nbc's thanh trong is joining us now from norfolk, virginia, home to s.e.a.l. team six. >> reporter: here in the greater norfolk area, tens of thousands of families are closely connected to the navy and the navy s.e.a.l.s. as you can imagine, losing 22 of their own is hard to process. at a church service in virginia beach this morning, the faithful prayed for the fallen, and sang the navy hymn. navy s.e.a.l.s may be shrouded in secrecy, but in naval communities like this, they are neighbors, friends, and family. >> my heart goes out to them. i know the boys were doing what they loved, and always would do that, and they live for that. but to lose them it's tough. >> reporter: navy s.e.a.l. aaron vaughn was based in virginia beach. he was one of 22 s.e.a.l.s killed in the attack. the 30-year-old leaves behind a wife and two young children. his grandmother wishes she could have seen him one last time. >> i would say, aaron, you made me proud. and i would say you did a good job. and i'd say i love you, and i always will. >> reporter: cynthia morrison with the navy

by late this evening, it should be moving past norfolk and east to the northwest as it comes past norfolk. hurricane-force wind gusts in the location. sustained may be mostly over the water. remember, there will be a lot of tree damage in that area. i expect to have many reportos that in that area also. and overnight hours, weather on the coast past ocean city and impacting the delaware bay and storm surge and high winds . by early morning moving up the coastline of new jersey affecting all of the resort areas in new jersey, and in the morning hours and making its next big landfall in new york city. i don't want you to get too carried away. you saw in the radar and satellite imagery. it is a broad area, hurricane-force wind and we'll keep them in the forecast at least for now. right up to final landfall into new england. next slide, please. tropical storm probabilities as we talked about. this gives you an idea of how large of an area likely to be impacted by tropical storm-force winds while hurricane irene makes its trek up the eastern sea board. those last for hours. that's the area we'

next in line is through tidewater, norfolk area. they're already having adverse conditions there. i'm talked to several relatives in the area where the rainfall has been incredibly heavy, and the water levels are coming up now. i'd like to also report a good story coming out of that. the information they've gotten in advance of this storm from local officials of what to do or not do in the event of the storm has been outstanding. it fits right in with what they should be doing. next picture, please. radar imagery of this. we see these bands coming around the top here. every now and then one of those will take on a characteristic on radar from our local forecast office on issue tornado warnings on those. they're fast and furious and they don't give you the long lead time like the supercells. you end up working in the great plains like in april across this area. we've had storm surge tides in the upper ends of the sound in the 7 1/2 foot range. 5 to 9 feet is the forecast depending on where you are on the upper ends of the sounds here. storm tides are high on the coast and you add t

next in line is the tide water hampton roads, norfolk area. having adverse conditions there. i've talked to several relatives in the area, where the rainfall has been incredibly heavy and the water levels are coming up now. i'd like to also report that a good story coming out of that, the information they've gotten in advance of this storm from the local officials on what to do or not to do in the event of this storm has just been outstanding. it fits right in with what they should be doing. next picture, please? radar imagery of this -- where you see these bands coming around the top here, every now and then, one of those will take on a characteristic on radar, that allows our local forecast office to issue tornado warning on those. they're fast and furious. they're not going to give you the long lead time like super cell tornadoes, which end up working in the great plains, like we had back in april across this area. we've had storm surge tides in the upper ends of pamlico sound here in the 7 1/2 foot range, 5 to 9 feet is the forecast depend

now near hampton roads and norfolk.ect that water to be up here into baltimore or the potomac because by the time the storm gets here and the water could go up the chesapeake it will be pushed back down and out. but here, new york city the threat for you is 16 hours of wind blowing the same direction and already i can check the tides, i'm checking the tide at battery park, it's already up a foot higher than it should be and now we have what 16 hours of the winds still blowing and getting stronger? that surge in new york city, down by the battery will be tremendous and that's going to be for the next, i would at least the next 16 maybe 20 hours, and there it goes. there goes the storm. still perfectly forecast to go right over new york city. i'm telling you, wolf, we talked about fema with a couple of the governors a little bit ago, how well fema is doing. i have to give a shout to the national hurricane center and the forecast for this. they were spot on since it's been out of the bahamas, we had the forecast, they had

