Stay updated with breaking news from Adam burg. Get real-time updates on events, politics, business, and more. Visit us for reliable news and exclusive interviews.
Flooding not only from the surge but from heavy rain will be an issue, as well. five, ten inches of rain easily with the system. some places more than that. as you know, i m sure you have been telling the viewers, we have here at the weather channel, as well, these regions seen so much rain already this august that additional rain is a problem. so a lot of factors coming together and that s making for a tense couple of days here. adam, when was the last time that new jersey, the beach, the shoreline, saw something like this where they were anticipating such a storm? reporter: well, we had floyd that made landfall in 99. that was the last system to make landfall but previous systems kicked up the surf here and caused problems. talking to people earlier. even when you get nor easters here which, i mean, we get one of these every season, sometimes more than one. there s a pier down the road there that crumbles in there. this is an area that will take it on the chin. so it s an area w ....
These cars are trying to get away from the coastline and to safer ground. new jersey governor chris christie says today is the last day to prepare. the weather channel s adam burg is in asbury park and mike taibbi is in sag harbor, new york. let s begin with the situation where you are, adam. reporter: it s the calm before the storm. it s a warm day. temperatures in the 80st. this is the calmest moment. as early as 5:00 p.m. tonight we re going to close this beach down. it will be closed at least until 9:00 a.m. monday. hurricane watches extending into new england. a hurricane warning means 36 hours into that particular spot you can expect hurricane force winds. we re talking a day, day and a half. it s a large system. it s lost a little steam as far as sustained winds. it s still a strong category two ....
Plywood. you talk to people it s a sea going town. they know what happened with hurricane gloria in 1985 and hurricane bob which didn t have a direct hit on the island in 1991. the big problem as adam was saying is the swell. the rise of the tide. if they get a four or six or eight-foot swell the flooding can be immense and the all of the boats will lift their moorings and be driven against each other. we have seen those pictures in the past. about 60% of the fleet here have left. the other 40 are hoping. one guy said we re going to wait it out, cross our fingers and make sure our insurance is paid off in full. the calm before the storm looks so nice in sag harbor. mike, thank you. appreciate that. it s odd i came to msnbc at the beginning of my career covering hurricanes. now here i am today as hurricane irene approaches and i have an opportunity to share some news of my own. i have been anchoring live news on msnbc for eight years at all ....
Hurricane with wind speeds at 105 miles per hour. the problem with this system it s so large that those swells and that surge will be rolling in. we ll see a high tide saturday night and another high tide saturday morning and that would probably be the worst of it. adam, thank you for the update. i just received a note that president obama is going to leave martha s vineyard tonight. he s cutting short his vacation buzz of a hurricane. that s the only detail we re getting. we ll keep you updated on the president s plans. let s go back to long island now where mike is. mike, we just heard from jeff that it looks like long island will get a direct hit from hurricane irene. what are the preparations? the preparations are considerable but not as though people here feel or are acting as if they re in the middle of a bulls eye. i went to a general store, there s plenty of water, batteries, there s not a run on ....
Feet as we work into new england. this story is still in a developing stage. in a city like atlanta, i can only imagine what it means for travelers. again, i can only imagine what it s going to mean over the next couple days as the system tracks north. yeah, this is like a great dane. we ll check in again. keep yourself worm out there. tis the season to take it back. retailers are bracing for shoppers to return their gifts. be ware, it s more difficult than ever. we are live in a mall in florida. kerry doesn t have to deal with the weather like poor adam, my goodness. retailers are tightening up return policies. good morning. reporter: good morning, how are you? no weather issues here, but people need to know the rules. what you see behind me is jc ....