>> irene remains a large and dangerous storm. people need to take it seriously. people need to be prepared. >> alan: words of warning from fema after irene begins a destructive assault on the nation's eastern seaboard.

the center of the storm, which was estimated to be 500 miles wide, passed over north carolina this morning slamming the coast with winds as strong as 115 miles-per-hour. good afternoon. i'm alan wang. welcome to this early edition of abc-12 news. we're live with the story. >> reporter: we are -- from inside the hotel lobby. the wind gusts here off the coast of north carolina have been so strong, we simply can't put up our satellite dishes. none of the crews can, so i'm actually squatting down in the lobby. you can see behind me. it's not so much sustained winds as it is really strong wind gusts, up to 80-85 miles-per-hour. so right now we, along with residents and emergency personnel, are waiting for the storm to pass so we can go out

and inspect the damage. from the carolinas to new england, hurricane irene has 65 million people cringing. the storm roared ashore in north carolina at first light, tearing up part of this fishing pier. >> the lights keep flickering. the house is shaking quite a bit throughout the night. didn't get much sleep. >> reporter: whipping winds and churning surf dispel any hope that irene is a lady. >> ever stay here and -- report >> reporter: the danger zone is obvious. president obama cut short his vacation to monitor fema operations. >> the biggest concern is flooding. the enormous strain on a lot of states. >> reporter: irene chased

millions from her path. but not everyone. >> not every day we get a hurricane coming ashore so we are excited. we want to see and it wait it out. >> reporter: in south carolina these surfers were ignoring warnings for the waves, gamblers were cleaned out, not by the casino but by evacuation orders. new york city is in virtue all lockdown, for the first time bus, subway, and trains service has been shut down by the weather. thousands have been evacuated, including hospital patients, and they're batoning down the hatches in beantown. >> stay indoors and off the road from late tonight when the rain will get high, right through tomorrow. >> reporter: back here in north carolina, the thing that is so strange about this storm, the fact it's actually worse now after the eye passed than before. usually it's the opposite. that's why we had to switch to "skype". we're inside the hotel lobby.

waiting for this to finally give up and pass us by. irene has been taking her time. 'abc news. back to you. >> alan: she's talking to us via "skype". let's go do leigh glaser, who has been tracking the storm. this thing has paralyzed the eastern seaboard. >> leigh: it has and things are going to get worse overnight and particularsly tomorrow morning. irene, cat gore 1, winds 80 miles-per-hour. moving slowly to the north northeast at 1 miles-per-hour, and now it's centered 15 miles southeast of norfolk, virginia could be some strengthening overnight tonight. you can see just where this thing is rotating. the feeder band or rain bands very heavy at times, moving in towards virginia beach. virginia beach reporting wind gusts of 60 miles-per-hour. already heavy rainfall towards

baltimore, up towards new york city, and even boston reporting light to moderate rainfall. here is the track of this system as it will continue to move very slowly to the north northeast overnight tonight. just off the coast here at 11:00, starts to move into the new york area. by 5:00 a.m. tomorrow morning could be the roughest part of the system, and by tomorrow afternoon it will move through boston and head on up toward eastern portions of canada. we'll have a detailed look and a look at our forecast coming up. >> alan: speaking of new york city, the subway system is shut down today. the bustling city was unusually quiet as the first rains from hurricane irene showed. broadway shows and some sporting event were cancelled. the mayor says 50-80% of the population has left. the city has been warning people for days not wait to evacuate.

>> would be fun to say i walk around in a hurricane, but wouldn't be fun to say it from your hospital bed. >> alan: the city offer rides to residents who need it. 1400 people are staying in she shelters tonight. the threat of irene prompted a state of emergency declaration in ten states, including washington, dc. a total of more than two million people are under evacuation orders from north carolina to new york city. in pennsylvania, philadelphia officials plan to shut down the city's transit system tomorrow morning, and an unexpected storm surge in maryland is forcing officials to take the wastewater treatment plant offline. five major airports around new york is closed. hurricane irene forced cancellation of thousands of flights, affecting passengers here in the bay area. we're live at sfo. >> reporter: a relatively quiet time inside sfo because the airlines cancelled so many flights early and people didn't

