Hurricane Irene pummels America’s East Coast, millions flee

New York: Hurricane Irene continued to pummel the United States East Coast over the weekend, packing winds of around 129km/h, as millions were ordered to flee from coastal towns and pockets of New York that are exposed to the Atlantic Ocean.

The eye of the storm crossed the North Carolina coast near Cape Lookout at 7.30 on Saturday morning. The storm has already been blamed for at least nine deaths in North Carolina, Virginia and Florida. The hurricane continues to make its way up the East Coast, packing strong winds and heavy rains that could cause major problems for nearly 65 million people living in Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, New Jersey, Boston and Rhode Island.

The thickly populated corridor is home to a large population of Indian American professionals and students who are fleeing hurricane Irene’s path. Most are headed for safer ground, but some say they face limited choices.

“My friends called me and said they were evacuating. They are headed to Harrisburg in Central Pennsylvania. But we can’t leave Manhattan because my wife is pregnant and our baby is due any moment now. We have checked into a hotel near Roosevelt Hospital near Columbus Circle,” said banker Sidharth Ghosh who is not leaving New York.

An estimated 3,70,000 residents of lower Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens were ordered to leave their homes and move to safer ground by Saturday 5 pm. The city of over 8 million is expecting severe power outages during and after the hurricane.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg again warned residents on Saturday to heed the evacuation order, saying the approaching hurricane was “life-threatening” and “not a joke.” New York is forecast to face the brunt of the hurricane on Sunday at dawn before it blows over to New England.

Mayor Bloomberg has been careful not to repeat any of the mistakes made by the government during hurricane Katrina in August 2005. Then-mayor Ray Nagin of New Orleans was criticised heavily for being too late in ordering a mandatory evacuation of the city. Hurricane Katrina took nearly 1,836 lives and caused an economic loss of $125 billion, with $66 billion in insured losses. Half of these losses were a result of flooding in New Orleans.

As Irene bears down on Washington, which hasn’t been hit by a hurricane in more than half a century, President Barrack Obama said indications were that Irene was a “historic hurricane.”   This is the first time in six years that a major hurricane has America in its sights. Irene has already caused transport mayhem on the East Coast, as airlines, railways and subways in New York and other big cities started sweeping weekend shutdowns.

Expect chaos and flight delays if you are planning to travel from India to New York early next week. All flights were suspended at JFK, LaGuardia, Newark, Teterboro and Stewart Airports on Saturday. There were nearly 9,000 flights which were cancelled over the weekend. The Coast Guard also closed the port of Philadelphia.