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wolf blitzer is off tonight. i'm joe johns. you're in "the situation room." >> i cannot stress this highly enough. if you are in the projected president of this hurricane, you have to take precautions now. don't wait, don't delay. we all hope for the best, but we have to be prepared for the worst. we' how is it going in new york right now, mary? >> you just heard the president speak about this hurricane. new york had asked the president to declare emergency assistance. and the president did have an emergency declaration for new york, meaning the city and state will get federal help. but this is an unprecedented move in new york today, joe. the mayor michael bloomberg has ordered iffer the first time mandatory evac yags in low-lying areas of new york. and this encome passes areas that affect between 200 and 300,000 people. this out of caution and concern about high water and heavy winds. earlier throughout the day, there have been some evacuations taking place in hospitals and nursing homes where things were turned up a notch earlier this afternoon when those mandatory evacuations went in effect for new yorkers. also another unprecedented move. new york is shutting down its transit system tomorrow, beginning at noon, meaning that all subways, buses and commuter lines going into and out of the city will be shut down. millions by the way every day using the rail and bus systems here. if winds were above 39 miles an hour, and there is a big concern about flooding in the subways. so those two steps being announced hours ago here in new york. >> let's talk about the high rises in new york city. there are going to be strong winds blowing throughout the city. what are they doing? what are they saying? >> hurricanes are so rare. we don't know the exact path, the impact on new york. but high rises are a big concern with windows and the threat of them being broken. what city officials is telling people, the risk is higher for people living in the 10th floor or above. they're advising people to get away from windows and be in areas that are not near windows. they're also asking people to leave the city, not travel. and if they can ride out the storm with relatives, you know, that would be the best case scenario. but they'recying what the president had said. assuming the best but preparing for the worst. >> thanks so much, mare are you snow. we'll be getting back to you. obviously it could be a long couple of days in new york city. the storm's land fall could be just hours away. and chad myers in our hurricane headquarters in atlanta, i guess we want to turn to you now and get some sense of where that storm is. apparently near savannah, georgia, but way off the coast thus far. >> the conditions will be so bad by 4:00 a.m., you will not be able to drive anywhere. right now, the outer bands are already on to north carolina with tropical storm force winds. so from there to the eye, a couple hundred miles and then it continues to go up to the north from there. here's what i built for us. for forecast wind speeds, tropical storm in the green, hurricane in the yellow. hurricane force winds around the center of the eye. and atlantic beach by 7:00 tomorrow morning. that is 7:00 a.m. saturday. you need to be obviously out of there before that if you're going to do that. virginia beach, 7:00 p.m. or so tomorrow night, with the closest approach to the eye right there. that will push water from hampton roads into chesapeake. a little bit of a surge possible and flooding into virginia beach. if you're flooded with a small tropical storm, it's now forecast to be a very minimal hurricane. a very strong tropical storm as it moves into new york city. that comes in on sunday, sunday morning. 10:00 a.m., right over long island. and then one more stop for you. the closest approach to boston will be 3:00 p.m. we do know -- almost 46 million people, joe, will experience 50-mile-an-hour wind or greater with this storm. >> we really haven't seen that much change of a track in the last 12 hours. >> the track has stayed the same. the intensity of the storm has come down a lit bit. the storm has a little bit of air, dry air. you don't see the big purples anymore. the purples are gone. we still have some yellows and oranges. the purple really indicates a strengthening hurricane. the oranges and ideal lows indicate a weakening hurricane. the storm is over the gulf stream. it may not be done yet so do not let your guard down. john todd apparently driving in a car down the east coast. brian, can you hear me? >> caller: yes, i can, joe. >> where are you? what are you seeing? >> we, with we're driving just south of rocky mount, north carolina, on interstate 95. we're heading towards wilming n wilmington, south carolina. we're hitting one of the initial bands of rain, we believe, from the hurricane. we looked this up on a satellite map and it appears we're getting one of the initial bands of rain from the hurricane. officials here in north carolina, very concerned about the entire southeastern half of the state. they're worried this is going to affect about 3.5 million people from this interstate where we are and all points east. >> and where do you plan to end up? or are you just going to keep going, brian? >> we're going to get as close as we can. our plan right now is to head to the wilmington area and transit from there as soon as we can. we'll get as close as we possibly can. we'll hook up with national guard units sunday morning as they try to rescue people. we're going to get as close as we can. >> i want you to know you're in for flash flooding down there and you need to make sure you and your crew remain safe. the eastern part of north carolina, this is where ufr right there, that orange dot. the eastern part of north carolina will be flash flooded almost everywhere, so the crew, everyone else that's with you and the people around you need to stay safe. the people of north carolina are in for some big time flash flooding with almost ten inches of rainfall expected in the next 12 hours. brian? >> are you on an evacuation route? >> that i'm not sure of. this is the major interstate going through north and south carolina. if it's an evacuation route, it's certainly not jam packed, i can tell you that. we're headed south. but looking over to the northbound lane, it's about the same. so i'm not positive if this is an evacuation route, but it's hard to believe it wouldn't be one of them because this is the major thoroughfare going through north and south carolina. >> check back with us and tell us what you see and hear. >> at every level of