tonight about 65 million people from north carolina to new england are in the path of hurricane irene. ten governors declared states of emerge system new york city officials ordered the first mandatory evacuations in city history, but along the jersey shore, drivers can testify trying to get out of harm's way is a slow nerve-racking process. the hurricane isn't waiting. right now, the storm, a category 2 with 100 mile-an-hour sustained winds is heading for the north carolina coast. our coverage starts with john in north carolina. we probably don't need to ask you to set the scene for us. what does it feel like there? >> reporter: we are getting the winds as you see right now gusting and picking up a little bit. the rain has been constant. periodically heavy and then it lightens up a little bit. the past couple of hours or so here on atlantic beach, a mandatory evacuation, obviously, this is an island. the atlantic ocean is that way. that's actually south the way this beach faces. irene is coming straight up from the south. it's very likely a very good possibility that we could be the first place that sees the landfall here of the center of circulation of irene. at least very close to the center. to the north of me on the left side is bold sound. as the storm comes by, a good possibility we could see storm surge first from the atlantic. as it goes by, we get storm surge coming in this direction. you can see all the power lines crisscrossing us here as the wind once again begins to pick up. one of the great concerns, these power lines could be going down when that storm hits here with full force. certainly some of the light poles, street lights, the signs and concern is going to be police do not want anyone on the streets after 8:00 tonight. mandatory curfew. people want to get off the island, the bridge to get out which is about two miles down the road that way going to remain open as long as they can keep it open or anybody decides they want to get out. nobody is getting on this island once that curfew takes place in just less than an hour now. we did hear police this afternoon up and down the road telling people, warning them they are not tolerating it. cars will be off the road. people will be off the road. there are police cars that are patrolling up and down periodically. one now going in the other direction as we speak. right now going through another one of these squalls. it's just going to continue to intensify as the night goes on. as everyone said, this is such a broad, huge storm, that these tropical storm force winds are going to be with us for hours and hours building to the hurricane-force winds. then when we get past the front end of the storm on that back end of the storm we'll go through all those tropical storm force winds again. it's very possible tomorrow night at this time we'll still be experiencing conditions very similar to what we are seeing out here this evening. you see the road is pretty empty. not very many cars out here right now. that's the way the authorities want it. >> thanks, john zarrella on atlantic beach, north carolina, just the beginning, the outer edge of this hurricane. now we want to head up the north carolina coast to nags head. so many people have said, have talked about the worst-case scenario. we are hoping for the best but preparing for the worst. what is the worst that could happen where you are? >> reporter: the worst-case scenario has to could with flooding. as you heard john zarrella describing, these islands could get hit from the atlantic side and from the west as this storm comes across it will push waters and a storm surge from the atlantic. what people around here refer to as a reverse storm surge, pushing it from the other side of the island, as well, as it passes by. i've seen that happen before. it could be very dangerous. completely flooding roadways on some of these islands making them completely impassable. the big thing they'll be watching for on the atlantic side where you see this pounding surf right now, when that storm surge comes in, it's going to be coming up and pounding against the dunes that are on these islands. we've seen this happen in every storm somewhere up and down these islands. these dunes are going to fail in different places. they are preparing for that. when that does happen, you're going to have the ocean crashing through the dunes and into the property and into the streets beyond. when that happens, it carries a lot of sand with it. those roads could be blocked for some time after. right now the state of north carolina has deployed highway machinery at different places in safe areas ready to come in as soon as possible. at this point, everyone is sitting back, waiting to see just how bad this is going to be, candy. >> hoping for the best but preparing for the worst. david manningly in kill devil hills in north carolina. within the past couple of hours, hurricane warnings also were issued for new york city, long island, connecticut coast, rhode island plus martha's vineyard and nantucket in massachusetts. president obama and his family are ending their vacation early and returning to the white house tonight. even washington is in harm's way. we want to check in with cnn meteorologist chad myers. it seems to me the danger of this storm -- its strength is mighty but it's the breadth and width that is the most dangerous part. >> that is correct. the size, the north, south, east and west side of tropical storm force winds, something i haven't seen in a big storm like this. typically you get a storm maybe 50 miles around it will be a tropical storm and down in the middle will be hurricane-force winds, maybe 30 miles from the center this. thing goes literally for 200 miles in each direction. there is where david mattingly was. there is john zarrella, 37 right now. brian todd heading down there, 46 miles per hour. all this rain coming onshore. you can see band after band of rainfall. this will cause flash flooding in the next couple of days all the way up the coast. this is, although not a slow mover, it's not as fast as typically these will be in the mid latitudes like we are. a storm like this should be doing 20 miles per hour up the coast. right now it's 13 or 14. that it's size. look at the size, evergreen circle you see here. evergreen pixel is a tropical storm-force wind. that's almost up to nags head right there. cape hatteras down to charleston and well down almost into the bahamas. i'll put this into motion. 