STORM

Hurricane Irene claimed its first American casualties Thursday when eight people were injured in South Florida, and as the hurricane continues its path of the East Coast.

Waves of up to 8 feet have been seen on Friday morning from Myrtle Beach, S.C. up to the Outer Banks.

Irene would truly have to be a catastrophic event to fall into the following list of the costliest natural disasters in recorded history.

Ready or not residents of the Northeast, including Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, powerful Hurricane Irene is on a path your way, with extraordinary risk threat and potential of flooding rain, high winds, downed power lines and power outages. Irene is expected to reach the northeast by this weekend. Updated forecast models on Friday show that poses an extraordinary threat and is one that no one has yet experienced from North Carolina to the mid-Atlantic to the Northeast to New England...

Latest reports show Hurricane Irene progressing northward at 14 mph and is expected to make landfall on Saturday with North Carolina and New York in the storm's path. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, declared a state of emergency on Thursday, activating all levels of state government to prepare for any situation that may be caused by Hurricane Irene.

Hurricane Irene continued a path Friday toward creating havoc in the upper U.S. East Coast, striking or heavily impacting cities including Boston, Hartford, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. The storm poses an extraordinary threat and will begin impacting North Carolina coastal areas late Friday before ravaging the U.S. Mid-Atlantic, Northeast and New England regions, likely assaulting major metropolitan areas including New York, Hartford, Washington, Boston and Philadelphia.

Here are the top 10 precautions that you need to keep in mind or have a list of while you prepare for the forthcoming climatic catastrophe.

Hurricane Irene 2011 continues a path Friday toward wreaking havoc in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic, Northeast and New England regions, likely assaulting major metropolitan areas.

Hurricane Irene, the first tropical cyclone of the Atlantic Hurricane Season 2011, is predicted to reach Category 4 with maximum sustained winds of 131-155 miles per hour as it strikes eastern North Carolina on Saturday, while a Category 1 storm with a wind speed of 90 miles per hour is expected to hit New York on Sunday.

Hurricane Irene remained on a path Friday morning to make extraordinary impact in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast United States, weather forecasters warned.

The Category 1 storm with a wind speed of 90 mph coupled with heavy downpour is predicted to hit New York sometime Sunday. New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, said on Thursday that it was very conceivable that he will order a mandatory evacuation of all low-lying areas of the city by Saturday, reported the New York Daily News.

Officials have ordered thousands of Maryland residents and visitors to leave Ocean City.

As Irene moves in on North Carolina, NASA satellite photos shows its diameter is now about one-third the length of the whole U.S. Atlantic coastline.

New York City residents who live in low-lying areas should voluntarily start moving out on Friday, before Hurricane Irene is expected to hit, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said on Thursday.

North Carolina braced on Friday for a direct hit from Hurricane Irene, cities along the east coast were on alert and millions of beach goers cut short vacations to escape the powerful storm.

A state of emergency has been declared in six states toward the U.S. East Coast after Hurricane Irene caused havoc in the Bahamas.

U.S. Atlantic coastal residents from the barrier islands of North Carolina to the capital in Washington and the financial center of New York rushed to prepare on Thursday for an assault by powerful Hurricane Irene.

Hurricane Irene has left the Bahamas and is now churning toward the East Coast of the United States.

As Hurricane Irene headed for the U.S. East Coast Thursday night, authorities prepared for the worst and scientists said tides and ocean temperatures were increasing its destructive power.

New York City is prepared to shut down its entire mass transit system if necessary Saturday as it braces for Hurricane Irene, officials said Thursday.

The monster at this weekend's box office has nothing to do with the movies.