george, tell me how the conditions have changed in the past few hours. i have seen the very wet pelted you and a little bit dryer. what's happening now? >> reporter: don, look, while you were talking we had a bit of a break and then the wind came back. we are talking about the winds here. we are talking of winds up to 40 miles per hour plus we just lost the light. we'll keep going, though. strong winds that keep coming through this area. and also the rainfall. now, when you look at the radar, don, we are in an area right along one of the biggest bands, it's the entire tidewater area. we are talking about norfolk, virginia beach and the outer banks here where we are. this area has been getting hit and hit hard by this storm for the last 24 hours. don, from what we understand, it will continue throughout the night. get worse throughout the night before it starts to get better. and the winds are starting to shift. the winds initially were coming in from the east now coming in a bit from the north and we'll

start seeing winds from the west. i'm sorry, from the east, the north and then from the west as this storm continues to pass through this area, don. >> hey, george, standby. let's talk to chad really quick. we'll go out to you in a bit. he's getting pelted there and it is moving through. what's happening where he is right now? >> 300 miles from the center. >> really? >> that's what he's feeling. that's the problem with this storm. you can't focus on the eye because it does not have an eye. you focus on the width of the wind and 300 miles on either side of the center of this hurricane with winds or tropical storm force or greater. that's a 600-mile swath of damage. >> george, do you feel it intensifying, like from your last live shot, do you feel it continuing to -- the shot is dark, it's okay, we can still go to him. do you feel it there? okay, we lost the shot because of the weather. let's go to sandra endo now in ocean city.

she's about 200 miles north of where george is. what are you seeing there as you talk to me and chad myers? >> reporter: well, don and chad, we have been feeling the effects of hurricane sandy already here in ocean city all day long now. steady winds up to 27 miles per hour. steady rain just pelting down all day long. and we are here on the balcony of an oceanside hotel to give you perspective of what you're seeing. we are close to high tide and you can see the fierce waves behind me here along the shore. and this is really what local officials are worried about. the high tide and the combination of this long duration of the storm that they are expecting. they are expecting about 36 hours for hurricane sandy to really come through this area and just to show you over here as well, they have evacuated this entire area of downtown ocean city. and that evacuation deadline is fast approaching. we have seen people flee town all day long. and they have opened up local shelters in this county where we

are hearing about 40 people resorted to shelters already. clearly, they have been preparing for this and also have learned from last year's hurricane irene. here's the local mayor. all right, well, we talked to the local mayor earlier and they are prepared under 24-hour operations here trying to keep the lines of communication open with residents here who chose not to evacuate as well as keeping up-to-date with everything going on in terms of emergency responses and any type of damage that may come because of hurricane sandy, don and chad. >> sandy, standby. we have chad myers here again. sandy, you can play along in this as well. so we have sandra, chad is in ocean city, maryland, 200 miles north of georgia. georgia is getting pelted at this point. how long before sandy starts to feel what he's feeling? >> there are arms on this storm.

they are almost like you see a picture of the hurricane with spiral bands. that's what we have with the storm. let me walk over here to describe what you're going to look at for the next 36 hours. i want you to know when you see it what you're seeing. there's the center of the storm right there, don. wherever there's color, that's where it is storming. that's where it is raining. and that's when the rain will bring down the wind. so when you get a cell, there's even one right there coming onto long island. when you get a cell with a little color and rain, it will translate all of this wind back down to the surface. now, it's not windy right here. it's not windy here. even though this is much closer to the center than this. it is windier here because of the storm around it. the arms around it. and these will rotate around and the winds will eventually go right through new york and into pennsylvania, new jersey, and the like. >> the size again of this thing? >> it is 300 miles from the center to the edge of the 50 to