thanh truong in norfolk, thank you. with the 30 u.s. troops killed in the helicopter crash, the total troops killed in afghanistan since the war began in 2001 now stands at 1,728. president obama was certainly briefed on the crash over the phone. cnbc chief correspondent john harwood is with us. good morning to you. how does this affect the white house strategy in afghanistan in at all? >> no indications that it will. leon panetta said yesterday we'll stay the course. that calls for withdrawing the 30,000 surge troops that president obama sent in 2009 by the end of next year. president obama has been at camp david. he'll be back in the afternoon. we'll see if he has anything to say about this. he hasn't appeared before cameras this weekend. given the pressures on the president to bring the war to a conclusion after ten years, i think the likelihood is that this event -- tragic and horrendous and ironic as it was because it involved the members of the seal team 6 that were part of the greatest triumph that the u.s. had that's getting osa

the city of norfolk is only a few feet above sea level. some parts of the city are actually below sea level. a lot of heavy rain, we're expecting maybe over a foot and the storm surge coming in, we could be talking very significant flooding here in the hampton roads area of virginia, continuing up towards delaware, maryland, they have evacuations going into effect this evening, the ocean city area, vacations cut short, into delaware and eventually have up towards new york city. so a lot of people in the cross hairs. people absolutely need to prepare. irene could be a very dangerous storm. >> eric fisher. stay safe. we'll check back in as the next hours unfold, i'm sure. >>> coming up, torrential wind and rain here. torrents of change in the arab world. gadhafi's regime all but toppled. could syria be the know, fall? we'll ask the former ambassador to syria that question. >>> plus the memoir that will have heads exploding. that's dick cheney's opinion. not ours. >>> and one-on-one with ralph nader. what the man blasted a presidential spoile

we are already seeing quite a bit of damage in virginia and the norfolk area.p in mind this is a big storm. you are not getting the peak of this until midnight in washington d.c. new york, midday tomorrow. rainfall is the biggest problem. there is so much moisture with this thing. we are talking 6 to 12 inches expected. a lot of flash flooding on the outer banks. t.j. >> jacqui, thank you. >>> 38 minutes past the hour. we will head up to washington d.c. where i was supposed to be this weekend with athena jones. she is there in d.c. the show was supposed to be on the road for the big mlk dedication on the national mall. that is on hold right now. >> reporter: exactly. it has been postponed. safety first. there was a whole series of events around that. thousands of people were expected to come for this dedication that was set for tomorrow, sunday. the 48th anniversary of the march on washington and the famous martin luther king, "i have a dream" speech. the d.c. mayor vincent gray has declared a state of emergency for the city. he was one of several mayors and go

then over the outer banks during the overnight hours, near norfolk, virginia, as we go throughout saturday by 8:00 p.m. as we go through the timeline here, things have sped up a little bit. you notice by 8:00 a.m., this storm at day break is along the jersey coast from wild wood to atlantic city, still a hurricane. the forecast takes it over another landfall, over long island. let me break this down for you, step by step. this is for everyone that is in north carolina and virginia. we are calling for a category 2 landfall at this point, still looking at a storm surge. instead of 6 to 10, probably down to 6 to 9. rainfall will be huge no matter what the strength of the storm is. we're also going to be watching the peak of this storm for the outer banks and north carolina, sometime from saturday 4:00 a.m. to about 11:00 p.m. it is going to take so long to get through the tropical storm force winds, you'll probably be in your homes for a good 18 hours. further up the coast, again, still looking at a cat 2, cat 1, this is for people in jersey shoreline, delaware, chesapeake bay and virginia. y

and norfolk virginium as a navy fleet leaves port this is all in preparation for hurricane irene theyeading to a safer place we will be right back and laugh. writing for the opening bell on wall street as futures were down and we have had three winning days in a row on wall street nasdaq was up 22 asian stocks are up and oil prices are up in asia. we are keeping an eye on bank of america stock warren buffett is investing $5 billion in bank of america >> a new poll shows americans all look on the economy is damn more adults are blaming former president george bush then they are blaming of president obama. half of the survey think he should get a second term. >> steve jobs was the balance point of that company and now we're going to see a different company >> apple stock after closing took a big drop in we are keeping our eye on apple shares and steve the job when we come back. the bay area -- a place with natural beauty and a forward thinking spirit. at bank of america, we've been fueling economic growth here for over a century. today we're investing in innovations that will define our

