hurricane irene, now officially made landfall as a category 1 storm on the east coast of the united states. the most up-to-date satellite image we can show you now of re irene, showing wear and tear, described as sloppy, not very well organized but starting to get more disorganized. you can see it there, it was a more organized storm over the past couple of days but as it's making landfall now and making its way up the east coast maybe not so much so. it has been lashing out at the carolina shoreline for the past several hours. that is where, again, it it has officially made landfall. the storm surge there is expected to take a toll on outer banks and coastal communities. concern shared all the way up and down the east coast right now. more so in cities you can imagine that aren't used to dealideal ing with hurricanes, like new york city. been some time since they've had to deal with a direct hit from hurricanes. this storm could be head toward parts of lower manhattan, could be inundated with floodwaters. the president, president obama, sounding pretty serious about this storm and warning folks to take this storm seriously. >> all indications point to this being a historic hurricane. although we can't predict with certainty the il pact of irene, the federal government has spent the better part of last week spending time with officials in communities that could be affected by this storm to see to it we are prepared. >> we do have our reporters out this morning. several in north carolina, like i mentioned, that has been getting battered by this storm. that is where it has officially made landfall. we also have reporters in d.c. and new york where the storm will be heading. let me start in north carolina, kill devil hills, north carolina, where reynolds wolf is now. reynolds, it's official, it's made landfall. what are you noticing there? and we see your picture there reynolds. it seems like it continues to kick up every time we come talk to you. >> reporter: well, t.j., i've got to tell you that i've been lucky enough to cover tropical weather at cnn for about six years now, covered about 17 on the beach. i've been lucky enough to cover them in the pacific ocean, in hawaii, been in the gulf of mexico and now obviously on the atlantic. and each and every one of those storms is a little bit different, but there is one common thread. they each have one key moment in whatever location we happen to be in. that key location, that key moment, right now with irene at kitty hawk, north carolina, is right about now. the strongest wind we've had so far and the rain has just been blinding at times, coming through not only is it just rain coming through but also a lot of sand being picked up right behind us and being thrashed right toward the lens cap of the camera high upon the balcony. irene right now is gearing up. as you mentioned, it's already made landfall but the top half of this storm is going to give a right hook to kitty ahawk, north carolina. it will be within the next 20 minutes or so when the power outages start coming up. in the next 35, 40, 50 minutes, the heaviest rainfall will strike this part of the island and start moving into other pars of the carolinas, then advance to virg virnl and northward. when with it happens, watch out for that flash flooding. i'm telling you if you're driving out there, out and about, you don't need to be. be safe in your homes if at all possible. if you happen to be tuning in on the outer banks, stay in your shelter. don't get out whatsoever. thankfully we're in a fairly safe location. but other parts of the island there could be some destruction, roofing tiles could get knocked off. when those things are in the air and moving, those are deadly project isles. when you get hit by one of those, there's no way to get out, no way to get first aid, evacuate until this storm passes. again, power outages, there have been thousands on parts of the island. i would expect those numbers to increase steadily. what we've also had reports of in terms of the water, the water tide is coming in, coming right up to the sand dunes we have behind me. very angry seas. you're going to have the issues of rip currents, riptides all the way from the carolinas clear up to the jersey shore line, perhaps even farther north on long island. guys, that's a quick synopsis of what's happening here. we do expect it to get worse possibly the next several minutes. we're going to sit tight. we'll provide you the latest. >> reynolds, we appreciate that. let's had head down now to john zarrella in atlantic beach. give us your vantage point now. it looks a lot different there, john, from the last couple of times we talked to you. >> reporter: yeah, it sure does. i feel for reynolds. that's what we had a couple of hours ago. totally different now, within the last 20 minutes or so it it got fairly calm here so i know we were fairly close to the center of circulation. and the wind has completely shifted directions now. when we were talking last, the wind was coming out of the north and east, blowing this way. now the wind has shifted around, it's coming from the north and almost from the west, back this way, which means the storm has kind of gone by us and we're on the left side of the circulation of the storm. now, what you can see here, obviously down ft. macon road, the main drive on atlantic beach. in the distance a little to the left is a big bridge, the one bridge that leads over to the island. as the viewers can see, we appear to have gotten at least that first brush right in this general area, very, very fort flat here that things weren't a lot worse during the height of this, during the course of the overnight hours into the early morning. now, we shot some video, our photographer mike miller was down at the water, which is just to my left, that's south just on the other side of the hotel we're at here. and you can see the waves still crashing right up against the sand dunes and as far up as they go, covering about 50 yards of beach. and a portion of the pier that leads out off the back of the hotel, the end of that pier, is already gone. now, with the subsiding of the storm here, they'll probably be