parts of maryland. everybody is getting ready for it. some people think you can t be too cautious and you have to stay inside and all of that. bill: five dead so far. we can confirm that. also the storm seems to be slowing down which is not great news either. team fox coverage, laura ingle is out in long island. doug is out, first doug in ocean city where things are getting worse by the moment. what is happening? reporter: you are right about that over the past live shot we shot earlier, things have gotten progressesively worse. it s got to be up to gusts around 50. when we get steady at 50 miles an hour a duration of ten minutes, we re calling it quits.
reporter: well, the rebels want a peaceful surrender from the pro muammar qaddafi forces but they have not been successful in doing that. there were two tribes, qaddafi s tribe and the flood who rejected surrendering to the rebels. they are having a similar problems east of libya, as well, and if they cannot get them to surrender the rebels will have to go in and take out the resistance. they said they would do it today and they made extra effort to try and negotiate and that hasn t happened. tomorrow, we believe, that offensive will start in his hometown. trace: thank you, in tripoli, in late evening. continuing team fox coverage of hurricane irene is coming up and we will have the latest on the path of the monster storm. from the extreme weather center and live reports from up and down the east coast.
east coast all states are on alert. hurricane watches and warnings are issued up and down the eastern seaboard and flood watches and mandatory evacuations in effect for some places including for the first time, ever, low-lying areas across new york city. officials warn the storm could bring powerful storm surges, severe flooding, and damaging winds to much of the region. several cities including new york, are now planning to shut down their mass transit system tomorrow. power companies warning people to be prepared for power outages that could last up to a week. we have team fox coverage of the hurricane and john roberts is live at the shore in kill devil hills, north carolina, but, first, rick is live in the fox weather center. rick: there is warm water out here and it is such a big storm i don t think we will see significant strengthening before landfall. conditions will be less favorable for strengthening,
ground ahead of hurricane irene. some 2 million people ordered to evacuate coatings regions across a half dozen states. homes, businesses boarded up. local roads, bridges and highways choked at this hour with traffic. but on the outer banks of north carolina the winds are already whipping. the rain is coming down. and when the hurricane lands, we re told irene sustained wind should be in the neighborhood of well above 100 miles per hour with a storm surge as high as 11 feet. we have team fox coverage now. doug mckelway live in ocean city, maryland. and rick leventhal has the story for us in atlantic city, new jersey. first, go to john roberts who is live in kill devil hills, north carolina. john, the scene there? good evening to you, harris. yeah, just as sun is beginning to go down, though we haven t seen the sun for a number of hours, beginning to lose the lit here. the ocean is starting to get a little bit frothy we could says at hurricane starts to make its way up. the winds blow
thank you very much. when the worst of hurricane irene slams into the coast tomorrow storm surge could be 11 feet high prompting this warning from governor purdue. this hurricane is real. it is heading our way. we are ready. we prepare for the worst and we continue to pray for the best. i urge every citizen along the coastal plains to evacuate. it is so much better to be safe than sorry. that is exactly what thousands of people are doing, continue to do at this hour as they clear out of the area and head for higher ground. team fox coverage continues now from the evacuation zone with jonathan serrie live on atlantic beach in north carolina. watching conditions through your reporting today deteriorate hour by hour. yeah. hour by hour. we re seeing more and more rain and you look behind me, the waves are getting higher and higher as they batter this fishing pier that suffered in the last storm.