damage in puerto rico and elsewhere. >> millions of people along the east coast are under a hurricane warning which means they could see hurricane conditions in the next 36 hours. north carolina, virginia, maryland, delaware, new jersey, new york, connecticut are all under state of emergency. there's emerge evacuations in north carolina, maryland and new jersey. president obama is about to address the nation on the threat. >> i urge americans to take it seriously and provide an overview of our ongoing federal preparation for what's likely to be an extremely dangerous and costly storm. i've just convened a conference call with senior members of my emergency response team and directed them to make sure that we are bringing all federal resources to bear and deploying them properly to cope with the storm and its aftermath. i've spoken this morning with governors and mayors of major metropolitan areas along the

eastern seaboard to know that this administration is in full support of their efforts to prepare with this storm and stands fully ready to support their response efforts. we will continue to stay in close contact with them. i cannot stress this highly enough, if you are in the projected path of this hurricane, you have to take precautions now. don't wait. don't delay. we all hope for the best, but we have to be prepared for the worst. all of us have to take this storm seriously. you need to listen to your state and local officials. and if you are given an evacuation order please follow it. just to underscore this point, we ordered an aircraft carrier group out to sea to avoid this storm yesterday. so if you're in the way of this hurricane, you should be preparing now. if you aren't sure how to prepare your families or your home or your business for a hurricane or any other emergency, then you can visit

ready.gov, or listow.gov. now since last weekend the ma's been deploying its incident management assistance teams to staging areas and communities up and down the coast. fema has lls of -- millions of heaters of water, millions of meals, tens of thousands of cots and blanks along with other supplies prepositioned along the eastern seaboard. the american red cross has already begun preparing shelters in north carolina and other states. these resources are all being coordinated with our state and local partners and they stand ready to be deployed as necessary. but again, if you are instructed to evacuate please do so. it's going to take time for first responders to begin rescue operations and the get the resources we prepositioned to people in need. so the more you can do to be prepared now, making a plan,

make a supply kit, know your evacuation route, follow instructions of your local officials, the quicker we can focus our resources after the storm on those who need help the most. to sum up, all indications point to this being a historic hurricane. although we can't predict with perfect certainty the impact of irene over the next few days, the federal government has spent the better part of last week working closely with officials in communities that could be affected by this storm to see to it that we are prepared. so now's the ka time for residents of these communities in the hours that remain to do the same. and fema and craig fugate is director of fema will be keeping people closely posted in the next 24 to 48 hours. thank you very much. >> president obama's statement here on the threat of hurricane irene and the government resources in place to help folks

ride out the storm. by the way, officials say if you are in irene's path, the time is running out now to take cover. >> the evacuation orders that are being issued in the coastal areas are key. people need to leave early, travel a safe distance, get somewhere safe. not wait for another forecast. all of the planning and preparation will be in vain if people don't heed those evacation orders. >> already north carolina's getting rain, but the biggest impact isn't expected there until tonight. baltimore is expected to start getting hit tomorrow afternoon. philadelphia and new york could start seeing irene's effects saturday night and then by sunday morning irene could be in boston by midday sunday irene could hit portland as a tropical storm. president obama just saying moments ago this will be a historic storm. let's get right to the weather channel's brian norcross now. when we're looking at the path, explain the size and scope of this storm. >> contessa, just to emphasize

what the president said, i think this will be the storm of our lifetimes. the odds are increasing. we don't see any way to avoid an absolutely extreme event. a hurricane that we have not seen in a couple of centuries along the east coast. i cannot say strongly enough that all action is required to be sure that you know what you're going to do for the next week. wherever you live along the east coast north of north carolina. let's look at the hurricane right now as we see it approaching the outer banks it's a big hurricane. and it's projected to get even bigger in scope in size. now it's actually going to get the top -- winds are going to get lower, but the size of it is actually going to grow as it moves to the north. it's in this case it really is about the size. first of all, it is going to batter north carolina that doesn't look like any way to avoid a direct megahit on the outer banks of north carolina

and other portions eastern portions of that state. but then up the coast and the tide water as you know the fleet is out there. but the tide water is going to take a very, very hard 4 it in virginia. then the delmarva peninsula, ocean city, jersey shore all these we don't see any way now to avoid extremely dangerous situations in all of these areas. then we get up to new york city. but also long island and closer to the water you have these life-threatening conditions expected there. so heed all evacuation orders. it is critical on both sides of long island and anywhere near the water. then in new england, that's going to take until sunday as you said to get up there. i just want to show you real quickly the wave heights with this system now along the coast already.