able to save the rest of the pier, but that part is gone. a section of the facade on the side of the building, just a little bit of the hotel facade, can't see it from here, but that ripped off during the overnight hours as well we heard it and i said to my photographer are, i said, what was that that i heard it was right around the corner that the section of the facade had ripped off. 26,000, 27,000 people in north carolina without power right now, but as you can see and as the viewers can see, very, very fortunate here in atlantic beach, morehead city, because this thing could certainly, the understatement is, have been one heck of a lot worse. t.j.? >> john zarrella, thank you this morning. let me turn it over to jacqui jeras, our meteorologist keeping an eye on this storm. it's amazing, both of those guys we just saw there are in same state not too terribly far from each other, but two totally different scenes as the hurricane makes landfall. >> yes. reynolds has a long way to go, he'll continue to get lashed for, say, the next five hours or so. yeah, we did see landfall. it was right here on cape lookout about 7:30ish. but it's kind of taken more of a northeasterly turn so it almost looks like we're seeing almost a second landfall potentially taking place over in this area here. continues to be a strong storm. you say to yourself, hurricane weaken a lot after they make landfall, don't they? this is the outer banks, not a lot of elevation here, it's very flat, marshy, a lot of water in the area so very little weakening is expected. just minor. let's show you the official update here as of the top of the hour. hurricane center putting it out, 85 miles per hour, the intensity of landfall. that's the intensity right now. it's moving north-northeast at 13 miles per hour so it will continue to move in that direction throughout the outer banks, throughout the day for today. the threat of tornado ares, this is something we've been dealing with the last number of hours, we've got a tornado watch in effect for parts of north carolina into virginia, up toward the delmarva here. that's until 11:00 local time. there is a lot of friction, a lot of vorticity with these storms so as they move onshore we get those spin-up and they can cause a lot of damage. let's talk about the forecast track here and timing for this thing. it's going to be moving through the mid-atlantic through the day today with the peak of it coming at a place for you tonight and then the northeast tomorrow with your peak, say, sometime late morning to midday-ish. by monday morning it's out of here. it it's going to be off, the center anyway, the u.s. that's the little bit of good news. eventually we're going to get through you'll of this. but a really big storm. those winds well inland. we're getting reports now of wilmington, north carolina, about 60,000 people without power. those numbers just keep going up up. a lot of damage in north carolina, a lot of damage reported in virginia as well. >> jacqui jeras, we appreciate you. we'll be checking in with you plenty throughout this morning. we need to head to new york now because that is where the storm is it headed. poppy harlow is standing by in manhattan, one of a number of folks that were told you need to leave your homes. >> reporter: that's exactly rye. i packed up at 4:00 a.m. i want to point you to tourists from europe, t.j. they are comining to this evacuation center. they were supposed to fly out tonight. no way that's going to p happen. i had to pack up as do 370,000 new yorkers right now all under mandatory evacuation. this is a shelter, one of 91 emergency facilities, in manhattan. inside i see about 500 cots, they have blankets from the city of new york, pamphlets telling what to do to prepare. i want to show you video show the food and supplies coming in, water, food to feed at least 500 people, that's how many beds they have. this they tell me they have capacity for about 3500 people, obviously not enough beds for all of those people. mayor mike bloomberg warning the city saying this is an unprecedented event. you have to take caution. there's concern in new york not enough people are taking this seriously and they're not evacuating as needed. take a listen to the mayor. >> we hope new yorkers living in these areas find places to stay with relatives or friends who live in safer, higher areas. but, if they can't, we are ready to accommodate anybody that needs shelter. there will be, unfortunately, a serious storm coming in and it it's better to take precautions and get out of the way of the storm. mother nature is much stronger than all of us. >> reporter: that is exactly right. this storm stronger than even the toughest new yorkers, t.j. i want to roll some animation to give you a sense of what could happen. we don't know if this will happen, but this is what the city is preparing for. what you'll see is lower manhattan, parts of brooklyn, staten island, that have been evacuated, what you can see is that the water could rise very high and it it could flood a lot of lower manhattan, especially that is right at sea level. my apartment right there as well, the mayor's office telling me last night what they are preparing for is a possible storm surge of anywhere between 6 to 12 feet. the water coming in from new york harbor over right into battery park, right on to wall street, right into south street sea port and other areas. that is why it's so important that people evacuate. i want to really press the urgency of this, all public transit in new york city, that is, the buses, subways, the long island railroad, all of that is shutting down for the next few days starting at 12:00 eastern today. if people need public transit to get to shelters like this, there are shelters, the city is prepared, but people need to take action and get out of their homes. >> can't imagine new york without the subway and public transit. people depend on it. >> reporter: right. >> things will be different in a few hours. poppy, thank you so much. we'll check back in with all of our folks in north carolina, d.c., new york as well throughout the morning as we p keep an eye on hurricane irene. also, you