55-mile-per-hour gusts. >> yeah. as fred last said when she was handing off to me, 200 miles from north carolina, about 500 miles from new york city. and people all the way from maine to north carolina to maine, when was the last time or have we ever seen a weather event like this on the east coast of this magnitude? >> no, we have not. the last thing this close was the perfect storm. there's another low pressure that's going to energize it more. we have a low here that should make a snowstorm, and it will. then all of a sudden you have a hurricane coming in and they are going to merge. so we have not seen this, except for the storm perfect storm, but the difference between this storm and perfect storm, the perfect storm never made landfall and stayed in the ocean doing that much damage. this will make landfall and will make more damage. >> we are sure it is not a fish storm because of the models. >> it is going to hit something. i'm not totally convinced it is going into d.c. i think it will be north of there, cape may to central new jersey for the eye, but here's

what i said. the problem is don't worry about the eye. it is not windy in the eye in some spots but it is windy away from the eye wherever the storms are that reach out 300 miles from the center. >> when you say cape may, that's almost like grand isle, louisiana, it sticks out in new jersey. so for everyone storm, when i worked in philadelphia, everyone went to cape may because that's where you get the best pictures. speaking of best pictures, let me talk to george howell, he is back. george, you're aware, you said you were getting pelted and lost the light because of the rain and now your shot went down because of the weather and now you're back. how intense is this getting moment by moment? are you feeling the intensity moment by moment here? >> reporter: don, absolutely. again, we are feeling these winds. wind gusts anywhere from 40 to 50 miles per hour at times. and you're right, this is the area that has really been getting the brunt of this storm. when you look at the way the storm has been traveling, most of it offshore, as chad described, right there on the

outer bands of the wind field, we are feeling the strong winds as they come in. and that's what people will start seeing in the metro areas as this storm hooks a left. so, again, what we are seeing here in north carolina, and now more here in the tidewater area, this is what will be coming as the storm makes land. so officials here are keeping -- yes? >> george, i don't want to complicate things, but i'm not sure if your photographer can show us around, but show us where you are standing and what you're seeing from your vantage point there. >> reporter: we'll do the best we can with the lighting. everything kind of blends back there but i'll show you what's happening with the atlantic. take a look back there. if you can see the water out there, it's rough. it is really rough. there was a beach out there, don, yesterday. we walked that beach. the beach is gone. and beach erosion is going to be a big issue here with this particular storm system. also, when it comes to the storm surge, don, that's what a lot of people are concerned about on this island.

storm surge where we are could get anywhere from four to six feet. also, on the other side of the island is a concern about flooding. on the south side, flooding from all the water that the storm pushes in and then it comes back to cause a lot of flooding. that's what people saw here with irene when it came through. >> all right, george, standby. do we still have sandra endo to show a picture of her and george's picture. if you put them together side by side, it is still sunny, sandra, you're on now but it is sunset happening where sandra is. then look at that just 200 miles away. that's definitely a contrast there. >> sandra, i know you can hear us looking at the camera, your beach is gone. about two hours ago you had 300 to 400 feet of sand between you and the water. where did it go? >> reporter: yeah, that's what local officials and the national weather service is actually concerned about. beach erosion here. and they are comparing and

anticipating hurricane sandy to hurricane gloria back in 1985, which it destroyed the boardwalk. so they are certainly going to look for that storm surge damage to possibly happen because of hurricane sandy. and beach erosion with the mixture of high tide, again, and this long storm, that is what they are really concerned about because the storm surge could affect this region, devastatingly, certainly they are hunkering down bracing for the worst. and the worst is not going to hit this area for another 24 hours or so. >> all right. we'll stand by sandra, thank you very much. don't go anywhere as we get to sandra, george howell as well and meteorologist chad myers. chad is in charge and helping me here. we'll be on for a long time, chad, so get rested, afternoon break, take it now. thank you, everyone. more on this when we come back, but with hurricane season reaching the end, a lot of people weren't ready for this. we'll talk to russell honory who dedicated his life to help people be prepared after his

experience with hurricane katrina. here's live in studio with me just moments away. and you know this storm is throwing a big monkey-wrench into the battle for the white house. battleground states are in hurricane sandy's path. which candidate does the storm help or hurt? what if there was a new way to deal with money