jeff whiter, a firefighter norfolk fire and rescue. good job.nks so much for saflg them. >> thanks so much for having us. >> brian: you got a thank you from them, right? >> oh yes, we did. >> brian: great and to your partner. thanks a lot, jeff. >> you are welcome. >> brian: meanwhile, we forge ahead. no religious leaders allowed at this year's 9/11 ceremony. is god getting a boot from ground zero?here time to changee decision? protecting the tomb of the unknown. the 9/11 memorial ceremony. joining us now is the man who organized the interfaith ceremony following 9/11 at yankee stadium. former deputy mayor of new york city rudy washington. mr. washington, thanks so much for being here. how do you interpret what mayor bloomberg is doing in not allowing clergy to be involved in this? >> well, i haven't spent much time trying to figure it out. i have been troubled over the years, not just with politics but presidential politics. with everybody being politically correct and being so concerned about being politically correct, to the point now i don't

they are based in norfolk, this is coming from the norfolk station. we don't know of any injuries out of this but we believe this to be a tornado. national weather service will have to confirm that the tornadoes spin out of hurricanes all the time so if you have decided to ride this storm out in an evacuation area that you stay inside. when the winds are fierce, stay away from sliding glass doors and stay in the center of the house, especially if you have kids in there. it's a horrible thing to happen. >> we're waiting for news conference from new york city mayor michael bloomberg. i showed you the developing news spreading out of these models for the storm. it may not be a big deal to on you, but for 20 million or so people that live around here, whether this storm goes just to the left of the city of new york or to the right of the city of new york is going to mean -- i'm guessing here -- hundreds of millions of dollars in difference in what is about to happen. if it goes just to the west of us, even these european tourists are going leave times squ

the storm is only 35 miles south of norfolk, virginia, packing winds of about 80 miles per hour.have now been confirmed. more than a million people are without power. new york officials are warning several thousand people under evacuation orders to get out now before the storm is expected to hit the big apple tomorrow. >> new yorkers, we like to think we're tough and we can handle anything. we are tough, but we're also smart. and we're smart enough to know that we don't mess with mother nature, and we are prepared for the storm. we'll be prepared for the aftermath, but during the course of the storm, new york should either evacuate or stay indoors. >> let's go to cnn's mary snowe in new york, at one of those evacuation shelters. what's going on over there, mary? >> reporter: rain coming down a little bit harder, wolf. and we are in lore manhattan, in the evacuation zone. i don't know if you can see it, but in this park which is virtually empty except for a police car coming through. it's been going around this area with a loud speaker telling people that they should evacuate. war

we have a crew in norfolk. there are people literally swimming in the streets right now because of some of the surge flooding. it's one of the deadliest aspects of land falling hurricanes that is our big concern tonight. a tide above what we would normally expect. high tide is right now. the worst will last for a couple more hours before the water levels go down. we're also getting report coming in, perhaps another fatality here in the state of virginia. in the town of chesterfield. you heard bryan norcross, wint gusts upwards of 70 miles per ho hour. rainfall totals will be approaching a foot if not topping it before the rain works its way out. the wind gusts tonight will continue as well. in terms of the other fatalities that we've seen here, an 11-year-old in a two-story building when a tree fell into it. also a gentleman driving down the highway when a tree fell on his vehicle. many reports like that in and around north carolina and virginia. it's unfortunate side of the storm for sure. things will not impr

pictures right now from our affiliate wavy out of norfolk. let's listen in to what they're saying about the damage that's been caused already. >> you're getting to the point now where the water is reaching up to your headlights. that's a mixture of salt water and that's very bad for the vehicle. it's also downright unsafe for you. >> reporter: eventually what my plan is, tom, is i'm going to try to work my way back to my friend in town. he called us and alerted us to this in the first place. a lot of thanks to him for that. but that's probably -- if i can make it back there, that's probably where i'm going to try to seek shelter for tonight. jim, if you're listening to this, i hope you're expecting me. >> art, thanks so much. we appreciate you joining us. we'll talk to art a little bit later. >> so our affiliate coverage there from wavy based out of north carolina. it's unclear where that damage was from. meantime, so many states under a state of emergency, including new jersey. and the city of hoboken as well is a city not accustomed to this

