we'll see how it goes. new york is always going to be tough no matter what. >> toure, thank you for putting the -- i was waiting for you do get dom dominatrix into the storm. that's going to do it for us today. i'm matt miller in for dylan ratigan. it's been a pleasure to be here this week. continuing coverage of irene all weekend on msnbc. stay sage out there, stay prepared. "hardball" starts right now. come on, irene. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris jansing with a special edition of "hardball" and leading off tonight, here cups hurricane irene. to people who live in the northeast or along the gulf coast there's nothing unusual about bracing for a hurricane in

august. what is happening today is extraordinary by any standards. hurricane irene is bearing down on the entire east coast from north carolina to maine with incredible 65 million people in its path. rain and high winds have already begun to hit the carolinas where the storm is expected to make landfall sometime early tomorrow morning. commuter transit systems in new york, new jersey, and philadelphia are being shut down. but the enormous new york city subway system is coming to a halt beginning at noon tomorrow. the new york city area is expected to get hit sunday morning, and today mayor michael bloomberg ordered some 270,000 people to evacuate from low-lying areas. that's roughly the equivalents of evacuating buffalo, new york. president obama cut short his vacation and urged people in path of the storm to be prepared. >> 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. >> okay. let's get right to it. joining us now, meteorologist jeff. what's the latest ef on the track of this storm? >> i definitely want to urge viewers to know even though they have heard of these winds going down a little bit, it's weakening in some respects, it's still a very large and dangerous storm. the latest, winds at 100 miles per hour moving with a decent clip. north at 14 miles an hour. central pressure at 951 millibars. again, this storm stretching over 600 miles and in its overall size. here is the thing to note. look at this. hurricane force winds extending out 90 miles from the center of that storm. tropical storm force winds extending out over 300 miles from the center. so everyone along that eastern seaboard will be impacted from this very large storm. as we take a look at radar now, the bands of heavier rainfall making its way in across the

karat karat coastline. sustained winds at 35 miles per hour north of charleston, near jacksonville. winds near 45 miles an hour. take you in. heavier rain bands are starting to lash the outer banks of the carolinas. near cape hatteras, definitely battening down and we have evacuations that have been ordered and that are currently in place. so let's get you the latest here. hurricane warning remains in effect here from basically south carolina all the way up into central new jersey. that's where some of those mandatory evacuations are in place. the reason why a lot of those are in place, because it's coastline, it's so intricate. the way the water interacts with it is very different for each different section of coastline. that's why it is so urgent if you are under emergency evacuation, to get out. even experts don't know exactly how this storm will interact with the coastline. again, up in new york city. look at this. the newest update issued here.

now a hurricane warning across long island at this point. it looks like my computer is just updating this at this very moment. also up into the cape. so once again, those of you also in the long island area, you are also under some new evacuation orders potentially. a look here at the track. you can see this currently a ka category 2. some models are weakening and could actually have it as a category 1 as it reaches the cape hatteras region. remember, the hurricane force winds stretch far out from center of the storm. then, of course, we have this gale heading up right into the new jersey coastline, also into new york city. that first stop, though, i wanted to focus on this for saturday morning. that is tomorrow morning. the biggest impacts from 4:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. we're talking about four to eight inches of rain possibly upwards of 12 inches. inland flooding is going to be a big problem wib this storm system as it continues to move ashore. this is the other thing. look at that area in red.

that's actuallied wind field of hurricane force winds right there. now, watch this as we zoom this up right into sunday, early morning. you can see it as it crosses over the carolinas into the delmarva peninsula. that wind getting very, very close there into washington, d.c. then as we move this up here, right towards central new jersey. most of new jersey at this point is going to experience hurricane force winds. and then, of course, into sunday. right around the noon hour. that's when it's expected to peak right here in new york city. look at that. the center of the track takes it right over central long island, very close to new york city. that's, of course, why they're closing down the subways for the first time in history. a historic storm on so many proportions. chris, you and i covered so many storms. it's only happen add handful of time. up the coastline. many people don't know how to prepare for this. all the warns and everything we've been talking about are for

