top of the hour. 9:00 a.m. here on the east coast with all eyes on irene as she makes landfall near cape lookout, north carolina. a category one storm already reek wreaking havoc. tens of thousands without power.

that number is expected to grow throughout today. at least two million people told to get out of the storm's path from north carolina to new york. a good saturday morning to all of you. i'm alex witt. we'll go straight to north carolina right now where northbound's mark potter is live for us from nags head. it was looking pretty bad there last hour. it looks even worse now. >> yeah. these are the worst winds and the strongest rain bands that we've seen since this storm approached this area. the weather forecasters are telling us it's going to get worse before it gets better. as the eye approaches this area. that's not very comforting. we're told that the sustained winds here have measured at about 60 miles an hour, but i can tell you that we're feeling now gusts over that. the waves are coming in heavy too right now, and they're approaching the dunes that protect the pocketed areas from the ocean. we haven't seen any breaches yet, but i won't be surprised if we see some because the water is coming in very strong now.

there's a house over my area where some of the shingles are starting to peel off, and we heard from our photographers out on the road that he is starting to see that in other areas as well. as for other damage, the news so far is relatively good. at least for now. the roads seem clear. there's been no major structural damage. the power is still on here even with this heavy wind, which is good news. emergency managers are saying that they're fearing the same things that we're seeing, but also warn that we still have a lot of the storm ahead of us and that people should not be letting down their guard. their biggest concern has to do with the ocean surf. the conditions that we're seeing now are ones that we're in the most, and that's where the eye is coming in behind us on the west side of the outer banks, and that means that there can be a one, two, three hit many terms of ocean storm surge hitting this area. the first hit we're feeling now, the east winds from the top of the storm are bringing the waves in on the eastern shoreline and the eye goes up the sound behind

me, the pimlico that will push water into the north -- the west winds kousht clockwise coming around counterclockwise and they push that watered to the western shoreline, and that is where they expect the worst of the flooding to come later this afternoon. it's why emergency managers told everyone here to evacuate the area. the tourists did that. some of the locals did. many of the locals chose to stay here in their homes to ride out the storm. they're feeling it now like we are. >> yeah. >> and they are believing what the emergency managers are saying that this is going to be with us for some time. >> you're having trouble even standing up and doing this live shot, having to hang to o to that rail there. hey, mark, do you get a sense that anybody in those homes behind you is still inside? you said the power is still on. have you seen lights on in any of those homes? >> yeah. i mean, our -- i'm looking at a porch light right over there. you can't see it, but i'm looking at ones. our photographers say that power is still on.

we're still on regular power here in the hotel where we are. not generator power. you know, i don't know how much longer that's going to last. we have a lot of leaks in the hotel. this east wind pouring right into the wall behind me is wreaking havoc with the windows. the rooms are soaked. things like that. they're going to have to spend some time fixing up this hoegts. >> i'm sure. >> the problem from an economics standpoint is that it's going to cost a lot of money because next weekend is the labor day weekend. a big tourist draw. whether or not they can be ready is the big question that business owners here are asking, alex. >> mark potter in nags head, hang on there, pal. we'll see you again next hour. >> jeff joins me with the path and potential impact of irene. another good morning to you. did you see mark? he could barely even stand up in those winds, and that's, what, 60-mile-per-hour winds plus. >> definitely. they're still going to be seeing that as what heed throughout the next hour, hour and a half. in fact, we're very close to where mark potter is that we're getting damage reports in from a reported tornado that did touch

down this morning. now as we take athis forward, you'll be able to see right where mark potter was, right on the edge of your screen at nags head, and then very close to that in columbia, there are now reports of six homes that have been damaged and then in addition, two of them have been destroyed from what we think was a tornado that went through there this morning. also some minor injuries. we're having more information on that, but it just goes to show you, again, the strength and the power of this hurricane because hurricane force winds stretching out 90 miles from the center. that tornado threat will be with us throughout the next three days of the storm system. winds at 85 miles an hour. it is a very deceiving storm. a lot of times we're getting a category one storm, and it will not do as much damage as we are going to see with this storm as it moves up the coastline. tens of millions of people will still be affected by the storm. nothing has changed when it comes to hurricane warnings. they stretch from the carolinas all the way up into the cape of massachusetts.