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holed up in hotel rooms and stuck at airports watching us. we'll carry you through this until it is over. so let's -- this is a live picture now from kill devil hills, north carolina, courtesy our affiliate. look at the surf. we are keeping a close watch on hurricane sandy for you, but we want to take a minute to update the race for the white house right now. we have a new cnn national poll of polls, the average of three new daily tracking polls that shows mitt romney with a very slim lead over president obama. 48% to 46%. hurricane sandy playing havoc with the travel plans for both president obama and mitt romney. both those campaigns. the president is leaving d.c. tonight before the weather worsens. and instead of tomorrow as first planned to get down to florida. mitt romney also having to change his itinerary. that's why we are going now to cnn's jim acosta always with the romney campaign and traveling with them. jim, the storm already having an

impact on where you're going, isn't it? >> reporter: that is right, don. for the final nine days of the campaign, throw out the white dry erase board and perhaps take the doppler weather radar and lay it over the battleground map because that's how we track this campaign heading into the homestretch here. both campaigns, if you add them together of roughly a dozen campaign events so far between the president and mitt romney, mitt right now is heading to the gymnasium here in marion, ohio, with an event here tomorrow morning and then is getting out of the state. but, don, it will be very interesting to watch the final days of the campaign because of this storm. you saw the president also canceling events. not here in ohio, but his campaign events that were scheduled for today. instead of those campaign events, he went to church and the federal emergency agency to check on storm preparations there. now, the very interesting question that comes up next in this final stretch of the campaign, don, is where are these candidates headed next?

we know mitt romney is in ohio tomorrow morning and goes to wisconsin after that, but then it is sort of a guessing game. a senior romney adviser was asked by reporters earlier today, what are you doing in terms of watching this storm? they said, that's basically what they are doing, assessing where they are going next based on this campaign schedule that's been thrown up in the air. don, what is also interesting is the optics of the final days of this campaign. will the president get out there to survey storm damage instead of campaigning? at the same time, what will the weather do to early voting. that's something we are looking at in the final days. obviously, the obama campaign has expressed concern about that. we saw david axelrod on cnn say to the union earlier today that may have an effect on their campaign. so, don, we'll be watching all of this heading into the final days. it is one of those situations, 2008 was a wave year for the democrats, 2010 was a wave year for the republicans, the wave this year is from hurricane sandy. >> it will be interesting to see how this plays out and how this

affects the election. if people don't have power, what they do? it is unprecedented. i think we'll check on that and talk to our political folks to see if there's precedent when coming to storms and changing the election and the difference it makes. jim acosta, thank you. with forecasters calling for a day and a half of hurricane-force winds, rain, even snow, how are people supposed to prepare for this? we'll talk to russell honory, the man who commanded after hurricane katrina. there he is live in action. he's here with me in studio moments away. [ man ] in hong kong, on my way to the board meeting... anne's tablet called my phone. anne's tablet was chatting with a tablet in sydney... a desktop in zurich... and a telepresence room in brazil. the secure cloud helped us get some numbers from my assistant's pc in new york. and before i reached the top, the board meeting became a congrats we sold the company party. wait til my wife's phone hears about this.

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welcome back. live pictures here from kill devil hills, north carolina, courtesy our affiliate wsoc. also, we want to bring you live to new jersey to show you what's happening there. this is the podium but moments later chris christie will be briefing his state.