nbc's tom truong is live in norfolk. >> jenna, good morning to you. this is naf country down here, places like norfolk and hampton that revolve around the navy where many of the elite navy s.e.a.l.s train and call home. one of the s.e.a.l.s was based in virginia beach not far from here. ladies and gentlemen, join us in a moment of sielence. >> in a baseball game in norfolk last night this naval community paused to remember the americans killed in friday's chopper crash offering prayers for their loved ones left behind. >> we lost some great, brave americans in the last day or so and our hearts and minds are with those families. i know they're suffering really tough right now. the family of aaron is mourning his death. his grandmother released this photo yesterday, saying the 30-year-old was a tough warrior, but a gentle man. on facebook, a prayer page for vaughn who is survived by his wife and two children. vaughn is one of 22 navy s.e.a.l.s killed this weekend. the elite and clandestine unit is often the tip of the spear. >> they work in the shadows

it has so much impact on the naval families based in norfolk, virginia.hts are with all of them as they handle this. >> bill: we mentioned all the flight cancellations. 8300 over the next two days. you think of the people traveling. this will be a major mess. no matter what irene eventually does or does not do, the impact on tens of millions of people is already being felt. new details in a moment. two devastation in north carolina. the damage and the rising death toll there, irene is making her way up the east coast, a minimum of five fatalities to date. >> it's the first time i heard of a hurricane coming to new york city. so it will be exciting coming from miami, florida. i'm used to hurricanes. but i don't know what it's going to be like in new york city. w? all four of us, together? 24. he's low fat, too, and has 5 grams of sugars. i'll believe it when i--- [ both ] oooooh... what's shakin'? [ female announcer ] as you get older, protein is an important part of staying active and strong. new ensure high protein... fifty percent of your daily value of

norfolk, you saw the images from norfolk. folks up to their waist in water. state of virginia definitely did get hit hard. the northern part of the state, the d.c. metro area was the one able to dodge the bullet. that's really the important thing for folks in the major metropolitan area that had 3 million people. there was fear what was going on in new york could happen here. similar to what happened with isabel in 2003. where i'm now submerged completely under water. state of virginia took one on the chin in the hampton roads area, eastern shore. those folks can be without power for up to a week. >> you and i were talking yesterday and you were standing on the bow of one of those boats behind you. there was a risk for those boats and we were talking about the foolhardy nature of these owners you should have gotten the boats out of the water. they gambled okay. >> they doubled down their skills, secured their vessels. around 6:00 p.m. last night we tried to do another one of those boat shots and it go to be too rough. definitely an angry potomac river for a t

a long trip, all the way from norfolk to washington, d.c. let's keep going. go on any trip, it's very important to have a great crew. thankfully, we've got photojournalist jeremy with us. >> at your service, governor. >> and producer eleesha eagan with us. how many miles are we going today? >> about 350. >> 350. oh, yeah. first stop, smithfield, virginia, which happens to be the ham capital of the world. which is great if you're hungry. problem is, this is a prop. we feed the real deal. but, unfortunately, as you know, reality can sometimes be a little bit harsh. here at the museum in smithfield, virginia, take a look at this. oh, my gosh, it is the world's oldest edible ham, the one right there in the middle. tra tracy kirk is the museum's curator. how do we know this is edible? >> it was cured in 1902 and we think you could still eat it, but we haven't cut into it. >> i'll take your word for it. wow. something else that's really cool here, check it out, the world's oldest peanut, amazing, here in smithfield. you think something that need would have its own

but that purple area in eastern north carolina, norfolk, chris, we're talking the possibility of norfolkf rain in a short period of time. we will have historic flooding in some cases in the eastern shores right along virginia, north carolina, right up to southern new england. >> thanks, bill. let's bring back our panel. michelle bernard, jonathan alan and fred yang. these sorts of natural disasters, hurricanes, snowstorms, leadership is always a big issue. i want to highlight one thing, there was a pew poll out this week, presidential leadership, president obama able to get things done. now 44%, that's down 11% from may. >> yeah. >> how concerning is that for the white house? >> it is not insurmountable, but it is a big concern. if you look at the pew numbers in more detail, the only numbers that stayed about the same or didn't decrease significantly were do we like you, do we think you understand people like us, do we think you're a good communicator? the president has to definitely look at these numbers and understand that just because people like him, it doesn't mean they're going to