need to show up. today's 389 flights to -- 38 flights to the east coast were cancelled, and another 30 cancelled for tomorrow. this is what crushed dreams look like. they couple from poland to visit the u.s., including new york. >> empire state building, rock rob rockefeller center. >> now the family is looking at plan b, visiting relatives. >> it's not fair. my dream was to see new york, and i didn't see the hurricane. >> reporter: already the three major airports in new york city are closed. washington, philadelphia, and boston are handling some flights but airports are expected to see cancellations tomorrow during the brunt of the storm. a big effect at sfo appears to be on international travelers who have to fly threw east coast

hub. this couple has to be in barcelona on monday to get back to work on tuesday. >> we came here to the airport to change our flight, maybe flying to barcelona through another airport. >> jeanie of san jose and her daughters were going to spend a few days in new york after their european vacation but got a seat to the bay area in the nick of time. >> called her name. almost like winning the lottery ticket. >> joined greats are parked around the airport. it will be at least another day before their airborne. >> tomorrow we may see some depart tours, although we have seen 30 caps laces -- cancellations for tomorrow. >> oakland international cancelled two jet bliew flights -- jetblue flights, and an incoming flight from jfk has been cancelled, and more flights are expected to be

scrubbed in san jose as well. >> alan: not to mention all those people trying to come home from the eastern seaboard. even the bay area is assisting with disaster relief efforts. more than 90 members of the air national guard are mobilizing, including members with specialized training in water rescue. volunteers are in north carolina to hope shelters and mobilize equipment. this is video of some of the damage left behind today in north carolina. meanwhile, 36 firefighters from alameda and contra costa county left late last night for new york. the incident management teams will coordinate response out there. you can track irene's path on our web site and see if the storm will affect your travel plans. just click on the weather alert bar at the top of the web site. coming up, another major blow tool quite. the u.s. claims an attack killed

the tear -- terrorists leader. >> a growing fire is burning in the sierra national forest near yosemite. yosemite. ahead, the know

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>> alan: a senior obama administration official says cia drone strikes killed al qaeda's number two leader. the officials say he was killed in pakistan during a cia drone strike on august 22nd. he was a libyan national who was considered al qaeda's operational leader before rising to the second top spot following osama bin laden's death back in may. less than an hour and a half before gametime at candlestick park. the 49ers and san francisco police are implementing new rules to avoid a repeat of last week's violence. the new rules began once the fans enter the park's perimeter. the lots opened at 1:30 this afternoon instead of 11:00, with an enhanced police presence around the entrances to candlestick. police are taking a hard line on

alcohol pewsers. >> the start of the game tailgating will be closed and we're going to clear the parking lot for those people who do not have tickets and monitor those coming out. any leaving trunk drunk and driving drunk will be arrest. >> there was still plenty of beer and booze in the parking lot. one longtime 49er fan doesn't appreciate having less time to party. >> don't get to come in until 1:00 and not that long to tailgate. >> we're dedicated to our team and we want to go back to regular tailgating. >> alan: there will be postgame dui checkpoints. the 49ers are under the spot life. the nfl head of security is also at tonight's game. a fire burning near yosemite is burning out of control.

it broke out in a motorhome and moved to the forest. fire officials have no estimate on when the road will be re-opened. fire crews are focusing on protecting structures. thus far 15 homes have been evacuated and 3,000 acres have burned. oakland, new school year was reason to celebrate. an event to get kids excited to learn and motivate their parents to get more involved. a foggy start to the day but it's looking nice. leigh glaser says warmer leigh glaser says warmer temperatures are in store for

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you can make ultra fast, secure deposits with no slips or envelopes. take a step forward and chase what matters. >> alan: the city of oakland turned the beginning of a new school year into a reason to celebrate. students and parents enjoyed a back-to-school rally. 900 children received free backpacks filled with school supplies. leigh glaser is here. a pretty good day. >> leigh: a nice day. blue sky inland, and the fog sitting at the coast, and temperatures today managed to warm up nicely. antioch right now, 87 degrees.