chris christie holding a press conference here that we'll bring you live here on cnn. a lot of people weren't expecting a storm this late in the season, and now the rush is on to get supplies. some storms already running low. people looking for bottled water, you are finding empty shelves there. look at that boat. trying to get them out and get them safe. despite mandatory evacuations in areas of new jersey, delaware, some people are bound to stay in their homes as they always do. and we know the answer to that, that's a bad idea, right? with me now, general russell honory, you commanded the military in new orleans as a general there, should people prepare differently for this storm than they do, because there are different elements with this, is there a different preparation for this storm? >> we have gone into this storm for the last few years since katrina to encourage people to have a three day's supply of

food and water on hand for an event just like this. >> because usually when you have this event, it is further south, warmer, there's no snow involved. this is cold weather, possibly snow and power outages for days. >> we have the combined effect of wind, surge, rain, all this is going to cause flooding along the coast. with the backside of the storm creating snow and ice, unlike several hurricanes we face with a storm coming through, cutting the lights out and everybody survives, now you have to survive through cold weather on the backside of the storm. one that this generation of americans probably have not experienced in the past is a cold front with snow and ice on the backside of the storm. so be prepared for going to a shelter. if you don't have some redundancy in your home, like a generator, or anyone in your home at risk, an elderly person, young child or someone that's

elderly or sick. >> or at the very least, you can get out of the way of the storm, right? just look right into the camera and tell me, what about people who aren't expecting this storm to be big? they will say, general, every time you tell us it will be big and nothing happens. the last one that hit the eastern seaboard wasn't that big, what do you say to the folks in that camera right there? >> listen to the experts. that's like me saying, i don't need to wear my seat belt and nothing will happen. this is coming big. expect the worst case scenario to turn the lights out and keep you in your home for two to three days because of the sustained wind. it will knock power lines down. much of this is we have a lot of trees in the northeast corridor. we have a large -- millions of people that all have the same objective, they want to leave. and if they try to leave too late, the roads will get

congested. stay in place, work with your neighbors, make sure to check on your neighbors and the people on your block. form that local citizen team to take care of one another. >> don't underestimate this. so, when dealing with katrina, the issue was, remember, evacuating people and getting them on buses and out of the city, they shut down the subway system. mass transportation, public transportation in new york city subways, trains, buses, doesn't that make it harder for people to leave if you do that? but at some point you have to shut it down to get to shelter. >> there comes a point in time when you can't put that infrastructure or structure in danger of losing it longer than you have to on the backside of the storm. but we say mandatory evacuation, what that means is it is a big suggestion to people that you leave. because most of our constitutional laws don't give the government-elected officials the authority to force people to

leave, so what government does do is control the transportation, control the roads, control the buildings. so this is a way to encourage people to leave. >> and when they tell you, you know, to basically get out, that means to get out because they have done all they can. and someone like chris christie, we have the box on the screen because we are waiting on chris christie, the governor of new jersey, he said it last time with a hurricane barreling to new york and new jersey. i'm telling you, get out if you don't. i'm paraphrasing, you are not right, i don't want to say a bad word to people. you have this new book called "leadership" and making decisions in the wake of katrina and other decisions you have made. as you're watching this preparation and watching people like michael bloomberg, people down on the coast, are they making the right decisions? >> they are going in the right direction. in today's world, we have large numbers of people living in concentrated areas and very

dangerous places where water can easily get into cause flooding and mass destruction. leaders must have decision superiority. and many of them are demonstrating that. see first, understand first, act first. and these are not popular decisions because you get people to do what they don't want to do, which is leave their homes with the storms coming. and this storm is not like any other this generation have seen in america. they must listen to those leaders and the leaders may talk effects, don. we must see how many feet of water we expect to surge where. we must say, this is how many inches of snow we are going to get here. this is how fast the winds are coming through. your lights will be out. don't talk category and codes, talk effects. >> talk what people can understand. >> talk effects. >> thank you. tell leadership in the new normal. i read a little on my night stand every night, but it is about making decisions. it appears everyone is making the right decisions so far with