they will be moved into safer areas and remain in the norfolk area.itary personnel. 27 ships going out to sea. they'll be done by tonight and all be out of irene's way. this means hundreds if not thousands of navy crew are going to be right in the storm out at sea while their families, of course action are back on shore. but there's really no choice here, they have to get these ships out of the way of the storm because the damage will be too severe. they will make a decision in the next several hours about moving aircraft as well. ali. >> barbara, thanks very much. we'll stay on top of that as well. >> there are evacuations already under way in north carolina. john zarrella is on wrightsville beach. it looks so peaceful and nice, but that probably won't last very much longer. >> reporter: no, we've probably got 36 more hours of this good weather here in north carolina. we're actually under a tropical storm watch here. just up the road starting in surf city and including all the outer banks is where the hurricane watch is now in effect. that was issued

hampton roads and norfolk telling their folks to get out. the navy has also order the its 27 ships >> caroline shively live from the bureau in washington. thank you. >> new jersey under a hurricane warning as well and governor christie has declared a state of emergency and he's urging people who had plans to visit the jersey shore this weekend to stay home and asking those who are already there to leave. >> do not try to ride it out. it is not the smart thing to do. i will not order evacuation unless i believe it's absolutely necessary. but if i order it, i expect it to be complied with. >> leading by example, too, christie cut short his family's vacation to the shore and went home and the thing is, too, if you stay and you get in trouble, you got to go send emergency workers in to risk their lives because you thought -- >> not fair to everyone. >> ok. here's the coverage of the new york newspapers this morning on "the new york times." here's one of these guys out at the beach. can you believe it? surfers, too. the headline in "the new york

and norfolk, virginia. philadelphia, parts of new jersey where they have 1 million people already evacuated. so truly, all the way up this eastern sea board. they haven't dealt with a storage this huge in quite some time. really trying to get out in front of it. >> thank you for braving the storm for us. farther north, new york city is bracing for what could be a direct hit. the buss and trains are shut down. the storm surge could send water flooding into lower manhattan, into the burros. it's the first mandatory evacuation ever in new york city. >> if you haven't left, you should leave now. not later this evening, not this afternoon, but immediately . >> emergency authorities warn those who stay behind will be on their own. winds are expected to knock out power to millions in new york suburbs. strongest winds and rain are expected to hit the city early tomorrow morning. >> dry and calm weather center, i might add. not standing out on the beaches here, thankfully. the storm trap track of irene hasn't change

so we're looking at the norfolk area, just because of the low-lying areas.lso, the sand bridge area. i know there's a tornado that just happened there within about an hour ago. we work with local emergency management, local churches, pastors, and come in and say, what's the greatest need and how can we help you meet that need? just this morning, i've been in communication with jim redick, the emergency manager of virginia beach. we'll work directly with them, coordinating relief here in the hampton road area, in the greatest hit areas, just as soon as it's safe to go out. >> and it might not be, it's probably too early to get any kind of even roundabout estimates of how many people you may need to serve. but, can you give me an idea of how great, at least, the need will be as far as what you're prepared for? how many are you prepared to take care of? >> yeah, we're prepared right now at least for 2,500 meals a day for three days. we also have about a 60,000 square foot warehouse full of food that we use for disaster relief, not only here in the united states

let's go live to norfolk, virginia, and tom truong, what kind of impact is this having on the committee there? >> well, the navy is in shock. this is navy place, places like nor foerk. they are revolving around the navy and wra where many of the elite s.e.a.l.s train and one lived in virginia beach, not far from here. at a baseball game in nor foerk, they paused to remember the americans killed, offering prayers for the loved ones left behind. >> we lost some brave americans in the last day or so. it's a real tragedy and our hearts and minds are with mourning his death and his grandmother released this photo yesterday, saying the 30-year-old was a tough warrior and a gentle man. on facebook, a prayer page survived by his wife and two children. vaughn is one of 22 navy s.e.a.l.s killed this weekend. the elite and claimed destine unit is the top of the sphere in covert military operations. >> they work in the shadows, the happier they are. >> in coronado, california, hearts are heavy. >> it took me a while to sink in and then when it did i felt like i was nothing. i didn't know what to sa