and as we look at the radar right now, you can see nags head, cape hatteras, all of those areas getting very close to that outer eye wall band so it's going to be another hour, hour and a half of some very strong long duration winds gusting 60 to possibly over 80 miles an hour. let's get to those winds. look at this. that top wind speed that we talked about all morning long. 110 miles an hour at cedar ferry terminal at north carolina. still now gusting in cape hatteras at 79 miles an hour. that's about four hours of hurricane force wind gusts there on the outer banks, and look at this. the interior secs also picking up from elizabeth city north carolina down to kingston. anywhere from 50 to 60 miles an hour. now, we are seeing this rain transition already into the delmarva peninsula, maryland, delaware. also into southern new jersey. winds starting to ramp up, but nothing too major at this point along ocean city. into georgetown, we're looking

at winds up 50 miles an hour. as we head throughout the next 48 hours, it hasn't changed much with that recent update by early on sunday morning. it's near the new jersey coast looirn, and then by sunday, 2:00 p.m., it's passing. it's just passed long island. we're still looking at a late morning noon event for new york city, and, you know, the storm surge is so unpredictable, and, you know, that's, of course, why all that will be affected here in new york. >> oh, yeah. unprecedented situation. they're shutting down everything in new york. we'll come to a standstill. pretty remarkable. thank you for that. let's go to the weather channel. stephanie abrams, who is live in long beach, new york, for us. okay, steph. how is it looking there? do you see surf picking up? >> lots of looky lous, as a matter of fact. not only on the boardwalk, but also on the beach. a lot of surfers out there. i don't know if you can pick them up on the camera. maybe he can try to grab some. they are a ways out there. the surf i would say has been

pretty consistent all morning long. i mean, there is too many surfers out there for me even to count. it's definitely an active beach as of right now. even though we are under a mandatory evacuation. then on the other side of me, you can see that they've built up these dunes. they had trackers in here to protect the lifeguard stands so that dent get taken out by the water. there's these massive dune there's, and then, of course, we have the boardwalk here which just stretches as far as the eye can see. we do anticipate, as jeff was saying, right now the surge is too hard to tell to give you absolutely specific numbers, but i did put on my twitter, just stephanie abrams, the estimated surge. i have the surge, the rainfall, and the beach erosion for specific cities. you'll have to go back on my time a little bit, but it will give you a better idea of what they're thinking. that could change because if our storm shifts a little to the left, a little to the right, it makes all the difference in the world because it's about wind direction when it coming with the surge. also, rainfall is going to be a tremendous issue. there's already reports of over

seven inches of rain in north carolina. over the next five days we can see ten to 11 inches have rain. what i'm worried about in the city and also long -- all this if you are every further notice turn, and people have flipped it over upside down. that's not going work. you got to bring it all in because that turns into a projectile, whether it's upright or a slightly more stable flipped upside down. >> that seems kradz where iey. that will absolutely turn into a projectile. i don't know what they're thinking there with that. what about the kinds of homes you see in that area because i was talkinging with a guy from insurance who talks about the billions of tlarz which could result in damage and insurance claims as a result of hurricane irene. you know, you think about long island and the beach front property. you have some nice pieces of property there. >> you know what i have to tell you, alex. i would say i'm surprised at how few boards i see up on windows. when i was coming here last night and just lynned the camera, i do see someone putting boards up on the window, but

very few boards are -- a lot of tape. i would like to discourage against the tape. go for the boards. you just put one big x on your window. you have a huge piece of debris flying through your window, and that little x on your window, it's not, i don't think, going to stop the whole thing from shattering. >> that's a good point. be practical and think first before you do anything. okay. stephanie abrams, thanks for the practical advice. we appreciate that. >> sure. >> if you are just joining us here past 9:00 a.m. on the east coast, here's the very latest. hurricane irene has made landfall north carolina, and.definitely moving north along the east coast. right now fierce winds and heavy rains are slamming the state of north carolina. irene has technically weakened slightly, but the forecasters say this remains ae very dangerous category one storm, and the weather channel reports a wind gust topping 115 miles an hour as reported. that would bump it up to a cat two. at least 200,000 customers in north carolina are without power. that number is expected to grow as the storm tbz its track up the eastern seaboard.