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all right, everyone. half past the hour. we are in the early hours of what everyone says will be a seriously disruptive storm when it crashes into the east coast. so far hurricane sandy is just dumping rain on the carolinas and virginia, but things will go from bad to worse very quickly in the coming hours. make sure to stay tuned. we'll cover it for you. power out along the eastern seaboard and in about 30 minutes all subway service in new york

city will stop. emergency officials there are taking no chances and are preparing early for possible flooding. we'll get more details from new york that is coming up. new york and new jersey in a full fledge state of alert right now, a state of emergency has been declared in new jersey and governor chris christie was the first to announce mandatory evacuations and state offices have been closed for tomorrow. live now, pictures of west trenton, new jersey. governor chris christie to hold a press conference where alison kosik is watching this storm. tell us what it is like where you are. >> reporter: exactly. there are mandatory evacuations up and down the jersey coast, especially where we are in asbury park. there's no rain but the wind is certainly picking up. the gusts are getting much stronger, almost knocking me over a bit. over my shoulder that's the

atlantic ocean churning stronger. you can't see it because the day has turned tonight, but take my word for it. it looks like an angry sea at this point. here there's a movie theater and restaurants, i have seen a casino along the way here as well. all of it is shut down and gambling in the casinos have shut down along with public transportation. the commuter rails here in new jersey have shut down as well. don, i talked with the sheriff of the county where i am right now, and he said the two big concerns for this area, especially right here along the jersey shore, are the wind and the storm surge. the storm surge expected to come tomorrow. the big worry, of course, the four to eight feet of water that could slowly cover this area. that's a huge concern. of course, the wind is the big

worry that it will knock out power. >> alison, stand by. as the governor gives the press conference, we'll want reaction from the ground and you to hear what people are saying in new jersey. as we keep watch on hurricane sandy, let's take a minute to consider how this storm, how it is going to affect the race for the white house. have you thought about that with the power out? how are people going to get to the polls? there's a live picture of the white house right now. there are two men vying, one to stay in that residence and another one that wants to be the president, the person who lives there. mitt romney, president obama, i'm sure they are watching us very closely at this hour. this is really changing their travel plans. they were living in some of the swing states along the coast and had to move their operations out and go further inland. ohio, wisconsin, and then now back to florida since they are out of the storm's path. cnn contributor anna and l.z., welcome back. great conversation last night and we'll continue to talk about

the storm and how it will affect president obama, mitt romney and beyond where they hold campaign rallies. first to you, anna. >> listen, don, i'm from florida and a veteran of hurricanes and hurricanes are political conditions. it is hurricane politics 101. you have to be in charge. i think the best thing president obama can do right now is exactly what he's doing, which is suspend some of the campaign events and be in the white house, be in charge. i want to give him kudos on one thing, which is the administrative of fema, craig fugate, is a man who worked here in florida in charge of emergency management services in florida, well-known to floridians, he's now -- he worked under jeb bush in florida as a real pro. i think president obama deserves points for having chosen somebody that is a professional instead of a political crony. but it is very important.

it can make or break careers. there are points where politics and hurricanes meet and it can help or they can collide. and they can break careers. we all remember governor blanco in louisiana, what a disaster that was. >> yeah. we remember all of that. so, listen, a republican praising the president, a democrat, it happened here on cnn. lz, let's stick with the ground game here. because we are talking about the imaginary scenarios for after disaster happens. what happens after, can people get to the polls? will the power be out? will there be blockage in the road? all of this. we don't know as it is pretty far to forecast out seven, eight, nine days from now to election day, but this is throwing a monkey wrench into the plans that not only the candidates have but also people going to the polls and voting. some people don't know what they are going to do because they are out of their homes. >> absolutely.

