top of the hour on msnbc with our special coverage of tropical storm irene. a new advisory is just seconds away. winds and downed trees have knocked out power to more than 4 million homes and businesses up and down the east coast. the director of fema saying power outages could last for

days and rivers are rising with flooding. the big problem now in new jersey, new york and pennsylvania as parts of the northeast have already seen record rainfall this month. the weakened but dangerous irene is marching into massachusetts. the tropical storm is leaving 100,000 people without power around the bay state. packing winds of 60 miles per hour around the coast and boston officials shut down mass transit there. we have the congressman on the phone right now. thank you for joining me. >> thank you, very much. i'm looking at the worst winds right now that i've seen. we are getting a storm surge here tonight at 8:00, up to six feet of surge which is probably the highest levels we'll have.

so the -- so the case through the bay areas will be the coastal flooding that will occur and it will peak tonight. the southern coast of cape cod has already had their surge because of the astronomical lunar effect. but we are looking at serious winds. i join the hundreds of thousands of people in my homestate without power this morning and experiencing major limb fall and branch fall. we are looking at different things in massachusetts, central and western massachusetts. the inland flooding and the power outages are the issue. here in cape cod, it's going to be power outages and the coastal flooding that will occur. the ferry service to martha's vineyard and nantucket has been

down today which is my district. and offshore we are look at 20, 30-foot waves. we are getting some high gusts. in the cape cod area we are not getting as much rain as the western part of the state. but it is a dangerous time for people here. >> absolutely. the governor deployed 500 national guard troops, saying about 200,000 troops would be activated over the weekend. what was the status with the evacuations? they were not mandatory, right? >> no, they weren't. people around cape cod are used to storms on the islands. the ferries were active. people left the island that would be leaving. they knew they would not have a chance for days after if they didn't. people went back over the bridges, because when it hits 70 miles per hour here, the bridges that connect the islands are shut down. people know the drill here. and they're used to it. but nevertheless you can't control the storm. we're happy that emergency fema

services are here so we will be able to get them help at the local and state level. >> we hope you and your family and all of this those around you are safe and hunkered down. you reported you have no power, but thankfully cell phones and technology playing a big role here as service for a lot of carriers are up and running. thanks for joining us in the midst of that storm. >> where is irene right now? bill karins is at the msnbc weather center. we know where from congressman keating where this storm is, bill. >> this storm is fascinating from a scientific perspective because of its huge size. it's so unique. if you look at the damage, it's scattered here, scattered there. bad in one town, not bad in the next town. you show scenes 200 miles away from the storm in massachusetts t looks like the center is going on shore there.

it looks worse there than in new york city where the center went on shore. this storm, if you add up all the damage, it's probably equivalent to an ike. this is the 2:00 p.m. advisory from the hurricane center. these tropical storm-force winds are now getting up into canada. at the same time, they're still wrapping down here through the d.c. area. the tropical storm-force wind field is huge all the way out into the open waters of the gulf of main and outside of albany, new york. anywhere within this orange is where we still can see the tropical storms for gusts. that's what we are getting down here on the coast as the winds continue to pound out of the south. those are large, large waves. the radar, not looking at anything too bad right now the southern half of new england, central new england is clearing out. heavy rain is only up in northern new england. the winds are still howling. the congressman was telling us, he saw some of the strongest winds yet. look at boston, still gusting to

55 miles per hour. that's some pretty serious gusts if you're outside. those tries are swaying. limbs are snapping, i'm sure. those winds will be heading north ward. by far, the strongest winds, you can see it in this darker color, the maroon color, that's where we have winds that are 40 miles per hour plus. our friends out here all the way in nova scotia are seeing some strong gusts, too. it's like a big, huge beast out there that is spinning like a top. it will take a while to wind down. the center will be in canada by about 8:00 p.m. this evening. it's getting better, but it's a slow process. that's why tomorrow is the day for life to get back to normal, if possible. >> absolutely. bill, we don't want go into reflection mode because this is ongoing, your impression of this storm. you used the word beast, we heard monster, the side and how it lingered over north carolina, as you pointed out 12, 14 hours at one point.