here's what homeland security secretary janet napalitano told me moments ago. >> we still think of this storm in three phases, preparation, response, and recovery. obviously now with landfall in north carolina, we are watching the storm from a response perspective, but people who are further north up the atlantic seaboard, you can still prepare. if we issue an evacuation order, we ask that you abide by it. >> the stach emergency has been declared in the state of new jersey where a million people are under evacuation orders. let us know what you are seeing. send us your pictures or your videos by e-mailing them to first person@msnbc.com or upload at first person@msnbc.com brsh don't do without being very, very safe. conditions are starting to deteriorate in ocean city, maryland, right now. mandatory evacuations are in order, but nbc's tom costello, he is there, and we are heading there after the break.

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hurricane irene has made landfall in north carolina as awe category one hurricane. the forecasters say it has weakened just a bit, but will remain dangerous as it heads north for new england. within just this past hour, a state of emergency has been declared in new jersey. fema says federal aid has been made available to the state to help it deal with the impact of the storm. now, a computer model of irene's potential impact puts the estimated damage at $4.7 billion. it comes from a catastrophic insurance provider, but it does not include the added impact of lost sales from perhaps shuttered restaurants or quiet cass flows, and all those canceled up flights and boarded up stores. and a man died in virginia beach late yesterday while surfing.

police say the man is believed to be in his 20s and was surfing with two friends in waist high water when he went under. his friends pulled him from the water. they were not able to resuscitate him. nbc's tom costello is standing by for us in ocean side, maryland, for the second time. a good morning to you, tom. what's it like there? >> alex, we have seen the winds and the rain really pick up rather dramatically in just the last half hour or so. i have watched the winds here al arianinging right now about 21 miles an hour. there's a buoy out in the ocean, and it is t has clocked gusts of about 30, and we've really seen in just the last hour here the ocean has really started to churn up rather dramatically. a motion ago before you came to me, there is an ocean city beach patrol officer who droe by, and he said, you know, this is really a dangerous surf because yesterday we saw the surfers running out there. the cops would drive by. the surfers ran out behind him and tried to catch a few waves. they're not here today. they've clearly realized this is

simply too dangerous. you have probably seen the report incoming from north carolina and from mi seidel lsh. they're expecting it sometime after 6:00 p.m. probably closer to midnight. maybe even after midnight is when we are expecting the eye of the storm so hit here. as for ocean city, it's really a ghost town. 200,000 people off the barrier island here have been evacuated, and up and down the delmarva peninsula, everybody is gone. literally town after town after town simply empty. i can also tell you that they are talking about shutting down the waste water system here. the system at about 6:00 p.m. because they're afraid they're going to get so much water, it will be inundated and they'll have no place positive pump it. they're going to shut down the city waste water system at 6:00 p.m. or so in preparation for what's coming. the police say they no reports of any injuries. no reports of any deaths.

they're grateful for that. the surf is pretty dangerous, and most people have decided heed the warnings and stay away. they haven't left the island, they're hunkering down at this point. we're expecting things are going to pick up rather dramatically. >> oh. sfoo back to you, alex. >> i would put a bet on that. tom, with regard to the numbers of those who evacuated, was it not a mandatory evacuation there for ocean city? >> yeah. it was mandatory evacuation, but as you know, you really can't force somebody to leave their home. so people who have decided that they are going to stay, the police have said to them accident fine. if you absolutely insist on staying, give us your next of kin so we can tell them if there's a tragedy that befalls you. the vast majority of people have fled this island. in fact, i was talking to a police chief yesterday. she was suggesting 3% to 5% remain. that was it as of yesterday afternoon. more people were leaving. this is really -- i think anybody who has ever spent any

time on the delmarva peninsula would be stunned to drive up and down it right now and find it is literally just completely abandoned. it's almost erie. >> yeah. i can about imagine. thank you tore staying put there in ocean city, maryland. right now as we move to new york city, that's battery park city. see the statue of liberty there off in the distance. the very left of your convenient. things look calm right now there in new york mash masher. it will not be that way come about 12 hours from now. it's going to be a lot more churning waters for us, and new york city under a hurricane watch there. we're going to get the latest from all the preparations and what you should expect. stay with us here on msnbc. walk into a bar. the fuel economist says, "i have an s.u.v. with a v-6 engine that can go up to 500 miles on a single tank of gas." the horsepower enthusiast says, "well, my s.u.v. has a v-6 engine with best-in-class towing and power." the punch line is they're both driving a dodge durango.