7:00 a.m. atlantic beach, where john zarrella is, gets the eye of the hurricane. maybe to his east but close. virginia beach won't get the eye until 7:00 p.m. that is 12 hours of wind over 40 then 50, 60 and it keeps going until ocean city gets it. here's 2:00 a.m. sunday morning. tropical storm force winds already into the sound, long island sound right there, blowing into the harbor, new york harbor. water backing up the hudson river and backing up the east river. 2:00 a.m. the winds are already 39 or 40. that's when everything gets shut down because winds are going to be too big to move things around. trucks can't go over bridges. the eye doesn't get there for another eight hours. so the wind is blowing in that same direction for eight hours and will push that water into where lady liberty is back up those rivers. those rivers will flood. boston, you get it about 3:00 sunday night. one thing i just noticed, we have a hurricane hunter aircraft flying through it. here is jacksonville, here is the coast. here is john zarrella there and cape hatteras. the hurricane hunter aircraft flying through. right there is the eye. they just found a 123 mile per hour wind. if you were thinking this storm is dying, that 123 mile-per-hour wind will change your mind. >> that answers my question, which was have you seen any good news in this. it sounds like whatever good news you may have seen is negated by finding you the inside that storm, 123 mile-an-hour wind. that's mighty. >> it could be getting its act together around a new eyewall. we'll have to see tonight. >> chad myers, thanks so much. nooid a mandatory evacuation order is in effect for dear county, north carolina, where 150,000 tourists have come to visit historic kitty hawk and nags head. nags head mayor lived there since 1984 and plans to ride the storm out. thank you so much, mayor, for taking time for us. since you have been there since 1984, you've seen a lot of storms. nags head is not new to the hurricane business. compare this to others you have seen. >> well, we always prepare for the worst storm we see coming. then hope for the best. we've got an excellent public staff. they have been through this process a lot of times in preparing for a number of storms. we've been very fortunate. isabel is probably the most recent storm that affected us dramatically. that hit south nags head pretty hard. >> i know i have some friends who live down there in nags head who told me as they were leaving, they were listening to weather report and listening to people say it is possible this storm could change the shape of nags head. what does that mean? what do you fear will happen there if the storm lives up to our worst fears? >> the biggest danger for us is the sound flooding. if that track of the storm comes up the sound, it creates a tremendous amount of hydraulic pressure in the sounds. it wants to break out and it goes over the land and to the sea. we are hopeful that's not the case. we are prepared and ready to clean up and pick up. we've done the essential things. we've gotten our visitors off. we've given notice to our residents. a lot of folks haves coulden to leave the island. now we monitor things as they go on and hope for the best. there comes a point in time when we don't send our public safety people out into the storm, to protect them. >> sure. it's i not safe for public safety people. let me ask you if you have any sense how much of the island has been evacuated? you always have a if you people saying i'm going to ride this out. do you think that most people have left other than your public safety folks? >> yes. we had a good response to the evacuation. folks do recognize this storm as having a lot of potential for damage, especially folks near the water. they know how things can go. you want to be very careful. this is a dangerous storm. we had good response. folks do have good common sense here. it's a very resourceful group of people and fairly self-reliant. i think they are prepared. the ones that are here know what's coming for them a little bit. >> tell me what it's like there right now. what kind of support system is there for people who stay behind? is there anything still open? we are seeing taped video of folks boarding up businesses, et cetera. is anything open there? >> most finishing their preparation. once the wind starts to blow, it's too late to be doing your preparations. people picking up loose ends today. a lot of folks down here working in the tourism industry. people were taking care of getting the guests out and nonresident property owners' property taken care of, then take care of their own profits and get themselves out. it's very quiet. there's not a lot of traffic on the road. we don't want folks out and about in the storm. that is a danger for everybody. it's a little bit of rain. the ocean has kicked up over the past two hours or so. i expect it will keep going in that direction. >> out of nags head, north carolina, mayor bob oakes. we can hope we get the best situation we can. thanks for your time. >> thank you, ma'am. we appreciate it and hope to welcome folks back soon. >> plenty of irene including a stormchaser following irene. a live look at cnn's brian todd's camera crew driving outside wrightsville beach, north carolina. ♪ with diabetes, it's tough to keep life balanced. i don't always have time to eat like i should. and the more i focus on everything else, the less time i have to take care of me. that's why i like glucerna shakes. they have slowly digestible carbs to help minimize blood sugar spikes, which can help lower a1c. glucerna products help me keep everything balanced. [ golf clubs clanking ] [ husband ] i'm good! well, almost everything. [ male announcer ] glucerna. delicious shakes and bars. helping people with diabetes find balance. [ male announcer ] they'll see you...before you see them. cops are cracking down on drinking and riding. drive sober, or get pulled over. two of the most important are energy security and economic growth. north america actually has one of the largest oil reserves in the world. a large part of that is oil sands. this resource has the ability to create hundreds of thousands of jobs. at our kearl project in canada, we'll be able to produce these oil sands with the same emissions as many other oils and that's a huge breakthrough. that's good for our country's energy security and our economy. sure, but let me get a little information first. for broccoli, say one. for toys, say two. toys ! the system can't process your response at this time. what ? please call back between 8 and 5 central standard time. he's in control. goodbye. even kids know it's wrong to give someone the run around. at ally bank you never have to deal with an endless automated