a good cause. >> part of the problem here, jeff, frankly, that people were watching yesterday. saw category 3. now looking at category 1. how bad can it be? >> okay. that's a great point and everything, but you know, with this particular storm system we're talking about tens of millions of people in these concentrated areas that if they needed to get out, there's just not going to be enough time. not only that, but we're also talking about a storm with hurricane force winds that stretch out over 90 miles. so it's a strong storm if you look at that wind field perspective and that's the thing i think that a lot of people, local emergency officials are so concerned about. you know, sometimes you can get a category 1 storm and the wind field is only ten miles out from the center of the form with the hurricane force winds. that's why we are still so concerned about this large storm. >> all right. jeff, thanks so much. well, mandatory evacuation orders have been put in place for cape may, new jersey. the coastal areas of delaware, areas of virginia beach, north

carolina's outer banks obviously and new york's island, fire island and all low-lying areas of new york city. more than a quarter million people affected there. let's go to where it's all happening. mark potter in nags head, north carolina. how are things looking there? >> reporter: hi, chris. just now in the last hour and hour nast and a half feeling the first effects ever the storm. i think i see it on the horizon and i have my raincoat ready. my notebook, getting that kind of wind. the surf is kicking up now a lot more. much more angrier than this morning. the big concern here is, of course, it's going to get a lot worse into tonight and much worse tomorrow. and the biggest problem that emergency managers are fearing here involves the surf. if this storm comes as they fear, just to the west of the outer banks, there could be a special problem with the storm surge. first, the leading winds coming counterclockwise, could push water from the atlantic on to the eastern shore here of the

outer banks, and then as the storm goes up to the pamlico and the sounds, push the water north and in the back edge of the winds counterclockwise coming from the northwest could push all that water stacked up at the top of the bay into the western shore of this area. so it could be sandwiched by water on both sides. and that's the problem. the fears it could take out houses. roads, and put sand on the roads. cut areas into the actual island like it did in 2003. so they're very concerned about that situation. hats why they've ordered everyone here to get out. yesterday the tourists left. most of them went. you're not seeing them here today. today was the day for residents. many indeed boarded up and left. they're not putting up with the storm. many others, including long timers, been through many storms are staying saying we've been through all the storms we're going it stay this time, be in our houses to take care of any problems that occur.

emergency managers oppose that. they wish they wouldn't could that. they're urging them to get out saying if there are problems they won't be able to come help them. ambulance drivers, police officers, can't get to them, but many of those families are still staying and just going to ride it out and see what happens. but the -- the conditions are clearly being felt here, but we're expecting a lot worse over the next 24 hours, chris. >> about at what point will you not be able to stand there and do report without hanging on to something? >> judy: th . >> reporter: will be probably tomorrow. it will gradually be lly build. we'll see what happens tomorrow. >> we've done it before. people holding on for dear life, and a few occasionally knocked over. let's hope it's not you, mark potter. thank you so much. states of emergency have been declared in north carolina, virginia, maryland, delaware, new jersey, new york, connecticut and later today they added pennsylvania to that. joining me now on the phone is north carolina's senator kay hagan, who is in greensboro.

senator, thanks very much for joining us. i was listening to your governor, beth perdue earlier, talking about 20 different counties in the direct path. 3.5 million people in north carolina alone. are you guys ready? >> well, i think we are certainly as ready as anybody can be in a storm of the magnitude and size that we're talking about. that's why we've certainly encourages the evacuation of all of the tourists and the residents on the outer banks. >> you know, i'm sure you heard what mark potter had to say. aid of long-term residents who are ignoring the storm. are you worried about that. >> i am. because of fact if this storm surge does happen, where the flooding could be very severe, and obviously, you add that into high, high, strong winds, it certainly could be a very difficult situation for many people. >> about 48 hours from now, what are we going to be talking about? what are your biggest fears? >> well, my biggest fears are

orriously the health and safety of our citizens, and then obviously after that would be property damage. but that's why we've got fema on the ground ready to work. emergency declaration has already been declared and i supporteded our governor and went to the president asking for that. i've been talking to the governor on a regular basis as well as other federal, state and local emergency managers. and i'll telly, people are definitely ready. >> and you've got national guard ready as well? >> that we do. >> tell me a little bit more about how you're preparing. what you know about what's going on and whatelp is going to be needed? obviously, right around the outer banks. but do you think it could go far beyond that area? >> well, i think people obviously need to have their emergency situations taken care of, and that is to be sure that they have food and water and battery operated radios. people can go to ready.gov and

find out exactly what they should have. in that case. what the declaration of disaster actually does, it authorizes the department of homeland security and fema to coordinate disaster relief, and specifically to identify whatever equipment and resources are necessary to respond to the storm. it was interesting. i was east of greensburg earlier today as i was driving back on i-40. i saw truck after truck of utilities bucket trucks heading east. so not only is fema prepared but all of the electrical companies in north carolina are heading that way to stations, to station themselves in order to get electricity back on. >> senator haggan, thank you so much. it's great to see you. >> great, thank you. we fly over the atlantic where the national oceanic and atmospheric administration has take an flight into hurricane irene to learn more about the storm. we're actually going to talk to an administrate here is on that plane in the hurricane right

