state of emergency as a severe storm veers towards areas already hit by major flooding. waters rose four feet as new orleans was struck by 10 inches of rain in a three-hour period wednesday morning. forecasters say coastal louisiana could see another 12 to 18 inches of rain by monday. they also predicted the mississippi river could rise 20 feet by late friday. now an army corps of engineers spokesperson says while there are concerns for southern areas of the city, the agency is is not expecting widespread overslapping of the levies. it could be a tropical storm as soon as today and the season s fist hurricane by saturday. with that, let s get a check on your weather this morning with meteorologist bill karins. good morning a hot of yes, sir still to be answered. people in louisiana are
which is the largest in the nation will grind to a halt at noon tomorrow. no storm has ever done that. if irene s winds whip up to 60 miles per hour they will close bridges including george washington bridge which includes george washington bridge. this is no time to play games says michael bloomberg. we have never done mandatory evacuation before. we wouldn t be doing it now if we didn t think this storm had the potential to be very serious. the best outcome would be if the storm veers off to the east and doesn t hit us. doesn t hit us hard. but we can t depend on mother nature being so kind. we have to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. new york state governor andrew cuomo also mobilizing the state s army and national guard. our jonathan hunt live now with more in our new york city newsroom. and john, than the city, obviously as you heard the mayor say are not taking any chances. taking any chances at all.
storm veers off to the east and doesn t hit us, doesn t hit us hard, but we can t depend on mother nature being so kind. we have to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. just because thinks the first time we ve had a mandatory evacuation of any part of this city i once again want to repeat, this is very serious, do not be fooled by the sun outside. that is the calm before the storm. and you just can t wait until gale force winds and driving rains arrive. it will be too late then. you have to start your preparations to leave right now. keep in mind, after noon tomorrow you re not going to have the advantage of mass transit to help you do that. so if you were to leave today that would be very helpful and tomorrow if you call access a ride, jay walder will talk about it, they just don t have the
serious. the best outcome would be if the storm veers off to the east and doesn t hit us or hit us hard, but we can t depend on mother nature being so kind. we have to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. just because this is the first time we have had a mandatory evacuation of any part of this city, i just once again want to repeat, this is very serious. do not be fooled by the sun outside. that is the calm before the storm. and you just can t wait until gale force winds arrive, it is too late then. you have to start the preparations the leave. excuse me. you have to start your preparations to leave right now. keep in mind, afternoon, tomorrow, you are not going to have the advantage of mass transit to help you do that. so, if you were to leave today, that would be very helpful, and tomorrow, if you call access a ride, jay walder will talk about it, but they don t have the
heading back to washington, d.c. a day ahead of schedule. earlier he called irene a historic storm. i cannot stress this highly enough. if you are in the projected path of the hurricane, you have to take precautions now. don t wait. don t delay. we all hope for the best but have to be prepared for the worst. irene is on track to follow the northeast corridor right up to new england and beyond. cnn is there. reynold wolf is in new jersey, and athena jones is in annapolis, maryland. we will start here in the weather center with cnn meteorologist, chad meyers. chad, give us an idea of where irene is now. not too much changed overnight. the storm did get a little stronger, and as it got stronger, you could see the eye. at 2:00 in the morning, you could truly see the eye. now we don t see it anymore. that tells me the storm is being torn up by a little bit of sheer. it s still a 105-mile-per-hour storm. it will not say category 3 or 4 anymore, but don t let your guard down.