in this white area those are over 30 feet in. some places over 40 feet and that is heading for the coastline. and that is why it is critical that people at the coast or anywhere near the water pay very close attention and they are ready to go the second that evacuation order goes out. contessa, an extreme, extreme event like i have certainly read about, thought about, but never really thought would happen. >> bryan, let me ask you specifically, let's talk about the people who are first in line here, for instance, north carolina, are you most concerned about storm surge there? are you concerned about the wind? >> most concerned about storm surge. the good news is in eastern north carolina they know how to deal with hurricanes. in all of this honestly in terms of level of concern now that i don't think there's going to be a lot of damage, those folks are good at this, that people know to leave. in general the situation there is, among the easiest to deal

with. >> bryan, thank you for keeping tabs on that and keeping us informed. we just got some video in from new jersey now this is the line of traffic along the atlantic city expressway. these are the folks who are listening to that mandatory evacuation order for the jersey shore. atlantic city casinos have been shut down. it's only their third time in thirstry closing those casinos. as anyone who knows getting back and forth to the jersey shore any summer weekend is a nightmare. this is expected to be especially bad. those folks are likely to be on the road for quite some time, but better now than when the storm is barrelling down on you. also, mandatory evacuation orders for ocean city, maryland and north carolina's outer banks. the evacuation of ocean city began at midnight. everybody is supposed to be out by 5:00. maryland's governor warned people in the hurricane watch zone to get prepared to go it alone in the immediate aftermath of the storm.

>> look, the first 72 are on you. in other words, every family needs to be prepared to weather 72 hours in the dark without electricity. there will be electrical outagesoutage outages. it will be so widespread it will take us quite a while to get to them. >> in the meantime, red cross is opening shelters, mobilizing thousands of volunteers and stock up for the long haul. >> we're anticipating that as i said it's going to be a huge geographical area with lots of people impacted and from the time perspective this could take weeks, maybe even months to be able to respond to. >> we also learned this morning residents of new port news, virginia, have been ordered to leave there by act tonight. and as you can see there some people have been taking advantage of the great waves along the east coast getting in a little surfing time that's unlikely to last for much longer

and bryan norcross was warning us about the wave heights out there. north carolina governor is pleading with people please to leave while they have time. >> we have to pull our folks, our emergency personnel and rescue personnel back inside as the storm comes. so that really does leave a person who choses to stay at the mercy of themselves and the storm. that's a real danger. >> nbc's kerry sand sers in atlantic beach, north carolina. we got the warning from bryan norcross about the wave heights. what are you seeing at beach level? >> reporter: they're kick up. we know it's going to get a lot worse. in the timing workings out, it looks like irene will be hitting this area here at a lower tide. so that's good news because of the surge that comes. it may be up to ten feet. mother nature has a little bit of a protection here. i'm going to take a look right over here with you. this is the protection that mother nature has in place. those are the dunes here.

as that surge comes in, it will hit these dunes. it will wash over. nonetheless, that's the first line of defense. just beyond you can see the homes that have is shutters there. they're gone. those people got out because they heeded the mandatory evacuation orders. the mandatory evacuation orders are in place. the police are now out telling people that they need to if they don't know yet get out. the reason the cops are out there they're on their public address systems telling people it's a mandatory evacuation. there will be a curfew that will go into effect at 8:00 p.m. tonight here. so the real problem is going to be getting on the bridges over to the mainland because once the winds pick up, you can't get on those bridges the department of transportation will shut them down. that's the issue far lot of people up the coast here. the folks here do have some advice of what they've gone through with other hurricanes for people to the north. the first most important thing is there's still time. people have time to make plans.

