island in new york. >> on long island irene's storm surge flooded downtown long beach. some streets in manhattan also flooding but the water started to recede and new york's evacuation order is being lifted this hour. in its sweep up the coast irene has killed 15 people across six states. more than 4 million people overall without power and these amazing pictures show some of the damage when irene made landfall as a hurricane. for place like new york city, the storm wasn't as bad as many feared but as janet napolitano said earlier today, it's not over yet. >> no matter where you are from north carolina to maine, we encourage you to stay off the roads as much as possible so that we can keep them clear for first responders and for vehicles who are working on power restoration. we also encourage everyone to continue listening to the instruction of their state and local officials and to advice the ready.gov for tips on how to stay safe after the storm. >> we want to show you more of the images because this storm 'ferocious march up the coast left a trail of destruction and put a number of people in harm's way. even with all of the advance planning and warnings, a number of people were cut in very precarious situation. this video shows the rescue crews in the boats, trying to help these people in a home in elmsford get to safety. they had to be rescued by boat when the floodwaters came rushing in. also this, irene's storm surge sent a life guard station tumbling. there it goes, along the waters. this is off the long beach in new york. it's -- we're told a small building but the forgs of the water there, you see it lifting off the foundation, pinning it against the boardwalk. also a boat off the coast of the atlantic islands in new jersey, not faring so well in the storm. irene's floodwaters caused it to sink. of course, we have reporters all along the storm zone to bring you the latest. gary tuckman in newport rhode island and soledad o'brien is in new york city. the evacuation orders for parts of new york was actually lifted minutes ago, hundreds of thousands of people left for higher ground ahead of irene but today the storm pushed the rivers on either side of manhattan over their banks and into the streets but good news now, a lot of water receded but just a little bit of wind they are still experiencing. >> just a little backdrop from soledad o'brien. it looks like a few people have left now. >> they are all on this side. you know, the wind has really picked up. it's funny, when you cutaway from me, the wind blows hard. when you come back it slows down. but the evacuation order lifted and we can expect to see people coming back from the high rises, evacuation zone a they called it chgs a mandatory evacuation, this is landfill and the concern was that if people didn't get out and the storm was as bad as they thought it would be and if lots of water rushed in there would be major problems in the high rises, they got people out here. now people are allowed to come back. also we're being told that the staten island ferry is running and the city is slowly getting back to normal. i've been getting tweets from people. what's the best place to have breakfast. it's an indication of how quickly the city comes back. as the mayor said, we dodged a bullet. things could have been bad here. there was a point and i think we had video that we shot earlier where i was report gs just a bit north of where i am now where the water started to recede. the hudson topped its banks and overflowing 2 feet deep then started to recede. i want to show you a walk and talk we did. you can take a look. a little bit of good news to report. first, not that much rain which has been nice. earlier it was coming down hard. take a look at the flooding over here. just a couple of inches at this point. this was frp higher, much deeper water, just about 90 minutes ago. that is clearly going down. some of that probably due to the fact that high tide was 8:00 this morning, a couple hours later. that's probably helping. let's come on this side. you'll see what i was sloshing through just an hour and a half ago. if you remember, we had inches and inches of water and down here 2 feet of water because this is the had you hudson rive here. this was not only was it overflowing its banks. it had overflowed its banks to a large degree. this was all covered in water and remember i stood up here to get out of the way. look at that. it has drained from the area. that combined with the fact that we're not seeing high winds, we're not seeing heavy rain is boding very well for the people in lower manhattan because flooding has been the big issue all morning. we shot the video more than three hours ago. you can see even that long ago, the water was receding, all of that has cleared out. water came to up to where i am and people are coming out. i would say enjoying the weather because it was sni for a little but but not getting windy. that's why we don't have as many folks behind us. back to you in the studio. >> enjoying the weather, i think that's fair to say if you were treating and where to find breakfast earlier today. >> soledad o'brien, thanks so much. it's important to steer the conversation to rhode island where we have gary tuckman. he rode it out apparently with a number of families, oh, captain, how did they fare in the storm? >> reporter: a bountty of boats, that's a great term. we're standing on a 50-foot fishing boat called the blondy. some boats have suffered damage but not as bad as it could have been. the reason i'm standing here, the reason it's named the blondie because the owner and son are blondies this is dan and fin boynton. they made the decision to sleep on this boat overnight in the middle of what was at that time hurricane irene, became tropical storm irene. first of all you're doing okay, which is