system. you can talk to a real person 24/7. it's just the right thing to do. you can talk to a real person 24/7. another good thing about geico so like say you need to report a people wclaim, alright./7. a real person will be there to help you. then you can use geico.com to view photos of the damage, track your claim, print an estimate. you want an english muffin? they literally hand you a toasted muffin with butter and jam. (sigh) whaa. tasty. that's, that's a complete dramatization of course, but you get my point. vo: geico 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. >>. >> here is a storm warning to catch the attention of people across the country. in words of virginia governor bob mcdonald, tomorrow is going to be a "horrendous day for travel." sunday will probably not be any better. joining me is virginia governor bob mcdonnell. thank you for taking time out from what i know is a tense period for you. you predicted in storm could be deadlier than hurricane isabel in 2003. what are you hearing that makes you believe that? >> i think it's the swath of the storm and the speed of this storm. we are expecting some areas in southeast virginia and the eastern shore to have four to six hours of hurricane-force winds and up to 20 hours or more of tropical storm-force winds. we've got about a million people in southeast virginia that are going to experience hurricane-force winds, which means widespread power outages and everything that goes with that. we want to prepare people for the very worst. our people are ready. i visited hampton and virginia beach and norfolk. met with the mayors, the emergency operations people. i think we are ready. >> how are the evacuations going? there are people who are going to stay. do you have a message for them? >> i empowered them by executive order yesterday all the localities to issue mandatory evacuations. they have done that throughout southeast virginia along the eastern shore. we estimate about 150,000 to 200,000 people are subject to mandatory evacuations in those low-lying and coastal areas and many others through voluntary evacuations. i think they are heading the warning. i flew down along the major interstate route. it was just full of traffic but moving. bottom line is government is prepared to do some things both ahead of the storm and during the storm and the cleanup after. ultimately, our people have got to be prepared on their own. know there's going to be power outages. help their neighbors. stay off the roads. make sure they are prepared for power outages and water shortages. they've got to do it today. >> i assume you like other governors said be prepared for three days up to no help. have water, food, a flashlight, radio not driven by power. i want to ask you though, there are going to be those that stay there and you've got some voluntary evacuations in places. how about advice from the governor of virginia? >> if your locality is a voluntary evacuation, you know what your house might be capable of sustaining, how high your building site is away from the water. there are shelters all over the eastern part of the state. realize that there will be significant flooding. there will be trees down. there will be widespread power shortages. while we've done much better the last eight years since isabel, there are likely to be water shortages if certain amount of treatment plants get overrun and it takes a while to get them back up. the preparation has to be today. tomorrow when tropical storm force winds begin, we will have several bridges and tunnels in virginia that will be closed. it's going to be a lot harder to get out. make the decision today. move today. otherwise make sure you're absolutely prepared. if i could throw out this website www.vaemergenci.gov, we've got a vast array of information about not only preparation but evacuation routes. we ask virginians to see that. >> we'll post that on our website. we'll remind viewers about that at the end of the program. you had the earthquake in virginia. now irene coming. i wonder if you worry about the effect of all this on the economy of virginia? >> some. we are doing very well overall. unemployment rate is down, finances for the state are pretty good. obviously, this was a huge weekend for virginia beach. we had surfing championships down there and a lot of hoteliers are going to lose a lot of revenue. it is a significant impact for our tourism. rentals are going to be delayed until monday. we had fires in the great swamp. we have a resilient people, a resilient economy. we are worried right now about public safety and not dollars. >> virginia governor bob mcdonnell, thank you so much. good luck to you, sir. in a minute, we'll take to you the national hurricane center for the very latest. hey! you want that? you want a warm, super-delicious strawberry toaster strudel yeah but now i have nothing to eat sure you do. hey! you can have the pop tart! pillsbury toaster strudel. the one kids want to eat while most of us would agree it's a good idea to get away from a hurricane packing 100 mile-an-hour sustained winds and predicted 11-foot storm surge. some people make a living chasing them. with us via skype at nags head is meteorologist mike trimmer. you do do research here. this isn't all about the big thrill. i want to ask you first of all, whether you see anything so far in your travels that says to you this is a different kind of hurricane? this really is going to be wouldn't that people will remember? >> i have chased over a dozen hurricanes including katrina which was the worst natural disaster by far i've ever witnessed. this event right here, i get that same feeling in my stomach when you're chasing it. so many people are going to be affected by the flooding, by the strong winds. you just know there is likely going to be damage even with this slight decreasing trend, there will still be significant storm surge. you feel for the people and the forecasts have been accurate. you hope the people have taken the necessary safety precautions to avoid the areas that are going to be flooded. >> is there anything about this storm that scares you more than some of the others? you do a lot of tornados. does this one scare you more than others? it seems to me the urgency of the warning seems to be at a higher level. >> one thing about tornados, when we chase them, we drive, intercept them we have an armored vehicles. once you intercept you can drive away in sunshine. a storm like this, a hurricane, a tropical cyclone, you're in the elements for possibly several hours. this right here is hitting populated areas. it could take a long ti