you know, it is not really about seven or nine days ahead, some of the states that could be impacted later in the week are looking at early voting states, for example, maine already canceled early voting for monday. if you planning on voting not on next tuesday but some time during this week, power outages could impact your plans. and it may, if you were planning on voting earlier and you made plans to be out of town, you may be scrambling for an absentee ballot. this has long-term effects to start seeing much, much sooner than next week. >> we'll go back to you, lz, craig fugate was the emergency management director down in florida. do you remember last time during isaac when down in louisiana mitt romney hit the ground and got there faster than the president. the president said he had to balance his duties of the nation to a storm. and was criticized for getting there late. this time he visited fema

already so they are well aware of what the optics are like in this situation. >> well, you may also that mitt romney got there early but also left with criticism because reportedly he told a person whose house was submerged under water to call 211. hopefully if he does decide to go to the locations, he has a message much more compassionate but looks like he is trying to be compassionate and himself as the nation deals with the storm. the president deserves to be criticized for that. in a campaign season you can't look as if you don't care about the people you're supposed to be serving and not being on the ground early after that hurricane made it appear as if he didn't care about the people as much as himself and his own political ambitions. >> and you kind of responded to this, ana, saying there's a balance here in your last statement. so i don't have to get you to

comment on that, but what i do have to get you to talk about is what i talked to lz about, what about the ground game and the early voting? these are all imaginary scenarios, but as far as early voting goes, this is affecting that right now. election day a little bit further out, but there are some people who can't get there to early vote and they may not ever make it to a polling place. >> well, don, that's a hypothetical question as you say and a bridge that we'll cross when we get there. you can see changes in the early voting hours. there might be extensions of early voting or more days added. there could be more days to get your absentee ballots. it all depends on just how bad this is and how long it lasts and what the effect is, but it is something that i think at this point is where the ground game becomes very important. obviously, president obama is not going to be able to be campaigning in some of these states. and we are talking about at

least two, virginia and pennsylvania, swing states being affected. but possibly much more than two. we could see new hampshire affected depending on how high this goes. we could see ohio affected depending on how far in it goes. so it is a very significant thing for presidential politics and also for state politics. we have some very close races in places like connecticut and like massachusetts. >> standby, guys, we have to get to other stuff, but i want to say federal law says the election has to be held on the first tuesday after the first monday in november. so end of discussion, i think, except for what ana said, maybe some late votes, they could extend that. we don't know. we don't know. thank you. we'll check back in with you. much of the east coast already being drench bid sandy. ahead, we'll tell you which areas are bracing for the worst of the storm. don't go anywhere.

all right. here it is. new jersey governor chris christie holding a briefing there on hurricane sandy. here's what he said so far. it just started a moment ago. he said he's spoke on the the president and asked president obama to make a prelandfall statement for new jersey. done. he also had a conversation with the president and is filling people in on what he would like to see happen. chris christie, listen. >> if you feel the need to be sheltered outside the home, first try to go to friends or relatives. if that does not work, go to your local oem to see if they have a local shelter that's available and a space. if they don't, go to the county shelters, which are listed again

at nj211.org. if that's unavailable when you get to a county shelter, if it is filled, the state will be able to transfer you to a state-sponsored shelter somewhere else in new jersey. also, if you're being evacuated and have a pet, bring your pet with you. we'll get you to a pet-friendly shelter so that you don't have to worry about leaving your pets behind. also bring supplies with you, clothing, whatever comfort needs you might have, try to bring those with you. of course, don't load your entire house onto the back of your back and try to carry it. it will be difficult for you to move and for us to move you, but things you will need for a couple days will be acceptable. for senior citizens out there and those who are disabled, if you're being evacuated, please immediately tell the emergency staff about whatever special needs you might have. we need to know that upfront to get you to the right place. bring any medications or any special devices that you need

with you so that we don't have to worry about trying to supply them to you once you are sheltered in place. so, if you haven't already, i say, the next few hours, the next four to five hours are your last chance to get ready before the storm gets going. by tomorrow morning we are not going to want people going out on the roads to try to prepare themselves for the storm. so i started talking to folks yesterday. we have four or five hours left and then things will start to get a little bit dicier out there. tomorrow morning the weather will turn ugly here. and we want everybody to stay off the roads. again, you know, we can't emphasize this enough, don't try to go out there to be a hero or act as if nothing is going on here. something is happening. it is important. and we need have you stay inside for the day tomorrow. tomorrow will be -- tomorrow and tomorrow evening will be the worst times of the storm.