89 in livermore. 90s tomorrow by the way. 67 in san francisco. 84, santa rosa, 78 in san jose. we'll continue with areas of dense fog overnight tonight. warmer day tomorrow. 90s return inland and then we'll cool off next week. you can look at the fog forecast. all of that just moves back inland, and temperaturewise we're going to be in the 50s. tomorrow will be high pressure moving back towards the bay area. warmer air mass, and look for temperatures to climb as much as five, maybe as much as eight degrees across much of the bay area. here's the sunday highs. 87 for san jose, cupper teen know, 86. patchy fog at the coast tomorrow morning. half moon bay, fog, maybe some mississippi -- mist and drizzle

and afternoon sunshine. san francisco 68. north bay, we'll look for 70s and 80s, and touch on 96 for ukiah. 82 for napa. east bay, oakland, 75. 80 for castro valley. interior east bay, high pressure starts to build in, warmer air mass settling over you, so get ready for mid-90s. hot towards brentwood. 92 for concord. and 75 opposite the fog parts tomorrow afternoon. santa cruz, sunshine, 75 there. but 90s inland. here's the seven-day forecast. a hot one as we head into sunday and monday thanks to the high pressure building in. the 90s inland, 80s around the bay, 60s at the coast and the cooldown will begin tuesday, wednesday, thursday. the high will push back towards

the east and onshore winds, more clouds and fog. >> alan: on to shuvment going to get another look at the 49ers tonight. >> mike: niners hosting the texas can and cap -- capper nick texas can and cap -- capper nick will get a good, long look. ♪ ♪

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>> mike: the a's are the first team since the 1950 pirates to give up 20-plus runs to the yankees on thursday night and then turn around and score 15 as the did last night. a's put up 36 runs in the first four games of the trip. two rain delays today courtesy of irene. a's's tenth home run of the trip. game tied. dude, that's only strike two. he immediately realizes his mistake. a's could have used that third strike. next pitch, ellsbury doubles off the monster. now 4-1 boston. rain was the for today. look how it affected lester. red sox beat the a's 9-3.

>> the little league world series down to the final four, montana against huntington beach and it was all cali. california wins, get to play japan for the little league world title on sunday. >> a little preseason football tonight at the stick where the 49ers hosting the houston texans. they coach harbaugh wants to mix it up with the second team. gives him a chance to game the backups. and kaepernick. this will determine if 'harbaugh wants colin to be the main backup. >> i want to see guys be able to compete against the other team's starters, and that competitive environment. >> just something you have to be

able to adapt to. you have to know who your center and is go from there. everytime you step on the field, doesn't matter who is out there with you. you have to be at your best. >> mike: pga tex texas cup playoff, 125 players at the barclays. the field will be cut to 100 and it was shortened to 54 holes due to hurricane irene. new jersey, a little damp. snedeker birdies his first five holes then rolls in a long one on 7. a 61 sends him into the clubhouse with the lead. dustin johnson, shot of the day on four from the bunker. for eagle. nothing but net. gets him to 16-under. matt kuchar came in with the lead. great shot on 14. but shots a 68. two back of the winner and that's dustin johnson. par putt on 18. 19-under for the victory. his fifth career pga tour victory.

tennis. the finals of the winston-salem open. final tuneup for the u.s. open which starts monday. the native of nearby greensboro gets it together and takes it in three sets. nascar on deck. the night race in bristol, tennessee, we'll have that for you at 11:00. see you back then, and i guess we can go to a movie or something. >> alan: we'll watch the game later on. one last story. a lot of people filled the streets of oakland for a celebration of asian culture. a big crowd came out for the 24th annual oakland chinatown street festival. organizers say it's one of the largest asian-american festivals in the u.s. spans nine city blocks, features cultural demonstrations and performances, and 200 booths. the festival continues tomorrow from 10:00 toking5:30.

thanks for joining us. nascar's countdown is next. and our next newscast tonight at 11:00 p.m. captioned by closed captioning services inc. ♪ ♪

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