you just talked about the traffic on the i think it was new jersey, that's actually a good sign not a bad sign. for anybody who's sitting at home right now going i don't want to get into that traffic, it is going to get worse. you're going to leave. get the gas, get the plan, and if you can't find a hotel inland, call up that aunt who lives a couple states away and make that surprise visit and show up, you're going to need a place to stay. there are shelters. the red cross is coordinating that in various locations. you can camp in with other people and some schools that are opening up. and ride it out that way. bottom line here, contessa is we just heard one of the government officials there say it's on you. so get in gear and make a plan and start executing it. >> kerry, thank you so much for the warning and for keeping tabs out there as irene approaches. again, north carolina starting to get some of the outer rain bands starting to feel the rain. the big impact not expected until later. delaware has already declared a

state of emergency. the governor has ordered the evacuation of low lying areas of the state. he's with me on the phone now. governor, let me ask you what's the primary concern right now ahead of what our meteorologist from the weather channel said is unavoidable as a hit to delaware's coastline? >> the primary concern for us right now is getting peel out of the way because we know that roads are going to be impassable, bridges may have to be closed. emergency vehicles may not be able to get where we want them to get. it's important that people get out of the way. >> we're looking at a live pyre right now at wrightsville, beach, north carolina. are you still seeing people out at the beach trying to take advantage of a higher surf than normal on the east coast? >> i've not been at the beach, so i can't say for sure. we know a lot of people are leaving. we told visitors as of 4:45 yesterday that it was time for visitors to leave. as much as we love having them in delaware now is not the time.

>> are you preventing people from going to the shore? >> we're basically saying nobody should be coming in. in fact, we really want people leaving. we don't have police line up, we're making it very clear this is not the time to go to beach. >> a category two storm which this well could be for delaware can feature winds up to 1010 miles per hour. how much of a danger is that particularly for your livestock industry that you have in southern delaware? >> well, there's obviously a business implication to it. we're in close touch with the poultry industry. we can't control the size and scope of the winds and the waves that are headed our way. but we can control how we respond to them. so, you know, property can be rebuilt, but lives cannot be unlost. that's where our focus is at the moment. >> it's good of uh-huh you to spend a couple minutes with us on what must be a very busy day for you. >> thanks a lot. the nation's capitol is bracing for irene. sunday was supposed to be the

dedication ceremony for the new martin luther sing memorial. this morning they started dismantling the structures for the event. am track cancelled all service south of d.c. beginning today. that lasts through the weekend. if air travel was in your plans, don't worry now, major airlines are waiving fees for changes in and out of cities affected by hurricane irene. luke russert is live in washington, d.c. i'm sure there's a lot of disappointed people because there were so many folks who were looking forward to that dedication ceremony for the memorial. it's just too dangerous at this point. >> reporter: it is, contessa. the decision was made yesterday to call it off. they were expecting 250,000 people here in washington. that ceremony is now postponed probably later in september or october. we can tell you what you mentioned airlines now if you were planning to fly between north carolina and new england all the major carriers for the most part are offering fee free changes you don't have to pay the $150 travel fee to change

your ticket. some companies are offering a refund. if you're scheduled to fly between north carolina and new england this weekend chances are you have a difficult time. might not be a bad idea to sit at home and relax. same thing with amtrak, all trains are cancelled. there could be a real potential for interruption between here and new england. there's a lot of parts to the amtrak train track is susceptible to floodwaters. that's the worry, but overall there is some hurricane activity here. preparations and sandbags in washington, d.c. to protect the metro crate. they don't want the d.c. subway to get flooded putting sandbags around that structure. quite a wild thing to see in our nation's capital. >> thank you. it reminds you you bringing up the metro in washington, d.c. i saw survey a couple years ago where they asked new yorkers who should you do in a hurricane a lot of people said you should go to the subway. that's the wrong answer.