government, officials have been issuing urgent warnings about the tremendous dangers this storm poses. millions are at risk. joining me now, homeland security secretary janet th napolita napolitano. thanks for come into "the situation room." when you look at this monster storm going up the east coast of the united states, what's your biggest concern at this time? >> it's a big storm it's going to cover a large geographic area. one concern i have is that once the storm immediately passes, don't forget about the after-effects. there can be flooding, there can be surge. we think a lot of power outages associated with that. so it's going to be a whole series of events and what we've been preparing for is that cascading series. >> power out rajs is a concern for national security. >> we've been working with the installations up and down the atlantic seaboard. we've been repositioning things so they can come in immediately after the storm passes to provide aid and the assistance to the people who live along the storm's path. so there's been an awful lot of work done in preparation over the last few days. and one of the things with we're reminding people of today is that they are part of our time. not only for those who live right on the coast, but also those who live inland. because as i said earlier, flood ing and surge flooding is highly likely. >> are we going to be able to make telephone calls? and what would you tell people to do in the alternative if cell service is not working very well once the storm hits? >> what was interesting there, the first resonders in the earthquake were able to communicate with each other. the cell service failure was an after-effect of everybody trying to use their cell phone simultaneously. so we urge people to use other means of communication if they can. we think that there are a lot of ways that we need to think ahead and prepare for and n case you can't use your cell phone to call a family member, how you get in touch in case you are separated. >> let's talk about over forms of communication. social media, e-mails and sort of. are there any guidelines you can give people? >> yes, and we are encouraging it. the guideline i give is common sense. think ahead. have a plan for yourself and for your family. if you have to evacuate, other members will know you're safe and where you've relocated to. >> budget cuts other the past weeks, month, even the past couple of years, how are people supposed to deal with a huge potential energy like this another a time when they're cutting back on emergency service and perhaps even in the area of first responders? >> this is where people really see their government at work and why we want to sustain improvements made over the past years. i can say this from a federal government perspective, and that is the availability of funds under the disaster recovery act, or the disaster recovery fun will nomt be a limitation on our ability to respond. i've been in touch wf mayors and governors over the past few days and none of nem have mentioned that as a limiting factor. everything is being put in in a coordinated way. >> we're hearing from people refusing to heed evacuation orders. what's your message to them this evening? >> i would ask them to reconsider. those warnings, those requests to evacuate are not given lightly. we know they cause hardship to people. when the able-bodied evacuate, that enables us to focus on those who need special assistance. evacuating the elderly, nursing homes. evacuating the sick, hospitals. evacuating communities that need special help. so one of the reasons that we ask people to evacuate is we can to focus on those communities and so we don't put our own first responders at risk to save people. we want to keep loss of life to zero if we can. absolutely to a minimum. that's the reason these orders are given. >> earlier today, president obama had a conference call with a number of governors, mayors and leaders. were you on that call? what was the president's message to these people who are sdeeling with the crisis! >> i was on that call. i've been on several other calls with the president and his message was that the federal government was standing behind our first responders and local communities 1110%. we know that cities, towns and states are the first -- they're on the frontlines. they're the first to respond. the federal government, however, is here to provide support and backup. >> just by koins lens, i think, cnn did a cnn/orc poll which was released today which gave us a little bit of an indication as to how people feel they're prepared for a big emergency on the east coast. i want to put up the results of this poll. things like having a stockpile of food and water. northeast 36%, yes. midwest, 39%. south, 55%. west 46%. it's fascinating almost how people in the northeast seem to be less prepared than other parts of the country. >> i don't know why that is, but perhaps it's because the northeast hasn't been hit by a hurricane for many, many years. given that people forget how big a storm these are and how big an impact they can have, we've seen in the spring and tornadoes throughout the midwest and the south it's been a very bad weather year. we've been able to manage those disasters and work with commune phillips i think at one point we had 28 states that had major disaster declarations in effect. but the northeast was largely exempt for that. so now it may be the northeast's turn unfortunately. we sd ask from the mid-atlantic up, north carolina north for people to take that extra step, be prepared, think through what you need to do for yourself and your family. >> thanks so much for coming into "the situation room." please get back to us if you have any updates as this hurricane rides up the east coast. >> we'll talk to a recruit who sent us this photo of top seal beach in north carolina. ♪ [ male announcer ] they'll see you...before you see them. cops are cracking down on drinking and riding. drive sober, or get pulled over. following the story of hurricane irene, joining us now, an ireporter who sent us this video this afternoon from toll sail beach, north carolina. what's the scene from where you are right now? >> right now it's pretty crazy. it was calm, the calm before the storm. you had the outer ring of the hurricane. now it's completely raining and the surge is way up. >> of you're in the marines and you're there for raining. why are you not being evacuated? >> i don't think there's that big of a threat to be honest. >> so you're not afraid? >> caller: not at all. >> and you're planning on staying? >> i'm riding it out right here. wouldn't it be