state government offices will be closed tomorrow, with the exception of emergency personnel involved in hurricane preparation and response. state government staff should stay home tomorrow. please stay home tomorrow. as i said earlier, decisions regarding whether schools will be open are made on the local level. however, i was briefed just a short time ago that the commissioner has been conducting conference calls today with county superintendents of schools regarding decisions to close schools. of the 590 school districts statewide, as of 20 minutes ago, 350 of those districts have decided to close tomorrow. and 247 have decided to close on tuesday. >> that is the governor of new jersey, chris christie. i think the quote here is, don't go out there and try to be a hero tomorrow. because he said the weather is going to start getting

progressively worse, and especially tomorrow morning, if you haven't already evacuated in the next five or six hours, you need to do it within the next five or six hours. again, the governor saying that he called the president and spoke with the president today to ask for a prelandfall statement of emergency, which was declared. he said all state government offices in new jersey closed tomorrow. and that probably means early voting as well if it is a state-government office, but we'll get further clearance on that. chad myers is here. obviously, this is a massive storm moving quickly. it is unprecedented in the perfect storm sense with the rain, snow, wind, power outage, what else? >> you put all of that over the most populated area of the northeast. >> which is manhattan. >> philly, d.c., baltimore, washington, d.c. and up to boston. you take the whole i-95 corridor, how many millions of people, it seems like over 67 million in the path of some

damage. that's just incredible. >> and you heard the mayor, michael bloomberg, zone one or eight, but he said to turn the water off, shut the power off, he said mass transportation is done within a few hours in new york city. >> right. if you're going to evacuate, think about where you want to go. not just any place, because you want to go, if you're evacuating because you're afraid of storm surge, evacuate to some place much higher. then all of a sudden the swath from maine to almost north carolina for damage, you don't want to get yourself in more trouble. you don't want to evacuate to some place else with lots of trees down, there are going to be millions of people without power for days if not weeks. you can't put all the power lines back up. plus, if it is windy for 48 hours, and that's the forecast, the linemen won't be back up putting the power lines back up. so this is going to go downhill rather fast. and so many people are going to

be affected. we have never seen something affecting so many tens of millions of people. let's go to zone a. new york city. that's lady liberty. zone a. all the way here to coney island to rockaway beach areasful we'll fly you over to the other side right here. here's battery park city, here's battery park. probably under water with the storm. didn't go under water with irene but by a foot, this is forecast to be feet higher than irene. here's the east side river. we'll talk about south street seaport on up here under the bridges. all of this along the waterway at least flooded if we get that 11-foot surge. then we are back up here, this is belmont island and roosevelt island, we are okay. red hook is here in zone a. you must be gone. they are going to turn off power, the heat and all of this. all of a sudden if all the water is surging into new jersey as

well, i know this says zone a, that's new york, but on the other side of the river, it will flood as well. we'll keep you up-to-date. chad myers, don't go far, because i need you here to help me out. chad is standing right behind me, that's why i am looking over my shoulder. if you don't live in new york but have visited new york city, you know how huge the subway system and how big the city is there. this is no joke. when they close down subways, buses and mass transit systems in new york city, they are not playing around. that is a huge undertaking. it is rarely, if ever, happening. people are rushing to stack up as many sandbags as possible before the storm, but that may not stop the floods from ruining homes. we'll look at the frantic preparation that is straight ahead. live pictures now of ocean city, maryland. look at that surge. if that doesn't tell you that there's something impending, i don't want to say doom, chad myers, but look at the surf, what does it say to you when you look at it? >> high tide and full moon,