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departing flights starting at noon eastern today. however, they will be open for departing flights. plenty of air carriers. those airports are jfk, la guardia, stewart international, and teterborough. bsz that one exception, the d.c. airports are staying open for flights. maryland's vwi marshall and massachusetts boston logan are staying open for flights as well. just like in new york, individual air carriers are cancelling flights left and right, so, again, the best advice, check with your airline carrier before you head to the airport. we're going to go right now to the weather channel's mike seidel. is he live for us in nags head, north carolina. things are pretty bad there. mike, let's go to you. >> hey, good morning, alex, from nags head, north carolina. we're still ahead of the worst of the storm. we've already had wind gusts out

here over 70 miles an hour. hurricane force is just 74. what's saving us right now is that beach replenishment project. those beaches nice and wide, and they just got them done about 100 -- i should say about 100 yards wide. tide is going out right now, alex, but what i'm noticing now for the first is the tide goes out and that we've lost some substantial beach area right here right in front of me. notice how the water is coming up, and you'll walk up this -- looks likes a dune. the beach replenishment is doing its job. we'll pan down here, and see some of the structures that have been hammered here for three or four hours. i'm of these rain bands producing wind gusts over hurricane force, and we still have two more to go before we get a break. look at some of the houses here. you can see the shingles flapping in the wind, and some of those have been ripped off by these higher wind gusts, so this is going to be some minor, minor roof repair certainly once everybody gets back here over

the next couple of days. the wind is just unrelenting out here on the beach this morning. these bands and the rainfall we've had reports of already over eight inches of rain in parts of eastern north carolina. at least several hundred thousand power outages the last time i heard. could be more. that's because of the wind and the rain to get uprooted trees, but one thing is for certain. the pier behind me, jeanette's pier that was taken out eight years ago is going to with stand this one. it's built to a cat three. they have it reopened in may, and it's looking pretty good despite these 14, 15, 16 foot waves out here in nags head. we have a couple more really strong bands associated with the center of the storm. the tide is going out. that's a good thing. we're still getting out a surge. then tonight at high tide around 6:45 and hatteras, the wind will be blowing off shore, and it's iffing to take that water and the sounds back towards hatteras towards i should say towards the outer banks on this side, so we may have some what they call

sound side flooding. right now, though, we're looking pretty good so far at least here in the nags head area. power is off. i don't see any power lines down right here, but some of this is going to be heading up your way tomorrow, and if you are watching us from away from the coast, your biggest concern and biggest inconvenience will be power outages that could last beyond several days. at least it's august, alex, and it's warm outside if the power goes out. back to you from nags head. >> wow. mike seidel, that guy could only work for the weather channel. look at that. incredible. just barely standing up. you saw one of our colleagues having to hang on just to, you know, close by there sustaining these kinds of winds. i don't know how he is doing it right there. well, the weather channel's mike seidel in nags head, north carolina. get somewhere safe. good idea. kristen dahlgren is in kill devil hills, north carolina, and another good morning to you. all right. are you having to hang on to your hat there. it wasn't that case in the last hour.

you think winds are picking up? >> yeah. the wind definitely getting a lot more consistent here. also still seeing some of those higher gusts, and the rain really just pelting right now. i have to keep sort of turned away from it because it's painful when it hits you, and the sand now blowing off the beaches as well. so it gets -- gets a little bit painful standing out here. i am sort of braced up here, but we're not seeing quite the kind of winds that mike is down there. what we are seeing, though, and i know he has been showing you the surf here, take a look, and you can see because hurricane are not just about the wind, but about the water. that may be the biggest concern with this storm. the waves really just churning already. the first death associated with hurricane irene here in the u.s. a surfer up in virginia reportedly and so this is a very