>> when i talk to my meteorology colleagues, usually we classify storms as overachievers or underachievers this was as expected for storm surge and rainfall, but it underachieved with the wind gusts it was windy in eastern north carolina, as it went up the maryland, jersey coast, southern new england, we have not seen the winds forecasted. if you averaged it all out it was a slightly underachieving hurricane. some people didn't have the power go out and have a tree fall on their house, but that neighbor who saw their house smashed probably thinks it's the worst storm ever. >> you got that right. thank you very much. let's head out to long beach, long island. peter alexander is driving through that area. he's on the phone with us. peter what are you seeing there? we've been driving for most of the last hour. we spent our morning at coney island where the eye came over

us, for the last hour or so we've been driving 18 miles to the east to scan out and give you a perspective of what the rest of this area looks like. long beach, you should know, is one of the outer islands, barrier islands for long island here in new york. to be honest with you, we have seen scattered trees down over the course of the day, but in the last hour or so we have not seen much damage, which is the good news. right now there's heavy cloud cover, it seems to us we are getting the back end of this storm. no rain. it's been dry for the last several hours, but there is some whipping winds, not enough to cause damage but to let you know something may have happened earlier today, that being irene passing through. many people are trying to get back to their organized routine. coney island specifically we saw quickly after the sun came out or the majority of the storm passed, people quickly returned to their neighborhoods to try to get a sense of what it looked like and what they had missed to make sure everything was in

place. you know, in the distance as question are driving now, we see a fire truck. we will pull in that direction to see what's happening there. we've been talking with other crews for nbc driving through the area. it sounds like uprooted trees in a lot of places, but so far, as bill said, not a lot of structural damage. we have not seen real damage from the winds, to structures, aside of what it did to some trees in the area. >> you point out the conditions are better where you stand now, but we have a picture of you in the -- i guess perhaps the height of this storm at boardwalk just crouching down from the rain. i guess some of the sand that maybe was coming your direction. doesn't it feel like such a long time ago when we were dealing with the major impact of this storm? >> this like to call new york the city that never sleeps. i think we're all entitled to a nap after that morning. we just got blitzed by that stinging sand, the winds and rain. bill karins, who i know is still

on set working relentless hours keeping track of this storm said there were gusts at 60 miles per hour at the end of our day before we left that location with steady sustained winds of, like, 35 miles per hour. we were getting battered for much of the day. hopefully by being out there we gave people a perspective of why they stay inside. it may not have been what they feared it would be, but it's best they heeded those warnings. >> absolutely, peter. we'll speak with you later if that event you're following turns into something we need to report. let's go to new jersey, michelle franzen joins us on the phone from bay head on the jersey shore what is the situation like there now? >> certainly there is clean-up started in the new jersey area, but still risk in the area. it is still raining in the area. we are seeing wind kick up here in bay head as well as other parts of new jersey. the big concern here is rising

rivers everywhere around new jersey, particular in the northern part of the state. believe it or not, the northern part of the state, the most inland part of new jersey is dealing with rising rivers. that's just a testament to how powerful irene was and how much rain she dumped in this area, anywhere between five inches along the jersey shore all the way up to seven inches in the inland areas. and that's what they'll be dealing with here the next 24 hours as those rivers continue to rise. along the jersey shore, they may have dodged a bit of a bullet. they had that surge that came in along with the high tide today, that was causing a bit of a problem in the bay head neighborhood here and other coastal communities as they deal with flooded streets. the warning from governor christie, he is asking people to stay indoors because the wind is still kicking up, still raining.

the trees are vulnerable to snapping and falling down. more than 600,000 people throughout the new jersey state are without power. that also is an indication of either through just wind or with the downed trees in this area of just the power outages that were caused by irene. a lot of cleanup here. still some people in shelters, about 15 now at the height of the storm in all 21 counties. >> thank you. just reading some of the tweets out there. incredible flooding in edgewater, new jersey. also a tweet coming in that the cranes are still intact at the world trade center in new york. there was concern that the cranes were secure and some things that people are saying online in observations regarding flooding in edgewater, new jersey, at least the cranes intact at the world trade center site. keep it locked on msnbc for continuing coverage. we will go back to rhode island where conditions are worsening by the minute and we want to

