you're advised to leave the area immediately. >> brace for impact. hurricane irene tightens aim on the east coast. 65 million americans are in the path of the monster storm, now 700 miles wide with winds topping 115 miles an hour. evacuations are ordered and states of emergencies declared from barrier islands to big cities as irene moves closer and time runs out. captioning funded by cbs

good morning everybody and thanks for joining us. i'm betty nguyen. this morning hurricane irene is taking dead aim at the east coast in one hurricane expert describes as a nightmare keen snare yo. some 65 million people are at risk. irene is packing 115-mile-per-hour sustained winds. irene is slowly moving and it is massive. consider this -- in a normal hurricane tropical storm, winds extend 150 miles from the center. well, irene's winds extend 290 miles. irene battered the bahamas, destroying hundreds of homes on the smaller islands. some small towns report 90% of their homes were damaged. florida will avoid getting hit but the storm's outer bands did make for some very choppy surf. governors in knock knock, virginia, maryland, delaware, new jersey, new york as well as connecticut have declared states of new jersey. hurricane watches and warnings

are posted this morning from north carolina to new jersey. if irene continues on track, it would be the strongest hurricane to hit the east coast in seven years. forecasters predict irene will hug the coast, heading straight up the i-95 corridor. it's expected to hit north carolina as a category 3 storm early tomorrow, then head north and slam into new york early sunday, before pushing up into new england. president obama has already declared a national state of emergency in north carolina. drew levenson is in kill devil hills on the outer banks where they're already beginning to feel the effects. good morning, drew. what's the latest there? >> reporter: good morning, betty. the surf is really starting to kick up here along the north carolina coast as we are bracing for a direct hit from hurricane irene tomorrow. right now it is a category 3 hurricane but forecasters predict as this hurricane moves across the warm waters, it could become a cat 4. up and down the east coast, people are packing up and

getting out of irene's way. >> i'm taking this one more serious than any one i've ever seen. >> reporter: the monster hurricane is expected to roar ashore in north carolina tomorrow, with 115-mile-per-hour winds before marching north. it's been track to hit major cities like washington, d.c., new york, and boston. at least seven states, including north carolina, have already declared states of emergency to free up resources. >> regardless of what happens, the best thing we in north carolina can do is to be prepared and to take this very, very seriously. >> reporter: here along the outer banks, businesses and homes have been boarded up, the sandbags, they've been filled up. people in this area know what kind of damage a mighty hurricane like irene could inflict. that's why many are obeying evacuation orders especially tourists. >> my mom wanted to stick it out. she was bent on hanging on to a pine tree if she had to but we talked her down from it so we're going to head out. >> reporter: for carlton smith

jr., his farm and his livelihood. >> we've got about 205 acres of corn out here in this field. >> reporter: he's rushing to harvest his corn crop before the hurricane blows in and thousands of his crop are blown away. how much would you have left this corn? >> this particular spot left another five days to a week. >> reporter: and finally for those who had considered riding out this storm with a hurricane party, they're out of luck. alcohol sales have been suspended at also state-owned liquor stores. this is a huge storm, about the same size as hurricane katrina, but forecasters say, betty, they don't feel it will be as catastrophic. still, it is very dangerous. >> indeed, your residents there are no strangers to hurricanes. do you get the sense even they think this one is different? >> reporter: yeah, i've been out here for a lot of hurricanes on the north carolina coast and many times people will say we're

sticking this out. you don't find a lot of people are saying that and a lot of people this time are packing their bags, getting out and making sure they are safe when irene comes ashore. >> very smart. drew levenson in kill devil hills, thank you for that. if you needed any more convincing about the size and scope of this storm, take a look at this. this is what irene looks like from the international space station. hurricane force winds extend 80 miles from the storm center and they're expected to strengthen today. irene could generate more than a foot of rain in some areas. as we reported, irene is headed to the northeast. evacuation orders for parts of new york city could be issued today. the city's mass transit system will likely be shut down some time tomorrow. one big concern is storm surge which could raise water levels ten feet. michelle miller reports. >> reporter: at the coney island amusement park, thrill seekers got in last minute rides.