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welcome back to "hardball." the atlantic ocean, the oceanic and atmospheric administration is flying a plane into irene to learn more about the storm and its path. noa's deputy administrator is aboard the plane and joins us by phone. welcome. how's it looking up there? >> hi, chris. we're about 180 miles due east of jacksonville right now, and about to turn north, and make a northbound path straight through the eye of irene. we're in a little open space with clouds all around us. we're not in it at the moment moment. off to the right i can see very bright -- the very bright light reflections of the afternoon sun on the big thunderstorms that make up the core of irene.

and we'll be heading there shortly. >> so it sounds crazy to most people that you're doing this. i don't know if you've done it before, but, why? what do you learn going in there? >> well, noaa does this with every storm that makes landfall in the united states. we launched a plane at 4:00 a.m. and i came along with the 4:00 p.m. duty flight. a simple reason. to really understand what a hurricane is doing and have the data we freed to make the forecast as accurate as we want them to be for emergency managers. we actually need measurements from inside the storm itself, and for measurements out over the ocean area where we don't have land measurements. it gives us a lot of the data we need. these are very critical measurements that are key to understanding and being able to protect how the storm is going to behave, evolve, grow, move and what the track will be.

>> this is one of the sets of data that gets plugged into these -- into these computer programs, and that's how we come up with some of this modeling? >> that's absolutely right. is it starts with the polar satellite, includes measurements from ships and aircraft as the storm develops and land measurements as it come ace shore, but these measurements in the storm, from the body of our airplane, others from about 36 probes that we will drop from the airplane. they will descend down through the storm and give us precise vet vertical measurements. pressure are and wind. helping to monitor the storm, confirm the center pressure and that helps really ground crews and anchor and model and the likely consequences to, three, five days out. >> obviously, scientific

measurements are key. visually, is there much you can tell? >> visually, i have not flown into a hurricane before. i think visually there's certainly concerning indications you get. in particulars as you are able to look at 9 structure and the organization that the eyewall has. that tells you a lot about h how -- how intensely the central circulation is developing. so i've seen the eyewall of hurricanes from the space shuttle looking down from on high all the way through a 50,000 foot storm. and i'll be very interested to see what the eyewall of irene looks like tonight. >> is it a smooth ride right now? >> it is right now a smooth ride. we get bounced and buffeted a little bit as we go through the rain bands, where the thunderstorms that are pumping all this lie. from the spiral pattern you see on at site images. we've gotten a bit bounced as

we've gone through that and rain off the windows as we move through those areas. it's cloudy but comparatively smooth a we're in one of those now. >> how many people are on that flight? >> we have 17 with us tonight including the air crew and the electronics tech. the flight engineers as well as predominantly the scientists monitoring several radars, working with the drop zone. we have a probe on the wings that takes specific measurements about the clouds themselves, again, to better understand the details and internal structure of the storm and refine the physics we have in our models. 17, probably i'd estimate 10 to 11 of those are scientific party and the rest of air crew. >> and for you, katherine sullivan, i assume the adventure

of a lifetime. thanks so much for sharing. appreciate it. >> my pleasure. thanks for getting the word out about the care people should take with the storm. >> absolutely. thank you. with 28 miles of coastline, delaware were be lun of many states hit. and today the governor called for a mandatory evacuation along the coast as that storm is getting closer. governor jack markell is listening from wilmington. good to see you, governor. i'll ask you the same question i just asked the senator from north carolina. how do you feel? are you prepared? >> well we've got an incredible team. we've got hundreds of first responder community in delaware, working for several days to prepare. i'm grateful for the president and secretary napolitano and fema. they've reached out. we had a conversation with the president today. >> what did he tell you? >> we're doing what we have to do. >> what did he want you to know? >> what he said, he wanteded to make sure all the governors new the federal government was 110%