dangerous and officials warning people to stay away from that water. you never know if the -- it's all of that water that got pushed out ahead of the storm has to go someplace, and so we are beginning to see it come ashore here. not much beach left here in kill devil hills. almost fully covered in water. we're expecting to see some beach erosion, and then the storm surge here expected to get much higher and so that's going to be a concern in these low-lying areas. that's why so many people were under mandatory evacuation orders because officials are so concerned about that storm surge and flooding, alex wrshs. >> okay. kristen dahlgren with the effects of hurricane irene. let's go right right now to mayor mike blrlg of morning city. he is prepping us on what's happening. the latest preparations. >> oh, that's down from 115. the great danger to us here is

from the storm surge, and there's no evidence that that is -- that the forecast for that is changing. it is going to be a very serious thing as far as we can tell now. if the storm were to head directly east and get away from us, nothing could make us happy dwrer, but you can't prepare for the best case. you have to prepare for the worst case. that's why yesterday we issued a mandatory evacuation order for the more than 370,000 new yorkers residing in the low lying areas called zone a areas, and in the rest of the rockaways, which is classified as zone b. the difference with zone b and zone a, zone b is higher, but the rockaways are a special case because if the bridges get closed, there's no ways off the island, and it would be very difficult for us to provide emergency services. the stay stream of new york is leaving these areas than coming into some of the 1 evacuation

emergency service shelter facilities we've set up throughout the city. we have a capacity for something like 70,000 people. having said that, capacity is a little misleading. we do not have beds for 70,000 people, but we'll make due with whatever we can. to insure security and safety we've increased the police protection throughout the evacuation zone. we have ten teams and each borough is being used to help evacuate elderly and nursing home patients. we have nursing homes and adult care facilities and zoning in the rockaways to go, but some 7,000 patients and residents have already been evacuated, and i just wanted to point out that the management of those facilities, the senior homes, the nursing homes, and the hospitals have been phenomenally cooperative. it's gone so smoothly they all deserve a lot of credit. hopefully this will have been for not, but we cannot take

risks and particularly with the most vulnerable, we wanted to do those first and that's basically been accomplished. we do not incidentally recommend that anyone waits for a bus to evacuate. the best thing to dwo is to use your own or public transportation to get yourself to a shelter, and that means you've got to do that right now. two and a half hours left for mass transit. city gee, if you volunteered to help serve in the shelters today, we need you to report to your sites now. it is going to be very difficult to get to or from these sites, and when people show up, you are really going to make a difference. those of you city employees who volunteered, thank you so much for doing so, but we just do need you to start making that trip. bring some stuff with you if you have to stay for a while. you really are going to make a difference for those in the city who aren't as fortunate as the rest of us. the nypd has also been sending vehicles with sound equipment

throughout the area to broadcast the message that this is a dangerous hurricane that is approaching. residents must evacuate to safety. they will be doing that all afternoon into the evening, but keep in mind if you want to evacuate later on, you are going to be on your own. you'll have to walk or you're going to have to find some ways to get a car or a taxi. for those residents of zone a that have not yet left, take a look at the pictures which the press just took of the small boats. you probably have seen boats like this before. they -- there are lots of new footage after hurricane katrina that would certainly follow the images of the boats and the emergency responders that road through the flooded streets rescuing stranded residents. we hope we won't have to need these boats here, but just let me point out it's not the same as katrina. we have a lot of water that's stayed around for a long time. here what we're expecting is a tidal surge that comes in with the storm surge on top of it.

it would flood an awful lot. it would do a lot of damage to mechanical equipment, and to protect us, an awful lot of buildings including all of facilities are turning off their elevators because they don't want people stuck in them if later on the water or the wind or what's possible also that con ed has to turn off the power in lower manhattan because if salt water gets on these cable whz they are being used, the damage is substantial. there's a lot less damage to cables as salt water goats them when they don't carry any current. con ed will make that call later on, but it's conceivable that in downtown manhattan, for example, there will be no electricity as well as a lot of water in the streets. let's stop thinking this is something that we can play with. this staying behind is dangerous. staying behind is foolish, and it's against the law, and we urge everybody in the evacuation

zone not to wait until there are gale tors winds and driving rain to leave. not to wait until the public transportation system starts slowing down today. it's going to be too late. the time to leave is right now. we just won't have the resources to get everyone in the evacuation zones out after the storm hits. those that need to evacuate should do it now. this ens dentally means that now to business owners as well. if you have a business in the evacuation zone, close up shop and evacuate along with everyone else. thanks, gas, and electrical utilities at the main switches. new york city doesn't have a lot of real life experience with hurricanes. we've watched them from afar, and they have ravaged -- as they ravaged other parts of the nation, and thank god weave never really experienced that