current forecast track just to the south of norfolk and continue to track northward at 75 miles per hourds. and so it could weaken a bit. and landfall in new york city and western portions of long island is expected tomorrow morning and by sunday it will be inland. >> sometime tomorrow after sunrise. i don't know if that much matter. >> it is so big that storm surge is a big concern in the region. you are looking at on shore flow and that is two or eight aim. we'll have big problems in portions of long island or on the coast. general thinking. 2:00 a.m. or 8:00 a.m.. high tide. >> shepard: we have talked about the high tide. there is a new moon and that makes it much higher and now add to this and waves on top of it. >> here's what we are watchful and hopeful about. i am not saying it is diminishing. but watch the orange and then look at white and gray. on the left and see that. that is trier air infusing in this thing and it is like shooting in the middle of it. the hope is, watch. it wrap around the eye and force this thing apart. do we think it is going to happen? no. >> is the nation

areas like hampton, norfolk this is where many call home. one of the s.e.a.l.s killed in the attack lived in virginia beach, not far from here. at a baseball game in norfolk last night, this naval community paused to remember the americans killed in the chopper crash, offering prayers for the loved ones left behind. >> we lost some great americans in the last day or so. it's a real tragedy and our hearts and minds, i know that they are really suffering and it's tough right now. >> reporter: the family of navy s.e.a.l.s is mourning his death. the 30-year-old was a tough warrior but a gentle man. on facebook, a prayer page for vaughn. he's one of 22 navy s.e.a.l.s killed this weekend. the elite and claimed destine unit is the tip of the sphere in covert military operations. >> they work in the shadows and as soon as they are back in the shadows the happier they are. >> in coronado i didn't know what to say or do. >> although the navy s.e.a.l.s are sha rouded in seek kra see, its members gave worldwide attention after they raided bin laden's co

a long trip all the way from norfolk to washington d.c. let's keep going. is very important to have a great crew. we have photo journalist jeremy with us. >> at your service, governor. >> we have producer alicia eagan. how many miles are we going today? >> about 350. >> oh, yeah. first stop? smithfield, virginia. that is the ham capital of the world. that is great if you are hungry. the problem is this is a prop. we need the real deal. reality can sometimes be a little bit harsh. at the museum in smithfield, virginia, take a look at this. it is the world's oldest edible ham. the one in the middle. the museum's curator is here with us. >> this is a combination of smoke and salt and it is cured in 1902. we think you can still eat it. we haven't cut into it. >> i'll take your word for it. wow. something else that is cool here. check it out. it is the world's oldest peanut. amazing here in smithfield. you think something that neat would have its own museum. here in waverly, virginia, the first peanut museum. >> it's locked. >> we're going. next on the road? we

. >>> live pictures out of norfolk, virginia. got word the navy ships would be pulling out to sea in order to protect themselves from hurricane irene and that is happening now. of course you want to keep these ships in good condition because there's assets on there that will be able to respond to those in need if indeed hurricane irene causes some serious damage to the area, so we're watching the navy as they're preparing for hurricane irene as well out of norfolk, virginia. >>> all right, we're checking other stories across the country. mineral, virginia, felt a 4.5 aftershock just a few miles away from the epicenter of tuesday's earthquake. no serious damage was reported there. meanwhile the washington monument is closed indefinitely as engineers devise a plan to repair the cracks that appeared following tuesday's earthquake. and the nearby washington national cathedral also suffered some damage. it's going to be closed through at least saturday. the dedication event for the martin luther king memorial that was supposed to be h

i used to work in norfolk and i know how important that base is. where are they going? is pretty much standard operating procedures. any time there's a threat of a hurricane moving into the area, because it's much safer for the huge navy vessels to be out riding out the storm in the open sea than it is to be banging against each other or the pier if they're tied up. all 64 ships from that part of the 2nd fleet, which are still in port, have been ordered out to sea. that process has been going on now for about 24 hours, including the u.s. acraft carrier "enterprise" and its entire battle group. and so by the end of today we expect that all those ships will be safely out to sea. but other aspects are kicking into high gear. 59 ft. bragg, north carolina, where special operations forces are located, they're stocking up on critical storm supplies, like food, water, blankets and the like in case they're needed. there are 98,000 national guardsmen that would be ready to respond if needed. >> people are taking this seriously. mick, thanks very much. here's what else we are watc