you want to get inside a shelter the subways are below the street, they can get flooded. >> reporter: it's very easy. earthquakes go down -- earthquakes you go low, hurricanes you go high. so seek the high ground. do not try to retreat to the basement or the metro. you don't want to do that. there's a potential of flooding. get up high. if there's a mountain top around here you like, go up there have a nice campground. a wonderful, romantic evening. >> concrete bunker in the mountain is sounding pretty good about now. >> in new york city all construction work is off this weekend. evacuation in low lying areas of new york have already begun especially for nursing homes and hospitals. they're moving residents and patients to higher ground for their own safety. but so far there's no order, know mandatory evacuations here for other residents to leave. >> we will make a decision about whether to order a mandatory evacuation of zone a low lying areas by 8:00 a.m. saturday. however, we recommend that

people start going to alternative locations if they have them because of potential traffic jams and mass transit limitations on saturday. >> we're live in battery park city, new york, and joining us by phone, the director of new york state's office of emergency management. andrew, let me begin with you, one of the things that bryan norcross was telling us from the weather channel is north carolinians know how to prepare for hurricanes. the implication being new yorkers may not be so prepared. what's the number one concern for people living in new york? andrew's line is not so good. let me switch to you. when you're out and about and talking to people in battery park city, do they feel a sense of knowing how to handle the threat to come? >> reporter: not right here in the battery park, contessa. as you can see behind me lady liberty back there. this area while the mayor is suggesting people should vacate

this area, it's not mandatory, this area is very much open for business. if you can pan over a little bit, you will see a line of people, thousands of people are still lining up here heading to the ferries, the water is still calm, heading to the ferries to go out to ellis island and to liberty island to the statue of liberty. we don't have any evacuations here of tourists. but the mayor as you said has said that people who are infirmed, in nursing homes and some of the hospitals they have been ordered to evacuate because they don't want it to with too late and then people have too little time to get to high ground in the event that this storm does hit as forecasted. >> we're watching right now the new york city evacuation zones. i want to point out where -- she's standing in sort of that orange part on the torn stipof manhattan. the problem is because water surrounds the lower edge of manhattan and the east river up

one side, the hudson river river up the other side, all of brooklyn, there's a lot of low lying areas in new york city. if this becomes a mandatory evacuation talking about hundreds of thousands of people who need to get moved away from these coast lines. >> the mayor says it could be as many as 280,000 people who would have to get out of the area. we're talking also he says about the possibility of shutting down the entire new york city transit that's buses, trains and sub waist. it would be unprecedented. that could happen. if it does, and there are people who are trying to get out, it will be very difficult for them to get out and to get out quickly. that's why they're sounding the all alorm to move now if you can. >> i live in one of those zone a neighborhoods and spent time last night putting all my electronic equipment, speakers, computer all that in much higher ground because i'm worried about the threat of flooding there. thanks. let's take a live look at ocean city, maryland, where we see -- oh, man, i hate it when we say

we're going to show it and we lose it. in maryland a lot of people have evacuated they are taking this storm seriously. >> we're calling this a hurricane made for tv because you guys get all excited about it. but that same guy yesterday was boarding up his house. they're taking this one seriously. ♪ i just want to be okay today - ♪ i just want to know today - [ whistles ] ♪ know today, know today - [ cat meows ] - ♪ know that maybe i will be okay ♪ [ chimes ] travelers can help you protect the things you care about... and save money with multi-policy discounts. are you getting the coverage you need... and the discounts you deserve? for an agent or quote, call 800-my-coverage... or visit travelers.com.