easier to just move away? or are you just doing this because, you know, it feels sort of macho? >> well, maybe a little bit of both. you have to set the standards for the marines, you know. but i've been in a hurricane down in the keys and i kind of have an idea what to expect. i'm worried about the construction of the place i'm staying at. but other than that, what are you going to do? >> got it. what are you training for? and do you know if the ore military personnel around camp lejeune are being moved out. >> it's not a mandatory evacuation, but i know they got friday early to pretty much get out if you wanted to. if not, stay, they weren't going to force you to leave. i've got training to i've got to be back here monday morning at 7:00 a.m. >> kinds of preparations have you made? >> basically some mres, water, adult beverages and wait it out and hope for the best. >> i've got to ask you, when we talk to people in situations like this who are deciding to ride out the storm, the thing that comes to our mind is that if things get really dicey at the end of the day, it's the authorities who are going to have to come in and pull you out of there. so i guess, do you concern yourself with the idea that you may be creating a risk for rescue personnel? >> i understand exactly what you're saying. and if you took no preparations, if your home is on the ground level where it's a low-lying area and a storm surge coming in, you're pretty much risking a lot of stuff. that water is just going to run through there. i'm pret secure where i am. no, because once you commit, we're on an island, once that storm rolls in, there's no help. you're pretty much -- you're committed. >> that's for sure. i've been out there at camp lejeune. there's not a lot you can do when the bad weather comes in. thanks so much. really good talking to you. be safe and we hope you make the right decision there. now we're going to go to cnn's david mattingly in kill devil hills, north carolina. david, can you hear me? what are you seeing there? >> well, john, for the first time today, it seems like there is a storm coming. we've had some rough surf today anticipate some clouds, but now the surf is just absolutely pounding through here right now. and look at those black ominous clouds rolling and going all the way to the horizon. make no mistake about it. irene is on its way. and when it gets here what they're most concerned about out here with this force of nature bearing down on them is what es. >> going to happen to these dunes. that surf, when you have the storm surge is going to punch its way through the dunes, up and down the outer banks. they don't know exactly where, but it happens every time a hurricane comes through. when it punches through, it's going to flood the roads and property behind it. they're also going to have problems, not just with the water coming from the atlantic ocean, but from the water on the other side of the islands coming from the sound and the bays. when this storm gets further north it's going to pull that water on to land as well. some people call it a reverse storm surge reason. i've seen it happen in the past. it can flood a lot of streets. make them impassable. and in some ways be just as dangerous as what you see coming from the ocean. just a few minutes ago, we got notice that this area surnd mandatory evacuation. that doesn't mean they're going to come to your house and make sure you're gone. what that means is if you stay behind and get in trouble, no one is going to be able to come to help you. they're trying to drive that home. today a lot of residents were packing up, leaving as well. closing up their homes on the beach and moving to higher ground. we saw heavy equipment trying to replace sand between some of the gaps in the dunes. repairing as best they can for this big storm that's clearly headed this way. joe? >> so david, how far up and down the coast from you does this evacuation order apply? i mean, you can go all the way up to duck, north carolina, you can go down farther. how many people and how large an area is affected by the evacuation order, if you know? >> if you're on outer banks, you're under a mandatory evacuation order. 250,000 people to move insland no small feat, but authorities believe people are listening and for the most part they are getting out well ahead of the storm. so they i've ben giving traffic advice. they're telling people to go west, not north. the storm is headed north and they'll run into people in virginia and beyond who are also trying to evacuate. >> i imagine a whole lot of late august va yagss ruined for many, many americans on the east coast because of this huge storm. thanks so much, david mattingly in kill devil hills. >> it hasn't made land fall yet, but hurricane irene is already paralyzing some of the nation's biggest cities. could the storm also cause some of the largest power outages this country has ever seen. naturals from delicious, real ingredients with no artificial flavors or preservatives. naturals from purina cat chow. share a better life. if something is simply the color of gold, is it really worth more? we don't think so. chase sapphire preferred is a card of a different color. unlike others, you get twice the points on travel, and twice the points on dining, and no foreign transaction fees. call now or apply at chasesapphire.com/preferred. >> president obama says all indications point to have hurricane irene being historic. >> this has been the largest hurricane i have ever seen. temperaturically when you get a very strong storm, and we're talking andrew and hugo and even katrina, those winds were confined to about 100 miles from center. this storm expands 250 miles to tropical storm force winds. also the amount of rain will also be a very, very big deal. here's charleston, now under a flash flood warning all the way up to about wild dunes as well. i'm going to put this in just minute by minute. atlantic beach, the yellow here, 7:00 a.m. that's the land fall of the hurricane force winds. this is 7:00 a.m., but the winds are already in hampton roads, virginia beach. for 12 hours they will get tropical storm force winds before the hurricane force winds go. now 7:00 p.m. saturday, tomorrow night. 2:00 a.m., ocean city really gets slammed with those on shore winds because the eye of the storm offshore. even at 10:00 a.m., there were tropical storm force winds starting in boston where the heaviest winds don't begin for another six to eight hours. so the size of this green mass is when you're 40 miles, 39-mile-an-hour or many. and it continues to the northeast and the size is bigger than -- the size f