kind of destruction here, but that does not mean that it can't happen. it can and we must be prepared. that's exactly why we developed our coastal storm plan back in 2006 to prevent the kind of problems that we saw during katrina. please heed these warnings and get yourself to safety before the bad weather hits. as i mentioned earlier, the mta will be shutting down the public transportation system at noon. what that means is the last train leaves the station, but you can't count on being on the last train. it may be overloaded or maybe it's already past you. you should assume afternoon that there is no mass transit. staten island ferry service will be suspended as of 10:00 p.m. tonight or earlier if the winds come earlier. city bridges may close if high winds make driving across them dangerous, and the port authority bridges which tend to be the bigger, higher bridges may close even earlier. the beaches are closed for the weekend, as will all cultural

institutions. once the storm hits, it is just not safe to be in the parks either. the risk of falling tree limbs is serious. people can get killed there. for the surfers, we all know that it's a lot of fun to catch a big wave. this storm is dangerous, and we don't have the resources. we didn't want to put our first responders lives in jeopardy to try to save you. during the storm, please stay off the streets and sidewalks to prevent injury, and stay away from the windows if you live on the tenth floor of a high-rise or above that. the risk of window damage is greatest, so be smart to stay away from the wijdos or go to a lower floor. if the low-lying areas are a city begin to flood, i would imagine that cone may have to shut down their power lines. nitro buildings will be shutting down their elevate ors as well as other buildings. if you are using generated power, do not have a generator inside your house or apartment. carbon monday ikes odd fumes kill.

all construction has been stopped. our inspectors are working to mrashgs the construction sites are locked down. homeowners and residents, if you haven't done so already please bring outdoor furniture inside. plywood, trash cans, any loose items that can blow around. in conclusion, if you live in the low-lying areas, a areas, or in the rockaways, you have to leave, and you should start right now. do not delay. don't wait for the weather to be bad. it's starting to rain here in coney island right now. this is just the beginning. you say it's a few drops. this is going to be a very serious storm no matter what the track issing, no matter how much it weakens, this is a life-threatening storm to people here. for our spanish speaking audience -- [ speaking spanish ] >> we've been listening to mayor michael bloomberg there in new

york city giving very extensive preparation warnings and advice for new york city residents of whom about 370,000 have been told to evacuate the low lying areas. let's go right now over to nbc meteorologist jeff who can talk about really what's in store for new york. what are you expecting? >> well, you know, the projections of possible storm surge, depending on exactly where that goes. we've been hearing from stephanie abrams all morning on how delicate it is. if we see the storm move, let's say 30 more miles to the west or 30 more miles to the east, that can mean dramatic differences for different sections of long island or maybe even new york city, but a lot of the forecasts do show there is a potential there for six to eight feet of storm surge in and around new york city if these conditions were exactly perfect when it comes to looking at those storm surge models. that's why, you know, mayor bloomberg there is preparing for the worst when it comes to his evacuations in those zones because when you look down to

it, it really is a very tough science when it comes to that storm surge, especially with this intricate coastline here of the atlantic seaboard. right now winds still 85 miles an hour. moving at north-northeast at 14 americans. it's pretty ragged down here on the southern edge. we've continually seen some wind shear here. also some dry air moving in. that is keeping the bottom edge of this storm system from having too much of a consistent rain flow, but you can see that top edge right there. this is now moved inland. now impacting portions right along the cape near elizabeth city down to nags head and cape hatteras. those winds have been gusting all morning long at hurricane force strength. this is now about our fourth hour of those winds in the 70-mile-per-hour range in cape hatteras, and take a look at this. we've been talking about this all morning. the strength and size of this storm actually producing category two size wind gust. up to 110 miles per hour up there at cedar ferry terminal. also getting reports at