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this ises a bury park, new jersey. people are out enjoying a beautiful day on the board walk now. may not look like that come sunday. new jersey expected to start feeling the effects of irene by late saturday night and the real impact here on sunday. the weather channel tells us we're looking for a major impact for the jersey shore.

officials are now requiring residents and visitors in several parts of new jersey toe evacuate as the storm approaches. again, we'll keep our eye on these live pictures where evacuations began on the jersey shore this morning. not in asbury park, but in other places. no vehicles will be allowed to enter long beach island. evacuations are also taking place in new jersey's casino hot spot of atlantic city. here's the scene at a gas station in south jersey's cape may where cars are lining up before the storm hits. this was sent in by an msnbc viewer. thank you for that. we want to remind you if you have pictures of the storm, the lead up to it, your preparations, we want to see them. we don't want you to snap those photos at a danger to yourself. you can upload them at firstperson.msnbc.com. now to rhode island where hurricane watch is currently in effect for most of the state.

we have the mayor of providence, rhode island. mayor, good to talk to you today. what's the job at hand for you right now. >> thank you contessa for having us. we're working on getting the information out to people similar in what you're doing in terms of the internet over the radio, on our website. we want to make sure that everyone takes the storm seriously. it's always better to be prepared. that's what we need to do here. putting gas in your car, having battery powered radio, making sure people understand some of the basics for what we need to do because we do expect an impact and we'll know more about the strength of that impact later today. but we're expecting an impact here in rhode island. >> mayor, in terms of the geographic makeup is there anything that puts your city at particular ris snk. >> one of the things about it is obviously we're right on the water and there's also we're expecting some flooding because of the -- we're going to have a pretty high tide when the

storm's expected to hit. so that's something else that we're aware of being careful with. fortunately we have a hurricane barrier that will help us and protect us. we're working very hard to make sure that we keep people safe. we want to make sure that everyone takes it seriously and is prepared. >> nice to talk to you. good luck with riding out the storm. we're keeping our eyes on breaking news out of nebraska. a train carrying 175 passengers derailed in southwest nebraska. it hit a vehicle on the tracks and one person had to be take on the the hospital. as many as eight others were hurt. and as we learn more we will definitely pass along new details to you. a quick here. we're back with more irene coverage after this. time for the "your business" entrepreneur of the week. these two panted to personalize the surfing experience. they started grain surf boards out of a farm in maine. customers can build a kit and

design their own boards or take a course at the farm where mike and brad share their expertise and passion. for for watch "your business" sunday mornings at 7:30 on msnbc.

welcome back to msnbc's coverage of hurricane irene. i'm contessa brewer. rom new york city. there is new york harborer a beautiful shot of the statue of liberty. the boats are still out. we're not seeing much of the

high, rough surf coming into new york harbor yet. but norfolk, virginia, that may be changing. we know it's changing in north carolina. here is norfolk, virginia, right now. looks like a gorgeous day at the beach. the governor has ordered the state offices in coastal areas to close today at 3:00 p.m. it's an encouraging private employers to do the same thing. they want people to be taking very seriously the threat of this hurricane. in fact, let's show you the weather channel map to give you an idea of why it needs to be taken so seriously. the threat level here from wind, rain, waves and especially storm surge up and down the northeast corridor. at water's edge now we're being told this threat the catastrophic, potentially deadly. hurricane and tropical storm warnings are in effect from south carolina up to new jersey. by the way, with most of the impact as you can see it north

of south carolina we've already heard that there was a near drowning in florida from this rough surf. they're not even getting the major brunt of the storm. still about ten hours from irene making landfall on the east coast. the states have been declaring emergencies up and down the coastline. north carolina, maryland, new jersey, new york, connecticut, delaware, virginia, mandatory or voluntary evaiks are already in effect in many of those states. so if you live in one of these states you want to be checking in with your local officials. all right, but folks are trying to hold out a sense of humor. a good night irene message from a homeowner in nags head. a surf shop asking irene to hang a right. board up houses making the point loud and clear, go away irene. the storm isn't going away. what are we expecting? >> still a big storm by all accounts even with the latest update, even with a little bit

of weakening it is still a very large storm as we have been talking about for the past couple of days the thing when you look at this storm system it's the overall size of it stretching several hundred miles and its overall size from the north down to the south. then you take a look at the center of the storm. the hurricane force winds stretch out over 70 miles from the center of the storm. that's a pretty wide radius when you look at a hurricane. tropical force storm winds to almost 300 miles from the center. so no doubt the entire east coast from south carolina, which is already seeing outer rain bonds moving in right now all the way up into new england will be feeling the impacts from the storm. on my radar also are these winds 20 to 25 miles per hour here in will mington down to am i rightle beach and down to georgetown as well. take a look here at the hurricane warnings and watches from will mington up to central new jersey, you're under hurricane warnings the mandatory