with us. secretary napolitano called last night to make sheer we had what we needed from fema, gave me her personal cell phone number and said whatever it is we need, to let them know. that was really the president's message as well. >> what's your biggest concern over the next 24 hours or so? >> people getting out of the way. if anybody on the delaware coast is watching this right now on tv, dvr it. this is the time to get on the road. this is a huge storm unlike anything we've seen since 1944 in delaware. of course, my number one concern, making sure people get out of harm's way. >> what are you hearing from folks closer to the coast on the ground? are people heeding the warnings or are folks holding back? >> a lot of people are heeding warnings. we're watching the traffic. we've got traffic cameras throughout the state. people are moving and, of course, some people are not listening yet. we encourage them to, but it's very important that people get out of harm's way. the bottom line is, many of these roads are going to be

impassable. we may have to close down bridges with the wind. first responders will not be able to get where we otherwise might want them to get. best idea, get out of the way if you're in one of the evacuation areas. >> how worried are you about power outages, people who might be trapped and help might not be able to get to them for long days if not weeks? >> we expects power outages. i've had conversations with utilities and others have had conversations with them. they've done everything they can to get additional resources to the area. people from as far away as texas, to be ready to put the power back on. make no mistake. we'll have these adages. people have to be prepared. it you're not in an evacuation area, be ready. shfood, medicine, supplies for your pets. all of those necessary things you have to have ready. >> you've activated what? 1,5. >> man: -- 1,500 national guard? >> yes, and a tremendous team of

first responders throughout the state. frequent bridge teleconference calls, very impressive. people are working together. we can't dictate what the size of the storm will be but we can respond to it and we have a lot of people working very hard to respond well. >> thank you, governor markell and good luck to you folks in delaware. >> thank you. we are told vice president biden made his way to his home state of delaware, where he will be riding out this storm. up next, new york city preparing for this storm. it is as big as a storm new york has ever seen. sounds like a disaster movie. what's the worst case nair scen? and what are they doing to prepare for it? you're watching a special edition of "hardball," only on msnbc. >> it's hard to believe when you look outside and see the sun, but it is in some sense the calm before the storm. you only have to look at the weather maps to understand just how big this storm is and how unique it is and it's heading basically directly for us. [ male announcer ] heard this one?

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as hurricane irene barrels up the coast, new york prepares. look at this animation of what lower manhattan would look like if it's flooded. evacuations have already begun in low-lying areas of new york. look at that. mayor bloomberg ordering evacuations of some 270,000 people. nursing homes, hospitals have already begun moving residents at patients to higher ground. let's go to the weather channel's jim cantore live in battery park in lower manhattan near the world trade center. jim, that is a place that is flood prone. right? >> reporter: absolutely. you go back to 1960, which is a long time ago, chris, not many remember that, with a storm, the hurricane that went to our east actually. came in at the time of high tide. the water and waves it produced got up to 11 feet. so that's the big concern with this one and that's why the e c

eevacuation order, first time in new york was ordered. interesting, it has to start today and in earnest. tomorrow at noon when everybody shuts down mass transit, another historic maneuver here in new york. that doesn't happen often. you've got to go back to 9/11 last time that happened. i think 2005 for a strike. either way, some would use mass transit to get out of here would not be able to do that. you have literally thousands ever people potentially trapped that didn't get out when they had a chance to. everything that's been asked to do has to go in a sequence or we're going to put people in harm's way. should that storm surge come in at high tide, 8:00 a.m. or 8:00 p.m. that will put up in harm's way. tons of people, ferries are still running. once the winds hit 46 miles an hour that will cease and obviously any trips to staten island, even, obviously, the

statue of liberty on hold until monday or tuesday. this is a dangerous multihazard storm. whether we get the surge, there's a potential for free damage and lo tree damp and lots of flooding. back to you. >> thanks. joining me, kristine quinn. thanks for joining us. i listened to the news conference by the may. he could not be more clear about the danger. look, you know your city. are you worried the notoriously tough new yorkers aren't taking this seriously? >> no. i think new yorkers are taking it very seriously. hurricanes of this magnitude are not something that happen every summer in new york. i think people really understand, particularly with the need to stop the subways and b buses that they need to follow the mayor's direction and to do it quickly so everyone who needs to move to higher ground can move to higher ground. >> i've got to tell you, though, the logistics of this boggle the

