Hurricane Irene causes mass evacuation

Hurricane Irene causes mass evacuation

The United States is bracing itself for potential devastation.

More than two million people in The Eastern Seaboard in the United States were told to evacuate in anticipation of a raging hurricane called Irene.

Wind and rain have already hit the outer banks of North Carolina.

The hurricane lost some strength but still packs 100 mph winds and could be devastating.

Evacuation orders covered at least 2.3 million people, including one million in New Jersey, 315,000 in Maryland, 300,000 in North Carolina, 200,000 in Virginia and 100,000 in Delaware.

"This is probably the largest number of people that have been threatened by a single hurricane in the United States," said Jay Baker, a geography professor at Florida State University.

People are stocking up on groceries.

Shoppers stock up on water from rapidly emptying shelves at a grocery store in Far Rockaway in New York, Thursday, Aug. 25, 2011. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

The subways in New York City have been shut down.

It has been shut down several times before, including during a transit workers' strike in 2005 and after the Sept. 11 attacks a decade ago, but never for weather.

However, some people refuse to evacuate.

New York mayor Michael Bloomberg said, "We do not have the manpower to go door-to-door and drag people out of their homes."

"Nobody's going to get fined. Nobody's going to go to jail. But if you don't follow this, people may die."

Hardy holdouts in North Carolina put plywood on windows, gathered last-minute supplies and tied down boats.

A boat on a trailer is covered by debris in the a! ftermath of Hurricane Irene on Cat Island in the Bahamas, Friday Aug. 26, 2011. Irene hit Cat Island Wednesday night. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

More than half the people who live on two remote islands, Hatteras and Ocracoke, had ignored orders to leave, and as time to change their minds ran short, officials ordered dozens of body bags.

"I anticipate we're going to have people floating on the streets, and I don't want to leave them lying there," said Richard Marlin, fire chief for one of the seven villages on Hatteras.

"The Coast Guard will either be pulling people off their roofs like in Katrina or we'll be scraping them out of their yards," he said grimly.

Source: AP
Images: AP
Published Aug 27 2011