evacuations in some cases and then long island, the entire area of long island all the way up to boston hurricane watch at this point. i want to take a closer look a at this. the timing hasn't changed too much with this either, with this latest update. tomorrow morning right here on the outer banks of north carolina, we're looking another that window of the storm peaking from 4:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. and then starting to clear out here pretty rapidly by sunday morning. then as we head up the coastline right into delaware by saturday night as possibly a category two the real key thing here, contessa is how much strength will it hold on to after it passes the carolinas? most of the forecast models aren't wavering right now. it does look like a long island landfall at this point. >> it's weird for me to see you many the studio you're not out on the beach. president obama is telling east coast residents irene could

be a historic storm. it's prompting mandatory evaxs from north carolina to the jersey shores. mark potter is in nags head, north carolina now. mark, good to see you. first of all, tell me about the waves? are you starting to see the wave height increasing? >> reporter: yeah, we are. not great big waves right now. they have come up some. we've got a little bit of a light breeze. a cloud cover that is attributed to the storm which is coming to us. this is almost the calm before the storm, we're getting some effects, but they're relatively minimal. we do know that later today and into tonight the weather is expected to deteriorate. the storm is expected to be here tomorrow morning. in the afternoon the very worst is expected to be here tomorrow afternoon. this the fortuitous in daylight hours we still have real tiffly bad weather for people to be

evacuating. the question is how many people will be evacuating. the tourists were out of here yesterday. they were ordered out. the question is how many residents will do that. some have board up their homes and said they are leaving. others say they're absolutely staying here. that happens all the time. emergency managers are telling them if they get in trouble they can't help them. a lot of old-timers never leave and they're not going to leave now. >> mark, are they saying why, why they're so intent on riding it out again when we're getting the warnings this could be a hurricane like we haven't seen in generations? >> they've heard those warnings for decades and they don't believe them now. they say that they know it's going to be a tough storm, they've ridden them out before. the other problem they talk about, they say when they leave the island it's a hard -- it's often hard to come back right away. they get blocked off and can't get back to their homes.

they're taking a risk. they know it. they say they're going to do it again. >> mark, thank you. danny couch a local business owner in cape hatterras is with me on the phone now. i understand there's mandatory evacuation orders for your area, you're planning to stay, is that correct? >> yes, i am. >> why? >> i'm a ninth generation care linian. we've been through these before. >> what have you done to prepare? >> i have 125-gallons of fresh water gravity fed system, i have a whole house generator. i've got a basement, my windows are shuttered. i've been ready. we've got food. i'm just waiting. >> i understand that you and your brother manage vacation homes there in the area. how many and what have you told the people who rent those vacation homes? >> we have 642 vacation homes that we manage. there was a a mandatory evacuation of visitors yesterday. it was a very orderly evax.

however, you do have some obs nant people until they leave we can't get our houses ready. but fortunately we're down to zero occupancy and now we can pay attention to our own needs. >> danny, i wish you the best of luck riding out the storm. they say this is going to be a really rough one. keeping my fingers crossed for you. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. a live look -- tell me where -- new jersey? in delmar, new jersey. this is the new jersey coastline. belmar. okay. thank you. they're yelling in my ear, sometimes it's hard to understand. it looks like a beautiful day out there. again, so far we're not seeing any of the effects of this storm coming in for the new jersey, new york, delaware area, it looks like a pretty nice day so far. where we are starting to see those effects is the north carolina where they're getting the rain and some rough surf out there as well.

we'll find out if people listen to the officials and get out of dodge ahead of the storm. quick break here. we'll be right back.