mind. not just manhattan pb 8 million people densely populated. heavily threatened public transportation system. what's your biggest concern right now? >> the biggest concern that the quarter million are so of folks in the evacuation zone will wait until the last minute. what you want to avoid, having really long lines to get on buses or subways as we need to shut those down. it takes about eight hours to shut the subway down. we don't want that to become backed up and a very laborious process. we want people to begin to move quickly today, tonight, tomorrow morning, so that there isn't a big rush come noon tomorrow. >> yeah. also thinking, what was it? 2003. the big blackout and a lot of people didn't have power for a day or two, but three, five days, even longer than that. what's the projection for power outages? >> power outage is really location by location. parts of the city like staten

island, more of the power comes from overhead, that's a bigger problem there because of the wind and possible tree damage. other parts of the city where they're not as reliant on overhead transmission are in a better position. certainly folk whose have experienced power outages from weather because they have overhead power, they know this is going to be tough. we need them to be prepare, to have batteries, to have flashlights to have enough food, to fill their bathtubs and sinks up with water so they can be ready and we're in constant contact with con edison and they'll be out there as quickly as possible as soon as the storm settles down. >> there is something that could have an impact coast-to-coast, actually internationally, that's what happens at new york's airport, which will ripple across the airline sector. what's happening there? >> the airports, of course, will have to shut down because of this, part of the reason we wanted to get the information out as early as we could today.

going into last week of august, labor day weekend. we wanted people to get information quickly and early so they could plan or replan such as it is their travel if they needed to do so. >> and look. it's also still a big tourist time. it's hard to watch times square in new york city. has are you saying to people who, for the end of summer, have a trip planned to new york? >> if you're here now you'll have a good story to tell. you'll get to tell all your friends back home you came to new york and made it through irene, but if you're a tourist and there are things you wants to see, try to go see them tonight. try to go see them tomorrow morning. we don't want people walking around saturday night and sunday in the thick of a storm. you just don't need folks, we don't need folks out on the street. there may be debris ply flying about. tourists, get it in tonight and tomorrow morning and then stay in your room. >> how much you want to bet somebody's britaining ingprint shirts? i survived irene.

>> i don't doubt it. it's an ingenious town. >> absolutely. >> in chinatown. >> thank you. up next, president obama heading back to washington to monitor the situation. you're watching a special edition of "hardball" only on msnbc.

i'm brian sullivan with your cnbc wrap. the dow jones industrial average added 134 points up more than 4% for the week. the s&p 500 up 16. nasdaq 60. clearly a very busy day on wall street. not just because of the storm. ben bernanke speaking in jackson hole. and of course, something about a hurricane. bernanke played it cool saying

the golf is and itting by with additional tools to help the economy but stopped short of announcing in our fiscal system les. gdp growing at a slow pace and edging up slightly, keep in mind hovering near recession era lows. just for kicks, take a look at hurricane-related stocks. insurance companies holding steady, even climbing. airlines saying they're not anticipating any severe disruption. and home improvement retailers ended higher as well. everybody going out and getting what they need. that's it from cnbc, first in business worldwide. let's go back to "hardball." welcome back to "hardball," and our coverage of hurricane irene. mayor of new orleans when hurricane katrina hit the gulf coast. and author of "katrina's secrets

c the storm after the storm." mayor, welcome. >> chris, how are you today? >> okay. in a studio in midtown manhattan. i imagine food and generators but a lot of people are scared out of their wits. as somebody who's lived through more than a few hurricanes including katrina, what would you say to them? >> well, i say, what i would say is they should be a little concerned. in my book i self-published it to create space. i talk about the different phases of a disaster like this. it seems as though officials have done a good job of getting people out and unfortunately some will stay. as time goes on the reality's really going to sit in and that's when panic and more tension will arise. >> so what do you think it is? what is it about the psyche of people? especially, i think, in places that have been through it before. like new orleans. like -- i guess, it's kind of the sky is falling. it's the chicken little syndrome? what is it? >> you know, people have very short memories.