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look at this. this is kill devil hills, wsoc. that's our affiliate reporter. we're not talking to him, they are talking to him, but we just wanted to show look at, he's out in the elements there, and just to show you pretty close to the beach. how he's getting whipped around and this thing is still hundreds of miles -- at last check about 200 miles from north carolina, and there is that reporter

getting whipped around. this is what's heading his way, up the eastern seaboard, this monstrous hurricane that they are saying now is a perfect storm because not only will it have rain and wind and surge, it's going to create some snow, and nor'easter, yorn whi don't what you calm it, i'm not a meteorologist. it's going to be interesting. sit tight, watch the coverage if you're in a place you don't have to evacuate. if they're telling you to get out, you need to start making preparations within the next couple hours depending where you are. we're going to continue on with our live coverage now of sandy and also how it's affecting the election because president obama has declared a state of emergency in maryland where up to a foot of rain is expected there. now people are racing against time to protect their homes and that's where we can find athena jones. that's in annapolis. athena, obviously it's getting -- you're getting rained on there. doesn't appear to be as bad as it is in -- north carolina, kill devil hills.

the storm surge though could be huge for people. are they worried where you are? >> reporter: hi, don. you're right. the rain did pick up a few hours ago. it's lessened a little bit now. people say that this is an area that floods very, very easily. you hear a lot of talk about what happened in hurricane isabel, businesses have plaques on their walls showing how far the water came up. right now people today were getting sandbags to protect their homes and businesses. western ab we were able to speak to a coffee shop owner who said he's hopeful they are not going to get the worst of the flooding but he was getting prepared anyway. >> what we're expecting is we're not expecting floods coming up, but we have some sandbags here just in case which we'll be putting in front of the doors and on the sides there just in keep if any rain water or heavy, heavy winds blew the rain toward the building, keep us dry. >> reporter: and, don, certainly that coffee shop owner and all the other businesses around here are hoping he's right and it

doesn't end up being too bad here but we're going to have to wait and see. don? >> that's athena in annapolis. from annapolis to north carolina to new york to philadelphia, pennsylvania, boston, all over, we've got it covered. you're looking at live pictures. lady liberty and look at this. this is kill devil hills again as hurricane sandy rolls in. live to north carolina to the coast next. [ woman ] it's 32 minutes to go time, and the candidate's speech is in pieces all over the district. the writer's desktop and the coordinator's phone are working on a joke with local color.

the secure cloud just received a revised intro from the strategist's tablet. and while i make my way into the venue, the candidate will be rehearsing off of his phone. [ candidate ] and thanks to every young face i see out there. [ woman ] his phone is one of his biggest supporters. [ female announcer ] with cisco at the center... working together has never worked so well.

just shy of the top of the hour, shy of 7:00 a.m. eastern here on the east coast, and as of right now the subways in new york city are shut down. there's a lot going on. in two hours the buses will shut down. the city is in emergency mode getting ready for the arrival of hurricane sandy. the most populous city in the u.s. virtually shutting down. no broadway shows tonight, same for tomorrow. the united nations closed tomorrow, stock exchange closed for physical trading i should say and that's tomorrow. all schools canceled tomorrow. extra ambulances, the national guard, they're headed into manhattan, but that's new york city. that's just one city.

millions of people up and down the coast preparing for the storm in every way they can. so let's get the very latest now for sandy's track. chad myers is here. still a category 1. >> right. >> but we shouldn't let that number fool us, right? it's very dangerous. >> it's as deep pressurewise as a category 2 or 3, but one thing we're not talking about this storm as we were talking about irene, if you remember rattling windows in new york city. windows blowing out of high rises. we're not going to see that type of wind event because it's turning into a hybrid storm. there's cold air -- there's cold air in atlanta. there's cold air up and down the east coast. it's wrapping into this storm. you would expect that to kill it, but actually it's turning into a nor'easter. a nor'easter that actually turns to the left and comes right onshore. not unlike -- >> a hurricane that turns into a nor'easter. >> yes, yes. or think of it this way.