great. >> doing great. >> reporter: what was the scariest moment? >> i would say probably about two hours ago with the gusts from the tail end of it. >> reporter: these were some of the strongest winds, it's gotten very windy. >> we lost power around 10:00, we switched over to generator. that -- having that helped. >> reporter: the heavy rains came 3 or 4 or 5:00 or 6:00 in the morning and the water -- bob you can show where the water was standing, up into the ground right there. that must have been scary as the water levels went out. the staff here did a great job. they relieved some chains off this dock in case the water rose too far. and that would have been a big problem here. they were here early in the morning for the 7:30 high tide. and it all worked out. >> i know you're an expert boater. if you did it over, would you stay in the boat again? this could have gotten worse rather than better? >> i really would have. i feel it's riding the storm out like this, gary, is better in the water. >> what do you think, fin? >> would you do it again? i would actually, yes. >> >> reporter: i was in a comfortable hotel. i'll tell you that story later. either way, brook back to you. i can tell you here in newport they are considering themselves very lucky, this is a very vulnerable city. there have been damage to the boats. >> a couple of boats lost the tops. >> reporter: the tops here, this is a bimini tops. this bimini top remains. >> glad they had an interesting ride of the storm last night. >> i suppose so. this story is not over. we need to stress that. irene -- >> still potentially dangerous. >> absolutely, chad myers, tell us why irene is right now? >> the potential now as the storm moves up into connecticut and even the rain up into vermont and new hampshire, the potential is still for the flooding. and so the flooding remains and the heavy rain remains from bangor northward, into vermont and even into pennsylvania. this little tail end of a blue rainfall band right here. not that significant when it comes to rainfall but that's where the heaviest wind will coke back into new york city in two hours. this is where the heaviest wind is. it will move back into the city about 5:30, 6:00 tonight, that's when the winds will blow from the west. if anything is on the ground, that debris will fly around again. may want to be inside for that. there's an awful lot of rainfall still coming in from syracuse into burlington and springfield. significant flooding going on. i'll change the map to our flood warnings and there are just flash flood warnings all the way from maine back into vermont, new hampshire and down into even pennsylvania. i saw this coming out of an area that my parents are from, wyoming county in pennsylvania, from dallas to dupont, he hadwards vil, harvey's lake, and all flooded now because the rain that fell about two hours ago. it's not that it's probably going to rain for the rest of the day in some spots but the rain that came down has to run off. and it goes into the creeks and streams and they go up very quickly. they go down quickly too. it's when it's hup you have to watch it and don't drive through it. >> a lot of city and state government leaders are still asking people to stay inside because even though it may not be raining anymore, maybe you don't have giant gale force winds, you have the potential of a lot of trees because of saturated ground coming down and that is a big problem we're seeing up and down the east coast. chad, thanks so much. >> you're welcome. >> of course that soggy mess being left behind not just in pennsylvania, not just in new york but also in the mid at lancaster tick states, washington, d.c., maryland, virginia. you'll see images from connecticut as well. we'll check in with our affiliate from connecticut, d.c. and massachusetts all straight ahead. >> we come from hearty stock, we ain't moving. >> you're not moving? >> we're not moving. >> reporter: clearly that is the case. >> that is the best reality show you're going to get. >> reporter: are any of you concerned about the storm? i'm sorry? >> only my children. wants to have me committed. he lives in georgia, what does he know. >> you're not priflous about this. we take it seriously but the alternative is a nightmare. >> reporter: the alternative being in a shelter. >> not only being in a shelter but not knowing where we will be, our health does not permit most opportunities that have been offered to us. i think that's serious. we haven't heard anything from the top level that takes that into account. hey can i play with the toys ? 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. naomi pryce: i am. i'm in 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right now the top of the screen is wcbs, that's going to be out of new york -- flip flopped hdh from boston as well. let's listen in to our affiliate in boston. in new york. >> this is going to be a problem for tomorrow morning will the waters recede so people can get where they need to go on a monday morning? and that commute as well. we have trees down all across roadways as well. we've seen a number of pictures of roads covered by those trees. these are pictures from lynn den hearse t, as mobile 2 has been driving around the tri-state area we have been seeing trees down and very difficult to get around. >> let's go to kyw, our affiliate in philadelphia. >> no one hurt fortunately, not any major damage but it's pretty clear that with the soaking that they got down here and in many parts of our area combined with this second shot of winds from irene, that sent the trees toppling and of course they were blocking the sidewalks and streets and a lot of emergency calls here within the last few hours. fortunately again, no injuries. the winds seem to be dying down and now for the merchants here a new challenge. irene may not