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this is something you never see. the boardwalk is empty. they average 450,000 people here each season. on a sunday, just shy of labor day, this place would be packed. today desolate. deserted. >> that was peter alexander at the height of the storm yesterday. in rhode island officials are warning coastal communities about tidal surges that could reach three to six feet causing significant flooding this morning the town of westerly was getting lashed by rough surf well ahead of the storm's arrival. by now irene's heaviest rains have passed the state. about 480,000 people are without

power. we have ron there now what's the latest? >> high tide at 7:30 tonight, coupled with the new money tide could bring the waters back over. this is ocean road along the beach. last night and early this morning it was ocean bottom. there are huge chunks of old casino pier pilings that broke off and washed off, probably 800, 900-foot pieces. we are seeing the sightseeing crowd has come back. this is a popular walkway. yesterday it was jam packed with people who wanted to come out and see what a storm would look like. we have a police car cruising by. they're continuing to go up and down and edge courage people to be safe and not stand up on the wall. every so often a big gust comes along. just a few minutes ago we were having an increase in wind speed by 5, 10 miles per hour.

hurricanes are not a constant thing. they're just like a thunderstorm. you can push in and have the strong winds and they about knock you off your feet. that's not a smart thing to do. some surfers and swimmers with boogie boards are going back out into the surf. that's not wise to do either. this storm is not over. the big rain event moved on to further new england, down here in the coast they are still concerned about storm surge. here comes an electric utility truck, they are surveying the damage. the winds are too high to put up the buckets many pockets without power, up the coast, up towards providence. the power company will try to get on that as soon as winds abate. >> it's interesting, just looking around and behind you, the people walking up, trying to get on tv, i guess they feel better now that the situation has gotten -- look at this guy. the situation is better, i see

all of that debris around you. that's the lesser part of the problem, but it's that kind of debris that will cause power lines, downed trees, downed power lines around you. it's just a mess there. >> sure. you don't have to go far to find trees down on lines or blocking streets. we saw some this morning when the crew was out this is probably a 1,000 pound water-soaked timber that was planted in 1890. there's clean water breakage inside of this. it weighs about 800, 900 pounds. the water gets very deep very quickly off of here which makes for good fishing, i'm told by the locals. it also means the waves come in and they build quickly as they get on to shore. as the high tide comes in, i bet we will see more overwash on that concrete wall. tamera? >> thank you very much for your

live shot there. as irene moved up the coast, steady rain is topping rivers and we will keep an eye on that throughout the northeast. the federal government is already assessing the damage in north carolina where it made landfall as a cat one hurricane. we have a picture from edgewater, new jersey. you can see the flooding there. that's the priority for the governor there and those officials working to clean up after the storm. flooding could be the big problem for the nest two days. this is a picture tweeted in from edgewater, new jersey. that car almost submerged in front of that hotel there. we'll be right back.

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welcome back. travels woes are just beginning with philadelphia and new york's airports closed and up to 12,000 flights canceled. there's no telling how long it could be before millions of the stranded or delayed travelers are able to finally get to their

destinations. in massachusetts, authorities are watching out for potential storm surge. some people decided this is the perfect time for body surfing. that would be probably not the best decision. okay. maybe not the smartest thing to do. many areas of the state are being evacuated due to swollen rivers. about 200,000 homes and businesses in the stark. crews are beginning the work and restoring the power. ron allen is in massachusetts where the rush is on to protect and rescue boats in that harbor. we were watching one of those rescues earlier. they were towing in this boat that was having some trouble there. >> reporter: yeah, "distant dream" is doing fine right now. if you look out there, this harbor stretches about a half mile. you can see it's choppy out there. there's a marker out there

that's been bobbing and weaving in the distance there. you can see more sailboats out there. that's where the boats have been coming loose and coming into this harbor, the coast guard has been on duty trying to round them up and secure them into better places. the last thing you want in a harbor is for a boat to be bouncing around like in a pinball machine. we are getting heavy winds here now. the rain is pretty much over, but it's still windy. the gusts in the state have been as high as 80 miles per hour. 70 miles per hour. you mentioned the flooding problem. much of that is happening in western massachusetts. in central massachusetts they are watching the rivers side. here, again, there's still a lot of activity. perhaps you can see behind that tugboat, a couple of guys, earlier this were lifting some boats out of the water, making sure all this rigging is secure. every time i look around i think

of the movie "perfect storm." these are hearty boats. if you look at these two boats, the mirage and miss leslie, that's what so many of these commercial fishing boats look like. look at that rigging. they're strong. they can take it. the people in this part of country are used to these storms. they know how to deal with them. the problem is the leisure boats which are way across the harbor. again, things are calming down. but i really don't want to say that, because every time i say it i feel a gust of wind come up or something. this event is not over. it's not going to be a hurricane certainly but certainly not over either. >> is certainly not over. i understand, ron, you had a chance to talk with one of the boat captains while you were there? >> earlier we had a problem here, a situation where one of these boats came loose. we were here while the coast guard and some of the guys who work in this factory were trying