i remember doing katrina. i had to basically not threaten people, basically say, look, if you're going to decide to stay, you better have an ax with you so that you can go up to your, in your attic and then chop out in case the water comes up. that kind of got people's attention and stimulated them to move, but they really need to understand the reality of it before they move, unfortunately. >> back in new orleans, maybe three, four weeks ago and saw parts of the city they're doing absolutely fantastic and parts of it that are still really suffering and have not been rebuilt. they're not expecting, we're not below sea level here, the kind of devastation obviously, that you folks saw, because of katrina, but what should people really be prepared for, and do you think that there are lessons learned from katrina that can make this one not so bad? not so painful? >> there are tons of lessons that were learned. i can see fema is better prepared. prepositioning supplies, water and ice and what have you. i think that the local

officials, the governors and the mayors, have been communicating very well. and taking appropriate steps. the key question and what people can expect next is, after the storm hits, or while its hitting, there will be another awakening, if you will, and an after, of course, with power out and some flooding, some people will panic further and i hope that looting doesn't become an issue. >> mayor ray nagin. good to see you. >> hopefully you'll get through this storm as we did katrina. >> thank you. here with me, craig fugate. give us a sense where you are right now, where the preparations are along the east coast. >> right now, basically north carolina through maine. hurricane warnings out to new england. so, again, the evacuations are starting to move up the coast. we've had north carolina evacuating and they're expecting

to storm to make impact and early in the morning hours. we're rapidly moving to prepare to be ready to respond after the storm makes landfall. >> the former hurricane center director, the legendary max mayfield, told the a.p., this quote read a million times today. unbelievable. max said, one of my greatest nightmares was having a major hurricane go up the whole northeast coast. so what are you going to do? how are you feeling about making sure that this which clearly is a massive storm and has the potential to wreak so much devastation is going to be minimized as much as is humily possible? humanly possible? >> i don't think you can minimize damages. even with a good team it won't prevent damages. we can reduce loss of life if people hield evacuation orders. it's not just fema. you've got a lot of officials at the local level. governors have called out national guard.

you've got tremendous volunteer organizations that have been, you know, responding all summer, seems like, the tornadoes and floods now surging on the east coast to get ready for this as well as then tire federal family andered leadership of the president. we're working hard as a team to get ready for the storm. getting ready to respond. we shouldn't kid ourselves. there are going to be damaging and power out 5age agoutages an >> and people you can't get to for long periods of time? >> weren't of the things we planned for, what happens with the planning and rescue, teams ready to go swift-water rescue, if necessary. everybody from the coast guard on down, gearing up for doing rescues. >> good luck to you, craig fugate. thanks for being with us. >> thank you. as we continue our coverage of hurricane irene, let's go to the weather channel's brian norcross with the latest on the storm's path and the expected

impact. brian, i'll tell you, just looking at that picture, i've seen it a million times today, the size of that storm is unbelievable. >> yeah. that's the thing, chris. it is the size that is the problem here. it's not that it's the strongest hurricane we've ever seen, but it is one of the really big ones. let's look at the satellite picture close pup. it's off of charleston, south carolina. and they are getting tropical storm force winds and waves over ten feet high on that side. of course, the core of it is heading for north carolina, just as forecast, and we don't see anything that is going to be able to change that. so there's the track. it takes it over cape hatteras. it's during the morning hours tomorrow, the bad weather arrives, and then moves through the day, and then arriving in the northeast coast on sunday. >> now, we're expecting at the core of it, wherever that is, a weakening storm. but the problem is the wind impact is going to be huge and

encompass the entire north east and with the saturated ground and extremely heavy rain, as you were talking about inland we're expecting significant tree damage and power outages and people stranded in their homes and the those kind of problems. also, with this huge circulation, we have the water piling in to the coastline. into new york city, evacuations there, all along the jersey shore. the delmarva. up into new england, the rhode island coast and the storm continues into north new england, we haven't seen in some time. we expect significant power outage-type problems. people stranded problems, a even well inland in new england not to mention the coastal effects. really, everything is on schedule as we talk about the last few days. it's haven't a are very, very accurate forecast and we have confidence that it's going to do what we've been saying. unfortunately, it's not really good news. >> yeah. we've got areas that already we're seeing record and near record summer rains. then you add this.

so the trees are already weakened, right? the roots. then you get a good gust of wind. so are we going to see, really, just incredible amounts of tree damage and obviously then that affects the power lines? >> yeah. we think there will be widespread tree damage. the thing is, a category 1 hurricane in the north can be like a category 2 or more hurricane in the south because the trees in the south are used to tropical storms. mother nature designed them that way. in the north, sustained winds that are very, very strong for hours and hours, maybe 12 hours in many cases. you know, trees just have a hard time with that. so we expect widespread power outages. we've been saying today, get yourself ready to stay where you are for a week in terms of food, water and ways to occupy yourself without transportation and without communication possibly for some number of days. that's the issue. >> brian norcross, who haven't slept in days and probably not

for several more. we appreciate it. up next, how prepared are we for the storm? and with so many potentially impacted, how long would it take for help to arrive? you're watching a special edition of "hardball." only on msnbc. [ man ] behind every business is a "what if." what if we designed an electric motorcycle? what if we turned trash into surfboards? whatever your what if is, the new sprint biz 360 has custom solutions to make it happen, including mobile payment processing, instant hot spots, and powerful devices like the motorola photon 4g. so let's all keep asking the big what ifs. sprint business specialists can help you find the answers. sprint. america's favorite 4g network. trouble hearing on the phone? visit sprintrelay.com.

