New York: An unprecedented mass evacuation has been ordered by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg as millions of Americans along the east coast battened down for Hurricane Irene.
The Category Two hurricane, packing winds of 100 miles (160 kilometers) per hour, was set to slam into the coast of North Carolina on Saturday before churning up the eastern seaboard towards Washington, New York and Boston.
The densely populated corridor, home to more than 65 million people, was under the threat of flooding, storm surges, power outages and destruction that experts said could cost up to $12 billion.
Bloomberg told a news conference he had ordered the first-ever mass evacuations from low-lying areas across the densely populated city that are home to some 250,000 people, calling it a “matter of life or death.”
“We have never done a mandatory evacuation before, and we wouldn’t be doing this now if we didn’t think the storm had the potential to be very serious,” Bloomberg said.
Authorities had earlier announced that New York’s massive transit system would begin to shut down midday Saturday in another rare move that could hinder transport into Monday’s rush hour.
Heavy rains on ground already soaked from weeks of wet weather could worsen the risk of falling trees, and the wind-driven seawater could swell already high new moon tides, sending a storm surge up the Hudson river that could swamp lower Manhattan and the city’s underground train system.
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