to secure it to this dock here in front of me. i think we have some tape we can show you of that incident. also we talked to one of the captains who came here to secure his boat. here is how he described the conditions in the harbor. >> that's pretty scary. that can go on there, get caught in the bridge, the boom could fall and kill somebody this is bad. i've never seen the harbor like this. we came in on thursday so we wouldn't be close to dealing with something like this. >> he's one of the captains who came up here earlier in the week this is one of the most protected, secure harbors on the east coast. many of these boats are from out of town. they come up here to be safe, and they are. these boats have not moved an inch during the entire time we've been here all day. as you heard that captain say, he's never seen anything like this and these are protected waters. you can imagine what it's like beyond the hurricane barrier, about a half mile out. >> ron, thank you very much for the update.

the extent of the damage from irene is coming to clearer focus as the day moves on, even if your area looks calm, a reminder to watch out for downed power lines on the streets and sidewalks, do not attempt to drive through the flooded roads. they are telling people to be aware, you don't know how deep the waters are. we'll have complete coverage, a lot of updates for you. this storm is not a done deal. we have updates after the break. [ male announcer ] this is coach parker... whose non-stop day starts with back pain... and a choice. take advil now and maybe up to four in a day. or choose aleve and two pills for a day free of pain. way to go, coach. ♪ way to go, coach. have i got a surprise for you! yeah, it's new [ barks beneful healthy fiesta. 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.

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as we walk this way, i think you can see the sand coming this direction. if you excuse me, i'll turn my back to it. you can get a sense of what the ocean looks like now. that does not feel good. you can see what the ocean looks like now. the seas have been pushing this direction over and over. it's blowing a lot of sand and wind this way as well.

normally it's about a football field of sand. right now it's about half that. wow. now we're seeing more of those gusts. a short time ago, the gusts reached 60 miles per hour. right now it's sustained at about 25 to 30 miles per hour i think it's safe to say. >> yesterday evening at height of the storm in coney island, the evacuation order for low-lying areas in new york, which included coney island, zone a, mayor bloomberg says that evacuation order will be lifted at 3:00 p.m. eastern, and they plan to restore some bus service by 5:00 p.m. today. as you well know, mass transit shut down in new york city. the first time this has happened as a result of a natural disaster. let's find out where irene is now. nbc meteorologist bill ckareinss

in the weather center. people are wanting some updates on vermont and new hampshire. >> the storm will move quickly through northern new england over the next six hours, but not quickly enough. some very strong wording up there about flash flooding. they are very concerned about the amount of water coming down and how quickly it accumulates. they had a wet spring, and now this on top of wet soil is not good. we still have -- i don't want to ignore the fact because it's not a hurricane anymore, we have tropical storm warnings, that's a big deal that cover the entire state of maine, new mexico, all of connecticut, massachusetts and down to new jersey, much of the hudson river valley what a tropical storm warning means you still have a chance of getting wind gusts been 39 and 74 miles per hour. that's significant. the green shows you where the

heavy rain is. we'll focus on that first. burlington is getting drenched. the heaviest rain you're seeing yet. the northern half of new hampshire is drenched. good news from manchester to concord. you have a dry slot punched in. even coastal main is not looking too bad with rain. it is pouring once you get into higher elevations, north of augusta into bangor. this is a huge storm. you saw all the tropical storm warnings. this area of orange is everywhere you could see tropical storms for gusts. boston at 55 miles per hour. bangor, 32. many areas of new hampshire are gusting to 30, 40 miles per hour. burlington to the north has gusts of 33. along with the heavy rain, that's where the power outages will be coming in. those huge waves will continue into the afternoon. i have to show you, the wind gusts in atlantic city, new jersey, just went to 57 miles per hour.

that's -- this storm has been long gone from atlantic city, new jersey. it's incredible it is that windy down. there i'm sure folks are surprised how stiff that breeze is. >> that's one of the places that the governor of the state was concerned about because you had the senior citizens in this high rise who didn't want to leave atlantic city, wanted to ride out the storm there. but this is the problem that persists. a lot of people assume this is over, it's past the new york area, that's the densely populated area, but still we have lingering effects here. >> 57-mile-per-hour gusts is enough to bring down a tree limb and kill someone. so, word of advice from new jersey northwards, just wait until tomorrow morning. >> thank you. ocean city, maryland is reopening to visitors now. the chesapeake city bay bridge is reopened. the biggest problem is downed trees, even power lines. tom costello is live in ocean city, maryland. what's the latest there? especially on the power outages.