folks trying to it fly today, you probably know by now you'll have a problem. look at a few of the airlines with the cancellations, 2300 with united and continental, delta, 1300, jetblue 900, airtran several hundred. southwest, american, us airways also canceling flights, amtrak canceling east coast trains with service reduction beginning today, also new york's jfk and laguardia airports, also new jersey's newark international airport all going to be closed to allow arriving passenger international and domestic flights beginning at noon today. folks will not be able to fly into that area. also in new york, something unprecedented. evacuations from the city hospitals? hospitals in the city just have not had to do this before, at least five hospitals and more than 15 nursing homes were given 12 hours to get every patient out. looks like they got their job done. also, picture to show you this morning, lady liberty, can you make it out? you just have to take me word for it it, the statue of liberty closed today, of course a precaution in the wake of hurricane irene. the city wants to assess the storm's impact before trying to open it up to visitors again. they expect it to reopen on monday. we're about 14 minutes past the hour now, and it's a name and a face you noelle. we know the name and face because of hurricane katrina. it's general russell honore. he was really down there controlling the military response. got a lot of credit, a lot of praise for how he handled that situation. now he's here talking to us this morning about how he would handle this one, hurricane irene. stay with us this morning for our continuing coverage of the storm. 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[ dramatic soundtrack plays ] this picture stars you and savings. but mostly savings. out there with a better way. now, that's progressive. 17 minutes past the hour. we of course are monitoring hurricane irene, making landfall about 30 minutes ago. want to update you on another story that's been making news certainly for the past several days, weeks. rebel forces have gained control around more of the capital's airport overnight. moammar gadhafi's forces fled a village nearby, allowing rebels to get in. a widespread shortage could further destabilize the region. also, an american journalist who escaped from an infamous prison, went back for an emotional visit. he was freed during a jail break led by rebel fighters this week. in the meantime, rebels who have been trying to find gadhafi 0 exploring an extensive network of tunnels and bunkers built underneath gadhafi's compound. our sara sidner got a peek into what she called gadhafi's inner sanctum. >> just to get an idea of how big it is. this is a golf court and obviously it can fit all the way down these corridors so i'm sure it was used, because this place is so big, to get back and fo h forth. unbelievable. 18 minutes past the hour. we get back to our coverage of hurricane irene. again, we were just saying minutes ago it just made official landfall. here is a live picture of the coast of north carolina right now, several of our reporters are there. we'll continue to check in with them. but as we watch this picture, we can leave it this up, i want to bring into the conversation general russell honore, he led the u.s. military response to katrina. general, when you see us get ready for storms, hurricanes, do you look at it and say, that's a post-katrina preparation? >> oh, very much so. >> we learned a lot. >> we learned a lot, been applied to governors, national guard working together, working with national guard teams from other states, collaboration between first responders. there's a lot of capacity right on the edge of this storm from red cross all of government is prepared to respond. as i see this picture right here in and the disturbance along the coast, what's p happening 60, 80 miles inland right now, trees are falling, lights are going out on people, and it's at this point in time over the next few hours national guard in north carolina is all set to go. right now they're hunkered down waiting until the weather passes so they can go in and start helping people, opening roads, getting first responders in. my biggest concern is the elderly and disabled people who would be isolated at home and really have not paid a lot of attention to the warnings that have been given because, in many cases, they are comfortable in their home. if somebody tell them to leave, it's like giving them an order they don't want to hear. >> some of this, do you ever see that we have a bit of this cry wolf mentality in that people say, okay, it's after katrina. they want to make sure they get the warning out and maybe it it's not as bad as they say it is? is there some of that in us as well? >> some of that go on, but it's the execution. people with jobs, people with cars, people with credit cards, with money in the bank, they can respond to this. it's the people that -- it's the end of the month. you've got about four days left in this month before your government assistance check, whether you're disabled or elderly, come in. they don't have the options to respond the way people who have cars, have credit cards, have option to move have. we're talking about in the norfolk, virginia, area, and south, people who live in mobile home that's did not evacuate, you know, the government has done the right thing. the mayors have done the right thing with the warning. we still haven't got the execution. the execution is the most popular vulnerable population in the most vulnerable homes. >> let's go to new york. a lot of people concerned about what could happen because you have so many people first of all but they're not ready for hurricane hads. in your opinion, new york prepared for something like this and how bad could it be if this storm surge, this water, rain, whatever it may be comes into that city with that many people? >> you know, watching the media over the last couple of days, i've never seen this explained any better. i've never seen government more pro active as the mayor of new york. that's a big call. that's a tough call he made. there will be a lot of people after him if no