moorehead city. some of the roads are impassable with five to seven inches of water on some of those streets, so these are the reports we're going to continue to see not only here, but as this maintains the same -- about the same exact strength right off the coastline. now you can also see we do have a tornado watch up here for virginia beach. we did have news there of a tornado in columbia, north carolina. just outside of nags head. two homes have also been reportedly destroyed, and there's also been some minor injuries just beginning here of what could be quite a bit of damage for the atlantic seaboard. look how powerful this is. already spiralling and a ton of rainfall into the mid-atlantic states where we could see six to eight inches. hurricane warnings still in place. no change there. now look at this, alex. rain starting to move right into the delmarva peninsula. maryland, delaware, also near new york city already starting to feel some of these outer rain bands. >> yeah. we certainly are. okay. thank you for that comprehensive update. jeff, we'll be back with you shortly. right now the red cross is

positioning emergency response vehicles, including their mobilizing volunteers carrying supplies around the east kois in irene's wake. i'm joined by gale mcgovern. i know it's been a long day already for you. thank you for being here. >> thank you for having me on the show, alex. >> you know, i'm curious of what is your biggest challenge right now. is it literally mobilizing all these efforts to get them into the places where they are needed? do you have to battle the weather to do so? >> well, we have supplies prepositioned around disaster-prone areas, and we started sending thousands of volunteers to the east coast. you mentioned our emergency response vehicles. our plan is to have two-thirds our fleet on the east coast, and they started out moving days ago. the one thing about a hurricane is it does give you warning, and so we've been preparing for this storm since it was out in the

ocean, so the challenge at this point is to just make sure that all these shelters are stood up and that people evacuate and listen to their local authorities. >> yeah. and i know you have to be very proud of the team that you have in place because some of these folks may be leaving as volunteers for weeks at a time to help fellow citizens. >> that's absolutely right, alex. we have about 60,000 volunteers who are willing to pack up, leave their family for weeks on end and help us out, and they give us the most generous gift of all. they give us their time. and they're really quite extraordinary. i visited many, many shelters and our volunteers are amazing. >> so, gale, with the american red cross, you have got the shelter set up. that includes all sorts of food and shelter provisions. are you able to provide clothing in a situation like this. people who are going to be

perhaps out of their homes for some time. are you able to get out of the shelters and go out door to door or throughout neighborhoods? >> well, first of all, there were 13,000 people, believe it or not, in shelters just last night. their cots, think blankets, their hygiene items, there's food. people tend to drop off clothing, so oftentimes there will be clothing. we encourage folks to create ang emergency kit with 7 it hours of supplies. food, clothing, flashlights, battery, radio. that way they can be self sufficient for the for the first days. zi know it's a tremendous thing to organize something of this magnitude. all of these states that are involved. what is your greatest need if people can help? >> this is going to turn out to

be, i believe, very costly operation. wub every weesh feeding them, giving them supplies and the like. it anyone wants to help, they can get on red cross.org, and make a donation. even the smallest gift can make a big difference, and at times like this, the nation's blood supply tends to get in jeopardy because fewer people can donate because so many people are impacted by the storm, so if you are eligible to donate blood, that's another way that you can help. you can give the life-saving gift of blood as well. >> absolutely. very good reminder about that. gale mcgovern, best of luck as you and the red cross do your thing as you do so well. were appreciated. thank you. >> thank you so much, alex. on the heels of mayor michael bloomberg talking about new york city, we're giving you a look at new york harbor. there she is, lady liberty.

she is looking out over new york harbor, and we know the storm clouds are gathering and they're coming her way. we'll have more after a short break here on msnbc.

welcome become. you're taking a look at an aerial view of mats mass. evidence of folks there still boarding up in xrpgs for hurricane 19. they've got about 24 hours before irene makes landfall in their area. nonetheless, they're dealing with towing boats. getting them out of harm's way, out of the water. once those things get battered by those winds thee are heading out to sea and potentially lost forever. clearly, folks in massachusetts trying to board up their homes and make due with what they've got to make them safer. let's take a look right now at massachusetts. that is, of course, on the south shore there of cape cod and you can look over and see martha's

vineyard. as a matter of fact, it's falmouth that you can take we're going to get those kinds of details from nbc meteorologist jefr, who will be joining us shortly. meantime, the governor of maryland has declared an emergency and a hurricane warning is in effect for parts of the state ahead of hurricane irene there. joining me live from prince frederick, maryland, is reporter michelle sagona, who we usually see in a different environment in stories about crime and the like, but i know, michelle, you are a volunteer firefighter. talk about precautions being taken ahead of the hurricane there. >> you know, alex, i have been in the fire service for 16 years in southern maryland, and we've seen a lot of storms over our time, so this is definitely a period where we all kind of gather together. we have 70 volunteers at our fire department. not to mention all the life members that come out especially when a natural disaster hits.