welcome back to msnbc, pennsylvania has just added its state to the list of those in state of emergencying ahead of irene's arrival. governor chris christie is talking about his state's preparation plans. >> we are working on making sure that we have appropriate evacuations for folks who can't evacuate themselves. jim simpson whose here, the commissioner of transportation and jim wine steen the executive director of new jersey transit are working to supply bus assets to move folks who cannot otherwise get themselves off of the barrier islands particularly in atlantic city. so we're working to try to use today, it's a sunny day out. we are using today to get

prepared. and i'll end with this and then take questions. for citizens out there today is your last day to really prepare for this. this is going to come starting tomorrow afternoon and evening through the early part midday of sunday. and so all the things that director mckenna reviewed with everybody yesterday getting five-day supply of water, a gallon per person per day. making sure that you get nonperishable foods and have can openers to open those foods. that you have flashlights and batteries to operate them. that you have transiter radios and batteries to operate them. so you can hear news reports and advice over the public airways. all of those things make sure your gas tanks are filled so if you need to move, you can move if power goes out many of the gas station ifs not all of them will not be operating. so we need to be ready. you need to use the day to prepare. today is not the dinner to go

the atlantic city. today is the day to get yourselves ready for what's going to be happening over the next 48 hours, for those who are working today, when you're done with work, making your priority to get that checklist done of the things you need to have yourself and your family ready, there's nothing that i've seen in the last 24 hours that indicates 4 is going to be any less serious than what i said yesterday. in fact, in many ways it's getting more daunting because it is barrelling down on us now. one last thing i had conversations last night with governor barbour of mississippi and governor jindahl of louisiana, to get advice from them given their experience in florida, mississippi and louisiana regarding their experiences with hurricane both preparedness and the aftermath. i also had an opportunity to speak this morning to former florida governor bush and picked his brain for a while as well about ideas and issues that he

thought would be important for us to address given his experience in florida. all three of the governors were incredibly generous with their time and their information to me and we're going to benefit from the fact that we have those relationships and they're willing to share the information. so questions? >> so there's governor chris christie in new jersey. already state of emergency here. the weather channel is warning it looks like a direct impact on new jersey's coastline is unavoidable at this point. as you heard the governor say there, this is not the time to be going out to the jersey shore checking out the surf as it starts to increase in height and severity. this is the time to get abway from that shoreline. the atlantic city expressway is already back to become bumper to bumper nightmare with folks who are heeding the warning. so don't contribute to it. so with the approach of hurricane irene, people in the

path have a new tool to keep them safe and it fits right in your hand. consumer reports says cell phone users can usually text more successfully than making phone calls when a network experiences high volume that's because texting uses less data. for more now i'm joined by joe brown the editor in chief with gizmoto.com. good to see you. >> good to see you. >> the odd thing was we had an earthquake in new york city this week. when everybody's trying to get a signal it imja jams it up. >> when you have a big event an acute event everybody's going to call you, your mom overseas or your brother or your aunt. all of that traffic, all of that data just crushes the networks. text messages are tiny, they can fit through the cracks. they're easy to get a message through. that's your best be bet.

>> they keep regarding regardless if you keep hitting send? >> right. >> what about ie pads? what if you have a touch pad devices that operates almost like a pc? >> any kind of access to the internet's going to be great. the internet is something that's not superconnected to your local conditions. so if a cell phone tower goes down, the internet's can be fine. that means if you want to send an email saying you're okay, it's going to have more of a chance getting through than trying to use one one particular way. you can use the ipad and internet in general to stay on top of what's happening. noaa.gov is a useful resource to see where the storm is coming from and where it's going to hit and get up to date information and then there's ipad apps that can help you. >> red cross said we have an app for what shelters you can go to. it's great to get those in line downloaded early. >> stay informed and stay charged up, too. >> joe, appreciate that. the twitteratti are responding

to the hurricane using the hash tag irene. victoria sharky tweets irene is starting to sound intense. glad i beat the new jersey shore evacuation traffic yesterday. smart thinker. another one says i'm spending all my hurricane prep time bragging about my land line with corded phone. jane clark says why couldn't the hurricane be during the week so i didn't have to go to work. we'll be right back. n your moutp and form a layer called biofilm so strong it survives brushing. thankfully, there's listerine® antiseptic. its triple-action formula penetrates biofilm, kills germs and protects your mouth for hours. fight biofilm with listerine®. morning starts with arthritis pain... that's two pills before the first bell. [ bell rings ] it's time for recess... and more pills. afternoon art starts and so does her knee pain,