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there's your book, preparedness. if people don't have this right now, they really need to get it. >> okay, one of the first things you want to have is really good water supply. that's really important to have water and then you need to have some food. you are going to have to have food for at least a seven-day period. you can't go shopping during the disaster and obviously not after it happens. you need seven-day supply of medication for those people who need medication like people who have diabetes and different types of ailments, you need medication in your house, because you won't be able to get prescription drugs right after your storm. you will need your first aid kit. a really good first aid kit. just to patch up minor accidents that you may have during the disaster. you also need flash lights, led flash lights. hand crank are best. batteries. i don't like batteries because you can't find batteries during disaster. you also need a hand crank radio preferably. hand crank radio, i want to

stress that. these are the basic things you want to have to make sure you can ride this out. >> there are also some things that maybe we have not thought about that if you don't have power, for example, how do you charge your cell phone? a lot of people don't have landlines these days. >> devices can purchase, hand crank devices, can you charge your phone that way. there are solar cell phone charges though you can't use the solar in this weather. but the thing is, that you have the hand-crank things you can use. there are also portable battery packs that you can charge your battery packs as well. i like the hand cranked stuff because again batteries are a huge commodity in a disaster and often times people will price gouge. they will wrack up the price and take advantage of folks. we have it make sure we use these gadgets. there is no point of the high-tech stuff. you must still use batteries. we can do better. >> so we've got eight states under state of emergency and only one of them, north carolina, is used to this.

so you have millions of people who dent really know what to do. so what should they do when the storm hits? >> they will have to hunker down wherever they are. if you haven't made plans to go some place, you really do need to do what you need to do. you have to store those items. you want to avoid like windows and doors and you want to have extra cash on hand. you want to have small dominations though. you want to have like dollars and singles and fives. you want fuel and an evacuation plan, especially, that's extremely important. an emergency meeting point. reunify quotation is one of the things can you do during disaster. this is something off then overlooked. you want reunification pad where you can take all of the information and scribble it in. the right thing to have is an all db weather note pad and sharpy and write all of your plans in this pad and work out where you will meet. who you talk to. and everything that you need to connect can be in this pad.

do not put this in your ipod. you drop in the the water, you pick it up, write on it again. you've got to be careful about that. >> let me ask you, finally, after this is all over. and again, dealing with people who aren't used to this, so you got a tree down and you call the guy it say, you need to get the tree off my garage and he says, i will see new three weeks. you go down to the home depot and buy a chainsaw and you never had one before, it is crazy what happens in situations like this, but what is your best advice after the storm? >> what people need to do is assess the situation. is there a lot of damage around their home. did their area sustain a lot of damage? if they try to get out and roads are blocked because of downed trees, that can be a problem. assess the situation. do what you can to gather your things together and try to basically connect with people who have the resources, materials and skills that can assist you as you recover. >> acontinue edwards, always

good talking to, my friend, thank you. we are all watching as irene makes land fall. we will go to orlando, check out the surf there, you're watching a special edition of "hardball," only on msnbc.

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we are back and at east coast is batoning down the hatches as irene is making land

fall. joining me is tom costello who is in ocean city. not sure a typical summer afternoon, is it, tom? >> no, that's exactly right. we are on the del mar peninsula on ocean city. normally one of the last week ends of august, this place is packed. well, it isn't any more. they ordered evacuations as of midnight last night so 200,000 people have now left the city, except for just a few guys. i don't know if you can see them. they've decide the temptation is too great, these surfers. the waves are spectacular the day before irene. they just ran out here about 10 minutes ago and started riding the waves. as for the bigger picture, mandatory evacuations in maryland, delaware, in virginia. as the police have gone door to door here in ocean city and told people, if you stay, you are doing so against our advice, against the order. and we need to know who your next of kin is. to some, that is an intimidation