moving slowly to the north northeast at 1 miles-per-hour, and now it's centered 15 miles southeast of norfolk, virginia could be some strengthening overnight tonight. you can see just where this thing is rotating. the feeder band or rain bands very heavy at times, moving in towards virginia beach. virginia beach reporting wind gusts of 60 miles-per-hour. already heavy rainfall towards baltimore, up towards new york city, and even boston reporting light to moderate rainfall. here is the track of this system as it will continue to move very slowly to the north northeast overnight tonight. just off the coast here at 11:00, starts to move into the new york area. by 5:00 a.m. tomorrow morning could be the roughest part of the system, and by tomorrow afternoon it will move through boston and head on up toward eastern portions of canada. we'll have a detailed look and a look at our forecast coming up. >> alan: speaking of new york city, the subway system is shut down today. the bustling city was unusually quiet as the first rains from hurricane irene showed. broadway shows and some sporting event we

that's a submarine as it goes down, this is part of the second fleet in norfolk, this is the largest naval force base in the world. and they are moving out about 64 ships right now in southeastern virginia, 27 ships moving out to sea, another 28 moved out to other places, along the peers there -- piers there. hurricane watches are in effect in coastal north carolina, evacuations are underway and it looks like it's going to slam into the eastern seaboard over the next couple of days. john roberts is in kittyhawk, north carolina where he's been watching the preparations for this. good morning, john. >> reporter: good morning, martha. what a shame that the evacuation order had to be put out for this morning because it's a picture perfect day in the outer banks of north carolina, but 150,000 to 175,000 people have had their vacations cut short, the order went out last night, 8:00 this morning, people have to start hitting the road. that's the main causeway in kittyhawk between the outer banks and mainland, it's one of only two ways off the outer banks, other than a ferry, but they probab

and joining me now from norfolk, virginia, and todd, four of the s.e.a.l.s killed were from ta area, and i know you have been there all morning, and what are you hearing? >> well, a lot of grief, tamron. you can expect that. this is navy s.e.a.l. country, and tens of thousands of families are connected to the navy and the navy s.e.a.l.s and one of the s.e.a.l.s killed was aaron vaughan who is a 6'4" man and his grandmother described him as all muscle, but also described him as a gentle man, and you can imagine that this is grief that many people cannot understand because many of the family are surprised from their loved ones and the s.e.a.l.s serve hundreds of days a year away from the family, and now we learn of this news. we learned of one s.e.a.l. wife who is the wife of one former navy s.e.a.l., and she said, we pray everyday that they will come home, but obviously, this weekend, some won't come home and it is a nonprofit foundation and with the coming days a s asy get the names of the dead here, they will mobilize to travel to maryland as the unfortunately the bodies are flown b

places like norfolk, hampton, they all revolve around the navy.are the place where many navy seals call home and train. one of the seals killed in friday's attack was based in virginia beach, not far from here. >> ladies and gentlemen, join us in a moment of silence. >> reporter: at a baseball game last night this naval community paused to remember the americans killed in the chopper crash offering prayers for loved ones left behind. >> we lost great, brave americans in the last day or so. it's a real tragedy. our hearts and minds are with the families. i know they are suffering really tough right now. >> reporter: the family of aaron vaughn, navy seal, is mourning his death. his grandmother released a photo calling him a tough warrior and a gentleman. on facebook, a prayer page for vaughan who's survived by his wife and two children, one of 22 navy seals killed this weekend. they are often involved in covert military operations. >> they work in the shadows. the sooner they can step back in the shadows the happier they are. >> reporter: in califor

landfall in the u.s., the storm was menacing enough for the second fleet to order ships to evacuate its norfolk base including the "uss enterprise," steaming out to sea to avoid damage from the piers. and the threat of what's being called a once in a generation storm has emptied out tourist havens in north carolina. tonight, irene is emptying the cozy beach towns of the outer banks, chasing away 145,000 tourists. we met these folks having breakfast in our hotel. by show of hands, who is planning to leave today? is that everybody? you guys are leaving? everybody here plans on leaving today? wow. all right. >> we were told to. >> reporter: you were told you had to? they've come all the way from -- >> chicago. >> reporter: maryland. germany? emergency managers are openly nervous. >> people are aware. i think they are listening. but we want them to take this warning very, very seriously. >> reporter: now, calling on 33,000 low cams to evacuate dare county, loading their cars. and they are drilling in boards, protecting what they can. and one woman, out of a very special night. >> everything from a