have packed the wallop with rain and flooding and winds we might have expected but she did have a big economic impact. a lot of merchants along the jersey shore lost three or four days of business and they will be scrambling to catch up as the labor day weekend approaches one of top income weekends for the entire summer. that's it live from the boardwalk in wild wood, cbs news. >> from pennsylvania let's move to new jersey. more than 250 roads in new jersey are closed and that is where irene roor roared ashore. they expect more flooding as the rivers crest tomorrow into tuesday. joining me on the phone dawn zimer. let's do this quick assessment. what are you seeing midday here sunday? mayor zimer, are you on the line? we're working on getting the mayor. in the meantime we get a quick break in. tropical storm irene battering much of the east 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[ whirring and beeping ] [ ding! ] and we give you a discount on both. great! did i mention no hands in the bundler? bundling and saving made easy. now, that's progressive. call or click today. we're getting great pictures and video from our ireporters all along the east coast giving us an idea what they experienced. take a look at this with maryland eastern shore. a whole lot of heavy rain and he took advantage of it. he and some friends tied a tow rope to the back of a car and then he went street surfing. >> does is this fall under the don't try this at home category. >> you don't want to try this. you'll see when a big power pole comes by, he let's go. very smartly of that rope. not to get tied up in it. anyway, he was going about 10 miles per hour. so yes, it was very dangerous. there it is right there. thank goodness he let go but you know what, he says it was better than being stuck inside. thankfully there's a happy ending and nobody got hurt. >> i know people get stir crazy, but i don't know about that. >> he's a thrill seeker. >> meantime, flights, they got canceled leading up to this. >> trains. >> a lot of public transportation got interrupted and hopefully now some areas will return to some sort of normalcy now that irene is making its way way up to new england. alexandra steele now back with us. at the travel wall, let's call it. >> let's call it that. i heard soledad saying new yorkers are so resilient, where's the best breakfast, new york times, want to do the cross word puzzle. everyone is getting back on track. are the airline or airports following suit? an interesting perspective. this is called flight tracker. it's a quick at the second snap shot of what's happening 30,000 feet above us. all of the blueses are planes coming and going. this is what's left of the hurricane to give you a perspective in terms of where we are. right here is long island, nantucket. we have 5,000 flights in the air, usually every day on average there's about 30,000 flights. right now we've got five. let's follow the path of the hurricane. see how these airports are bouncing back in the same kind of movement and momentum and path irene took. we start off in norfolk and show you. ten flights now heading into norfolk, virginia of the move things further north into washington, dull less and reagan. 84 flights in dulles. going to philadelphia right now, what do we have? zero. airports not open, closed. not accepting departures or arrivals. looking on the docket i saw an 11:00 and 12:00 coming from canada arriving in philadelphia, not canceled. we'll see how that goes in terms if you have flight plans in philadelphia. to new york city we go, what's cooking there? zero. nothing happening in or out. a thousand port authority officials are on the move to get the planes back as soon as possible. expectation in new york for all of the new york airports including islip and laguardia and kennedy, back open tomorrow. >> maybe the case for mta. >> such an erie experience not to have the yellow tape across the subway entrances and exits. >> new yorkers love the subways. for now the cab drivers are getting extra business. >> working double time. >> alexandra, thanks you. live breaking news coverage of the tropical storm irene continues. we'll go to providence, rhode island where we have kate bolduan standing by. >> let's look at the amazing images of now tropical storm irene as it slammed into the northeast earlier today. ♪ [ female announcer ] something unexpected to the world of multigrain... taste. ♪ delicious pringles multigrain. with a variety of flavors, multigrain pops with pringles. delicious pringles multigrain. finally, there's a choice for my patients with an irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation, or afib, that's not caused by a heart valve problem. today we have pradaxa to reduce the risk of a stroke caused by a clot. in a clinical trial, pradaxa 150 mg reduced stroke risk 35% more than warfarin. and with pradaxa, there's no need for those regular blood tests. pradaxa is progress. pradaxa can cause serious, sometimes fatal, bleeding. don't take pradaxa if you have abnormal bleeding, and seek immediate medical care for unexpected signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. pradaxa may increase your bleeding risk if you're 75 or older, have kidney problems or a bleeding condition, like stomach ulcers. or if you take aspirin products, nsaids, or blood thinners. tell your doctor about all medicines you take, any planned medical or dental procedures, and don't stop taking pradaxa without your doctor's approval, as stopping may increase your stroke risk. other side effects include indigestion, stomach pain, upset, or burning. if you have afib not caused by a heart valve problem, ask your doctor if pradaxa can reduce your risk of a stroke. no, it's just for new people. hey ! chocolate, vanilla or strawberry ? 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