>> yeah. it seems to be in our general vicinity the power outages have been addressed and we have plenty of electricity in ocean city. oh to be a teenager and live in ocean city and be a surfer dude. i have austin here, he's 16. jimmy, 15. you guys surf all the time. what is it like the day after the storm? >> it's better than it usually is. it's bigger. it's going down in size. but it used to be bigger. >> what was it like when you came out here this morning. >> it looks smaller from here, but when you're out there it is the bigger. >> this the best surfing of the summer? >> probably. >> we saw this place suddenly, dozens upon dozens upon dozens of surfers rush the beach, starting at about 11:00 this morning. they are all up and down the beach right now. the aftermath of irene.

as for ocean city, i think it's fair to say the damage would be almost negotiaremote. a little. not the stuff that would make the local newspaper if it were not for this storm that just went through. it's back to a normal summer day towards the end of the summer. i would say this, though, this is important. this was a critical weekend for the businesses up and down the delmarva peninsula to make their money, help make their summer. the fact they are able to reopen today at noon and get everything back up and running today is critical so they can finish out the summer and make money. >> that's important. the business aspect of this is important as people depend on this in this hard-hit economy to keep people coming. >> four people have been confirmed dead, lost their lives

related to this storm, apparently from fallen trees. around the state, almost a million people without power. we are joined now with bob from t virginia. we were talking to you yesterday after the storm moved through virginia. >> we are still getting word on the damages to virginia. things appear not as bad address what we had feared, but we have significant damage. we have pore than 1 millihave m people without power, trees down. we have the four fatalities. our concern now, is that number increasing as people go out, clean up, using generators. we want to make sure people are safe. >> you're right. no one wants to rush, but people want to know how long before the power is back on. you face obstacles with debris and frees really blocking the

way of workers who want to get there there and help folks out. >> yeah. we put teams together, chainsaw teams, working along with the power and utilities making sure we can get the trees cleaned up and get the power lines fixed as soon as possible. we are working on that, helping out the power companies to make repairs as quick as possible. >> all right. we wish you the best. you are busy. we are happy that for the most part the storm did not pack the punch in your part of the country that we were expecting. thank you, bob. we will bring you the information you need on msnbc and msnbc.com to keep you and your family safe. coming up next, brian williams will anchor a show on the response and continued problems that persist even though irene has moved past this area. we'll be back. [ male announcer ] this...is the network --

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continuing coverage. we are learning that irene swallowed a long stretch of boardwalk on the jersey shore. most of a two-mile boardwalk in monmouth county is destroyed. tell me about this damage there. >> i'm out here with our oem director, we are touring spring lake and, yeah, we have the

boardwalk here in spring lake tossed around pretty good. flooding that we have not seen before. you know, irene took it to us pretty good on the shore here up and down the coast, inland, and the township of howell. we're working on doing those assessments, you know, trying to deactivate our shelters a bit, trying to get residents back home and get some normalcy. >> you have certainly a lot on your plate even just getting people back into their homes, but this flooding, the governor says the next two days this is the major problem here. what is your team doing at this point? >> yeah. the flooding. listen, you can't control mother nature, right? we have to let the waters go down. we did a good job working with the state and local officials, all the emergency management coordinators and first responders preparing residents. they heeded the cry for evacuation of the low-lying areas.

we did pretty good in terms of not having residents stranded in flooded areas. there were some that were stranded when we had some of the rivers rise. we rescued them last night. but today we are just focusing on clearing the roadways so we can get utility crews out and restore power. we have ovsome people without people in the county, so that's our main effort right now. >> all right. we wish you the best of luck getting things back to normal there. >> we want to check in again with meteorologist bill karins on the latest of irene. you heard the sheriff of monmouth county talking about flooding. >> we had the storm surge flooding at the high tide this morning and river flooding. reports this morning from the high tide flooding, they were significant but not devastating. new york city, battery park, ended up at about nine feet.