billy burke has worked at this food stab for 29 years. he's never experienced a hurricane on the boardwalk before. >> if it raises 20 feet this is going to be underwater. >> reporter: coney island could be irene's first stop in new york city, as the storm rolls over 5 million people living in queens and brooklyn. >> if a category 2 hurricane hit new york city it depends on the time of day and the tide and various other things but it would be weeks or months before the city got back to normal. >> reporter: that's because new york city is in the center of a geographical right angle between new jersey and long island. irene could push water into that corner with no place to go but new york's tunnels, streets and sidewalks. >> every 75 years the northeast gets a major hurricane. it doesn't take a major hurricane to do major damage. >> reporter: that's the fear in new jersey. hurricane irene is following

roughly the same path as hurricane donna, which pounded the jersey shore in 1960. new jersey officials would consider manned doirdatory evac. >> from a flooding perspective this could be a 100-year event. >> reporter: the whole northeast is under the military are

also taking action. danielle nottingham reports. >> reporter: navy commanders ordered more than two dozen ships and some aircraft to leave norfolk, virginia, and head for open water, that's where they'll ride out hurricane irene as the storm roars north this weekend. the coast guard is doing the same thing. more than 100,000 national guard troops are standing by, if state governors call for help. the red cross is ready, too. >> we can start moving vehicles and start moving people around. >> reporter: staffers at the disaster operations center in washington, d.c., are tracking the hurricane, and making sure their teams in the storm's path have everything they need. >> we're coordinating the movement of trucks here. we're coordinating the movement of volunteers. we're actually deploying

hundreds of volunteers from this location here in washington. >> reporter: the operation center keeps in close contact with fema before and after the storm. this is one of the maps that gives the red cross an instant picture of where its resources are. the federal emergency management agency is moving its resources, too, prepositioning supplies at ft. bragg, north carolina. forces there know the drill. >> we are moving supplies in not based upon any individual state but to make sure we have enough resources within the regions. >> reporter: fema director craig fugate and his team are keeping president obama up to date as hurricane irene approaches the coast. just ahead on the "morning news" irene hasn't even hit but gas prices are already headed higher. plus it may be tough getting around this weekend even if you're not in the storm zone.

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at least 53 people are dead in mexico after gunmen stormed a casino and then set it on fire. the attack on thursday was in monterrey, about 140 miles from the texas border. witnesses said the gunmen apparently went to rob the casino. they poured gasoline on the carpet and then lit it. monterrey is in the grip of a surge of violence by drug gangs. in libya this morning, rebels and forces loyal to moammar gadhafi are continuing the fight for tripoli. the rebels have been struggling to take complete control of the capital since sunday. the interim government plans to move from benghazi, libya's second biggest city to tripoli. gadhafi is still on the run. rebels thought they had him cornered thursday but he wasn't there. they did uncover his labyrinth of secret undercover tunnels.

on the "cbs moneywatch," irene makes a travel mess and wall street wants or waits that is for the fed. terrell brown is here in new york with the latest oen that. >> good morning to you, good to see you on this friday. asian markets swung up and down before most finished with losses. hong kong's hang seng lost about 1%, tokyo's nikkei added a fraction and today wall street gets the latest on gdp. stocks took a hit on thursday after a worse than expected report on jobless claims. the dow dropped 171 points. the nasdaq lost 48. wall street will be listening to federal reserve chair ben bernanke later today. he speaks at the fed's annual retreat in wyoming. many are hoping he'll announce more government support for the economy. like the fed now expired $600 buy-back program did little for the economy but gave a lift. warren buffett will invest

in bank of america. buffett made $280 million. let's talk hurricane irene. analysts talking about damage estimates in the tens of billions of dollars. it's already been a rough year for the insurance agency and with hurricane season just getting started it looks like it will guess worse. many oil refineries on the east coast will close before the storm hits. once the storm passes it will take several days for the refineries to get back up and running. they'll need almost a month to get back up to full operations. air travel taking a hit as well. many airlines are issuing waivers allowing passengers to change their travel plans without penalty. travel between the east coast and the caribbean are suspended. amtrak canceled service south of

washington at least through sunday. trains operating along the northeast corridor are moving at reduced speeds. >> terrell brown here in new york thank you for that live report. we bump, and bromance, a close non-sexual relationship between men. in sports, slam, slam, slam, the bronx bombers liven up or actually live up to the name and make another mark in the record books.

here's a look at the weather in some cities around the country. new york partly cloudy 84, miami showers and 90 degrees there. chicago sunny and 79. sunny and a whopping 103 in dallas and l.a., a sunny 88. time now for a check of the national forecast. the latest satellite picture shows hurricane irene off the florida coast, moving toward the carolinas. clear and dry from the great lakes into the northeast. stormy in the southwest, while the west coast is clear.

