state.
Hurricane and tropical storm watches were issued for the Carolinas early Thursday as Hurricane Irene moved over the northwestern Bahamas, the National Hurricane Center said.
“We’re very concerned about what’s going to happen in New England,” said Bill Read, director of the NHC.
Hurricane Irene's projected path is expected impact almost the entire East Coast.