the sixth highest after time. a significant water mark for manhattan, but it did not rival the hurricanes of the 1800s, the 1930s, or for that matter the one in 1954. so it was bad but it could have been a lot work. let's talk about what happened in new jersey. this is the area that had the saturated soil. there's a couple showers left from allentown, trenton, philly. that rainfall is just about over with. these rainfall totals were incredible around philly, trenton, belmar and atlantic city. the delaware river is the worst of it, easton, stockton, new hope, we expect that crest tomorrow. top ten all time. there are a couple rivers that will have all-time record crest, and then the sopas creek, tamron, that's supposed to hit the all-time highest crest tomorrow. >> all right. thank you, bill. a lot to run down.

you've been doing a remarkable job. you are just -- >> keep everyone safe. >> you are doing a great job. thank you very much. 560,000 homes and businesses without power in north carolina. the damage so far does not seem to be as dire as predicted. in nags head, boats and debris washed up on shore. the governor and other state officials are planning on an aerial tour of the hardest-hit counties. 2800 people on hatteras have been all but cut off from the mainland. mark potter has been braving the storm in nags head, north carolina. he was there yesterday as the storm hovered overhead for about 12 hours. what's the latest as people try to assess the damage and put pieces back together? >> that's right. it's a beautiful day here in nags head on the outer banks. the storm left us last night. the clean-up is underway here. the basic response to all of this is that they skated. they really were lucky. the damage was relatively

minimal. the biggest problem they had involved what we were talking about yesterday, the storm surge of water from the sounds behind me. that's roanoke sound, pimlico sound, all that water was pushed up by the hurricane and washed ashore. here the water came up about four to six feet up near the road. these jet skis which were stored back there, are by the road. propane tank over here. these are weeds and grass from the sound that were pushed up. talking to the mayor, he said they did really well. very little wind damage at all. they lost one house, but it was a 90-year-old house that already sat in the water any way in normal conditions. the big news is at 2:00 down this road here they began opening the outer banks again to traffic and business owners wanting to come in and get ready

for next weekend's labor day weekend. there are some areas that are still cut off, behind us in the north is duck, there's water and debris across the road there that needs to be cleaned up. but the central part where we are in the outer banks is opening up again. they are returning to normal. again, a dramatic day here weather-wise, but it didn't do much damage. back to you. >> certainly was dramatic. we are happy things were not as bad as we thought it would be. thank you very much, mark. coming up at the top of the hour, brian williams will anchor special coverage. among his guests nypd commissioner kelly and lincoln chafee. we'll be right back. >> the winds are picking up right now. we were seeing sustained winds -- sorry about that. sustained winds of about 25 miles per hour. right now they're sustained at 45 miles per hour. as we have been talking to you

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welcome back. to the lingering effects of irene in new york city. some roads are closed and mass transit is still shut down. there's also flooding to report. the weather channel's jim c cantore is live in manhattan. in the next seven minutes or so, the mandatory evacuation order will be lifted. we heard that news from the mayor not long ago. >> that's great news, because people, even though they can't take the trains back, essentially by 5:00 they will be able to take the buses back. some of the buses going back into operation, new news here as of 5 qulk this evenin:00 this e.

it will be baby steps to get back. this morning around 8:00, we expected high tide to be coupled with the storm surge. the water was up to here, a foot and a half high. we could have easily been four, five, six feet high with the kind of storm that we had and the one originally forecast when they implemented that evacuation. that's what's key. again, when you look at that, the storm we would have been facing is one that would have brought that water up higher. that said there were issues with the storm surge. coney island, some places had seven feet of water rolling in. places around staten island, 61 people had to be rescued as a result of water coming in there. some people they rescued were in five feet deep water. that could have been a craftic situation. nobody was injured in that situation. east haven, connecticut, another area i know that experienced storm surge. now the other frings effects that we were talking about for

new england, the damaging winds, the damage to the power lines and the flooding. in vermont, they're experiencing some severe flooding as water has no place to go after what has been a wet spring and summer as well. those fringe hazards we have talked about are well underway. as we forecast, they will be record-setting. we are talking about maybe three dozen rivers now that will be in major flood stage come tomorrow. back to you. >> that is the important detail there, those rivers. we are keeping an eye on it, thank you, jim. before we go here are some of the newspaper headlines. the "new york times" reads hurricane drives towards new york with deadly fury. the boston globe, weakened but dangerous irene thunders into new england. and the "washington post," storm slams east core.

the daily news has blown away, killer cane irene rakes east coast. this morning historic evacuations. the new jersey paper, the times of trenton read dread on arrival. the dire predictions were not as bad as we thought. people are still without power. we'll keep you up to date on all the developments. i'm tamron hall. nbc's brian williams will take over our special coverage of hurricane irene.