later today the carolina coast gets hit with heavy rains and dangerous winds as irene approaches. hot in the southern plains with temperatures in the 90s and 100s and mild and pleasant day in the northeast ahead of what could be a very ugly weekend. in sports, major league baseball already changed its schedule because of hurricane irene. philadelphia moved sunday's game with florida to play a double header tomorrow. boston did the same thing, with sunday's game against oakland and the yankees might play two today in baltimore. last night in new york, the yankees robinson cannoe and r granderson, they pounded them 32-9. a three-run shot in the first inning and solo blast in the seventh off chicago

pitching, the braves beat the cubs 8-3. the u.s. championship game is set at the world little league series. california held on for a 2-0 win, set to play montana tomorrow. the winner advances to the world series finals scheduled for sunday. when we return an update on our top story, evacuations are under way as hurricane irene heads straight for the east coast, with millions in danger from its battering winds and rain. excuse me? my grandfather was born in this village. [ automated voice speaks foreign language ] [ male announcer ] in here, everyone speaks the same language. ♪ in here, forklifts drive themselves. no, he doesn't have it. yeah, we'll look on that. [ male announcer ] in here, friends leave you messages written in the air. that's it right there. [ male announcer ] it's the at&t network. and what's possible in here is almost impossible to say.

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join us for cbs 5 early edition ... beginning at 4:30. ,,,, on the "cbs morning news" here's a look at today's weather. hurricane irene approaches the carolinas with landfall expected saturday afternoon. thunderstorms across the southwest and the great plains and sunny and warm on the west coast.

here's another look at this morning's top story. hurricane irene, the massive storm is heading up the east coast, where there are hurricane watches and warnings from north carolina to new jersey. irene has sustained winds of 115 miles per hour with hurricane force winds extending 80 miles from her center. the storm is expected to strengthen later today. irene is forecast to make landfall in north carolina tomorrow, then move up the coast to new york on sunday. cbs news hurricane consultant david bernard says irene is being guided by a low pressure system. >> -- we go into sunday we have that huge blocking high still over the central atlantic, that is preventing the storm from going east, instead it's creating a pathway to carry the hurricane right up the east coast. right now it looks like land interaction is almost a certain bad. >> evacuation orders have already been ordered along the north carolina outer banks where vacationers are moving out and

residents are preparing for the worst. preparations are also under way in new york city, where evacuation orders may be issued today. mass transit could be shut down beginning tomorrow. this morning on "the early show," the latest on hurricane irene as the big storm gets set to hit the east coast. i'm betty nguyen. this is the "cbs morning news." have i got a surprise for you! a mouthwatering combination of ingredients... i know you're gonna love. [ barks ] yes, it's new beneful healthy fiesta. made with wholesome grains, real chicken, even accents of tomato and avocado. yeah! come on! [ barking ] gotta love the protein for muscles-- whoo-hoo! and omega-rich nutrition for that shiny coat. ever think healthy could taste so good? [ woman announcing ] new beneful healthy fiesta. another healthful, flavorful beneful.

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two weeks from sunday will mark the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. while we've all been affected in some way by that dark day, the children of those lost have suffered the most, and many of them recently shared an emotional reunion at a remarkable summer camp. michelle miller was there. >> reporter: like many camps that dot the landscape of new york's cat skill mountains, kids arrive here looking for a summer of fun, but most of the 85 campers share something else.

>> our parents and uncles and family members all died to an act of terrorism. >> reporter: victoria sanityorelli's grandmother died in the towers 9/11. >> other people really don't understand. >> reporter: charlie costello's father, chuck, fixed elevators and happened to be nearby when the planes hit the twin towers. >> he ran in and came out with a father and daughter and ran back in a second time and never came back out. >> reporter: he's a hero. >> yeah. >> reporter: charlie started to come to camp pace when it opened nine years ago, just before the first anniversary of 9/11. >> there's only one time a year that i'll ever talk to people about like what happened when i was younger, and that's at this camp. >> reporter: camp haze is named for scott hazelborn a 29-year-old bond broker on the top floors of the trade center. he planned to quit finance at the end of 2001 to become a

school teacher. in the immediate aftermath of the attacks, many victim's families were paralyzed by their grief but in just ten days, the haz hazelcorns launched a foundation that led to this camp. his parents, chuck and janet, see the camp as bay to fill full one of scott's dreams. >> he said he'd love to have a camp where children stripped themselves of everything materialistic and share their differences. when 9/11 happened we said what better way to honor him. >> reporter: campers like toren alkins lost his aunt, comes back year after year and consider this a home away from home. >> people used to cry together, laugh together and now there's not much of that goes on anymore, but we still know the

deal. >> never gets better, it's just, it makes it easier to deal with. >> we all love camp haze. >> reporter: ten years later the children of camp haze are pulling in the same direction, strengthening bonds, born of tragedy. michelle miller, cbs news, monticello, new york. >> important program. coming up a little bit later on "the early show," full coverage of hurricane irene. we have a team of correspondents up and down the east coast with the latest on where the storm is headed, what to expect and what you can do to stay safe. that's the "cbs morning news" for this friday. thanks for watching, everyone. i'm betty nguyen. have a great weekend. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com