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here's the situation jer shore, you're under mandatory evacuation orders for many parts of the coastline. now you're seeing some of that traffic on the atlantic parkway. these are folks leaving atlantic city. the casinos are closing down. only the third time in history they will do so. this is near egg harbor as all

these cars are trying to get away from the coastline and to safer ground. new jersey governor chris christie says today is the last day to prepare. the weather channel's adam burg is in asbury park and mike taibbi is in sag harbor, new york. let's begin with the situation where you are, adam. >> reporter: it's the calm before the storm. it's a warm day. temperatures in the 80st. this is the calmest moment. as early as 5:00 p.m. tonight we're going to close this beach down. it will be closed at least until 9:00 a.m. monday. hurricane watches extending into new england. a hurricane warning means 36 hours into that particular spot you can expect hurricane force winds. we're talking a day, day and a half. it's a large system. it's lost a little steam as far as sustained winds. it's still a strong category two

hurricane with wind speeds at 105 miles per hour. the problem with this system it's so large that those swells and that surge will be rolling in. we'll see a high tide saturday night and another high tide saturday morning and that would probably be the worst of it. >> adam, thank you for the update. i just received a note that president obama is going to leave martha's vineyard tonight. he's cutting short his vacation buzz of a hurricane. that's the only detail we're getting. we'll keep you updated on the president's plans. let's go back to long island now where mike is. mike, we just heard from jeff that it looks like long island will get a direct hit from hurricane irene. what are the preparations? the preparations are considerable but not as though people here feel or are acting as if they're in the middle of a bulls eye. i went to a general store, there's plenty of water, batteries, there's not a run on

plywood. you talk to people it's a sea going town. they know what happened with hurricane gloria in 1985 and hurricane bob which didn't have a direct hit on the island in 1991. the big problem as adam was saying is the swell. the rise of the tide. if they get a four or six or eight-foot swell the flooding can be immense and the all of the boats will lift their moorings and be driven against each other. we have seen those pictures in the past. about 60% of the fleet here have left. the other 40 are hoping. one guy said we're going to wait it out, cross our fingers and make sure our insurance is paid off in full. >> the calm before the storm looks so nice in sag harbor. mike, thank you. appreciate that. it's odd i came to msnbc at the beginning of my career covering hurricanes. now here i am today as hurricane irene approaches and i have an opportunity to share some news of my own. i have been anchoring live news on msnbc for eight years at all

hours of the day and night and sometimes with co-hosts and sometimes solo, but this hour has become the most special my east coast viewers join me for lunch and my west coast viewers kick off the workday with me. and i have truly appreciated all the conversations that we've had online and the contributions you make every day on facebook and on twitter. and for those of you who watch on a regular basis you know this has been a roller coaster of a year for me. it's been filled with some of the greatest joy and unexpected tragedy. and it's really given me a chance to re-evaluate my priority and consider the possibilities and think about what's really important in life. and so today i'm turning a new page. i'm starting a new chapter. and i'm hosting for the last time a live show for msnbc. you will continue to see me hosting caught on camera on sunday nights and see my reports

occasionally for nbc news. i am excited about some future opportunities, but as you can tell i already miss the time we spend together each day. i also want to recognize the dedication and the incredible work of my team. it's truly a pleasure working with them. and i thank you so much for choosing to join me on msnbc. i hope you keep in touch. i'll see you soon. up next "andrea mitchell reports." have a good weekend. stay safe. 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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mitchell reports"ing time is running out for people to get ready for hurricane irene. the category two storm packing 105 miles per hour winds will make its first strike on the outer banks of north carolina will large waves are already slamming on shore. then it's