Hurricane Irene hits US Coast

As Hurricane Irene makes her way up the East Coast, officials are preparing for the worst.  Billions of dollars in damage is expected as the Category 2 storm could affect high-value property in East Coast metropolitans such as New York, Boston, and Philadelphia.

Irene’s 110 mph winds and heavy rain have already wreaked havoc on Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and the Bahamas.  Many cities along the eastern seaboard have declared a state of emergency and citizens in high-risk areas have been ordered to evacuate.

“We’ve got a lot more people that are potentially in the path of the storm,” Federal Emergency Management Agency head Craig Fugate told the Associated Press.  “A little bit of damage over big areas with large populations can add up fast.”

Irene is currently traveling slowly at 12 mph, which means she is able to dump massive amounts of rain on a particular area, causing an unpredictable amount of damage.  She is expected to hit North Carolina on Saturday afternoon, then move up the coast as far as Boston.  New York is bracing for a hit sometime Sunday afternoon.

New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg has taken several precautions to protect citizens.  By Sunday she is expected to be downgraded to a Category 1 storm, with winds as high as 90 mph.  He ordered a mandatory evacuation of nursing homes and hospitals in low-lying areas.  The hurricane could also mean a public transit shutdown, bridges and tunnels could be closed, and a Giants-Jets preseason game originally scheduled for Saturday night has been moved to Saturday afternoon.

Citizens should heed warnings from officials.  Several beachgoers in the south have already needed to be rescued from heavy ocean currents, and some have been knocked down by strong waves.   All are strongly urged to stay on alert by watching and listening to the news and checking websites often in the event of evacuation.