we're very busy. we are out. we are running calls. we're doing lots of different things. we are definitely ready for that. we also have three emergency shelters set up throughout the southern maryland area. specifically at area high schools. one of those lobbyings will also -- that's something else. they're right behind me in chesapeake bay, and we're we're expecting 6 to 8 feet in waves that may come up here along with a 3-feet storm surge along want chesapeake bay. this is going to be my right, and then to the left side of me is actually the patuxen. we're surrounded by a lot of water down here, and calvert county is the last county in the state of maryland that has only volunteer emts and firefighters. so anyone that comes out to help you in this area, all volunteer. we'll be here and responding to your calls.

>> okay. michelle, thank you for giving us as the latest as a voluntary firefighter in princeton, maryland. look at noshgdz city right now, where you're looking at the harbor and lady liberty. they are feeling a bit of the rain there. it started in the area lightly. new york city is under a hurricane watch right now. we'll have more on that. we'll talk to christine quinn with an update from new york city. how'd you learn to do tha? what'd you use? every project we finish comes with a story built-in. it's how our rough ideas become "you did that yourself?" so when we can save more on the projects that let us fix, make, and do more...

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54 past the hours. we're training our sights right now to new york city in the wake of the lengthy press conference about all the preparations. new york city is under a

hurricane watch right now with potentially historic flooding and wind damage could be coming, especially if this hurricane barrels right at broadway, which one model has it doing. we hope it doesn't go there. let's go to christine quinn. she's the city council speaker. we want to ask you about the preparations for new york city, and what are your greatest concerns? >> one concern is people in zone 1, that's the area we've evacuated, don't leave. once the storm hits, it's too late. you can't get out then. we really need to people to heed the warning. subways will be shut down at noon. we need people to be leaving. to get people are in harm's way and first respond rerz in greater harm's way. we have significant concerns about flooding, the impact that would have on the mass transit system. also if there is a lot of flooding in lower manhattan, con edison may have to turn off power because it's problematic if the power lines underground

in manhattan and would be affected by flooding get corroded while they are in service. then we'll be out for a very long time. >> very good point. you're talking about 370,000 in those low-lying areas. they should have been complying with these orders. >> i hope it isn't news, particularly zone one and all of the rockaways, and that's one of the most isolated parts of new york city. we really need those folks. there's nothing tough about riding out this storm in an area we think could get flooded. we want to make sure people who live in the new york housing authority, buses are sent there starting at 1:00 this morning. go to the government websites if you need some type of transportation to get out. if you haven't heard by anybody

or in zone a or the rockaways call them and have them sleep on your couch. >> it's remark to believe to have the mass transit shut down in two hours from now. that's mta and long island railroad and subways and buses. >> amtrak on the northeast corridor. >> it takes eight hours to shut down the system. we store ilot of trains and equipment in the rockaways. we need to get those upland because we need the pumping trains to clear out any tunnels that were flooding and we want to get running as quickly as we can once the work week starts so it's eight hours and the additional of moving machinery to high ground. toipt make sure folks know there are shelters. you can take your animals to the shelters with you. they need a leash, identification, vaccination confirmation, a muzzle or a carrying crate and any

medication. >> christine quinn giving us all the details. >> any zone you're in, get your potted plants and chairs off the terraces. >> so they're not project tiles. >> exactly. >> christine quinn, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> we'll give you a look right now at the weather loop. you see the path of hurricane irene as projected right now. stay with us on msnbc. we're coming right back. magic e. i've heard of it, but i haven't seen one up close. what's the word around the sink? that it removes 3 times more soap scum per swipe, and it came from outer space. it is not from outer space! no, man, it's from outer space. they're aliens on an intergalactic cleanliness mission. they're here to clean up the universe. oh, the kitchen scrubbers are aliens, too? yeah, look at that greasy kitchen mess. everybody's in on the cleanspiracy, man. i can't even trust myself. [ male announcer ] mr. clean magic eraser kitchen and bath scrubbers. the clean is out of this world.

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