people keep asking about the storm, we've seen a lot of storms here in norfolk, we're a coastal city. a lot of them miss, some hit. this one looks like -- seems to be the most serious event anywhere around here has been involved in. we tried to make sure all of our citizens take this very seriously. we actually issued a mandatory evacuation last evening for the low lying areas. we've gotten good response there. people are taking this very seriously. a lot of people are leaving. but the truth is we've been preparing for this actually for months an event like this. for the past couple of days we've really intensified the efforts. >> mayor good luck to you. thank you for taking the time to talk to us. >> thank you. >> washington, d.c. of course also bracing for irene's impact. cancelling sunday's martin luther jing jr. memorial dedication. they had to tear down the huge stage they built for it today. the ceremony was timed to the 48th and vrsry of the madge on washington och dr. king's i have a dream speech. hundreds of thousands of people were planning on traveling to the ceremony from

we start off in norfolk and show you.en flights now heading into norfolk, virginia of the move things further north into washington, dull less and reagan. 84 flights in dulles. going to philadelphia right now, what do we have? zero. airports not open, closed. not accepting departures or arrivals. looking on the docket i saw an 11:00 and 12:00 coming from canada arriving in philadelphia, not canceled. we'll see how that goes in terms if you have flight plans in philadelphia. to new york city we go, what's cooking there? zero. nothing happening in or out. a thousand port authority officials are on the move to get the planes back as soon as possible. expectation in new york for all of the new york airports including islip and laguardia and kennedy, back open tomorrow. >> maybe the case for mta. >> such an erie experience not to have the yellow tape across the subway entrances and exits. >> new yorkers love the subways. for now the cab drivers are getting extra business. >> working double time. >> alexandra, thanks you. live

take a toll on the outer banks, but then we get here to where we don't see a scenario where from norfolk up to new england, a significant part of that incredible corridor of the biggest cities in the east coast of the united states that a significant part of that is not going to have a direct impact from this hurricane, including perhaps new york city which hasn't had this kind of a hurricane. this kind of a hurricane since 1821. now, 1821 was a long time ago, but there were people there then, and we know what happened and it has been modeled and we know what could happen in new york city and it is all bad. that is why when the mayor came out today to talk about the possibility of evacuating people around new york city, it is because they know what can happen and it just doesn't happen very often, but we can't concentrate on new york, because every city has a potential impact, and every shoreline, and jersey shore and long island and cape cod, and delmarva, and down to the tide water, everybody has a potential serious impact, and perhaps the hurricane of their lifetimes from this one as

here is norfolk, virginia, right now. looks like a gorgeous day at the beach.nor has ordered the state offices in coastal areas to close today at 3:00 p.m. it's an encouraging private employers to do the same thing. they want people to be taking very seriously the threat of this hurricane. in fact, let's show you the weather channel map to give you an idea of why it needs to be taken so seriously. the threat level here from wind, rain, waves and especially storm surge up and down the northeast corridor. at water's edge now we're being told this threat the catastrophic, potentially deadly. hurricane and tropical storm warnings are in effect from south carolina up to new jersey. by the way, with most of the impact as you can see it north of south carolina we've already heard that there was a near drowning in florida from this rough surf. they're not even getting the major brunt of the storm. still about ten hours from irene making landfall on the east coast. the states have been declaring emergencies up and down the coastline. north carolina, maryland, new jersey

norfolk, portsmouth, other places.terday to talk to the mayors and the emergency operations there, and they've done a great job giving mandatory evacuation orders for all the low-lying areas. they've had pretty good compliance, farce we can tell. 150 to 200,000 people were subject to mandatory evacuation orders, so we have done i think well preparing and the local and federal partners are doing a great job with us. winds look like they might be a little lower. might be a weak category one now because the storm is tracking a little farther to the east on landfall and is a little weaker, but it's still a very, very dangerous situation for eastern virginia. we ask people to keep they are eye on the storm. >> okay. i know you mentioned there were some power outages. do you have numbers there because we do get at least from north carolina 200,000 are without power in that state right now. >> the initial reports not confirmed yet. in hampton, many 10,000 people, but we expect that to be far worse. they need to prepare. i kno

long trip from norfolk to washington, d.c. let's keep going.n any trip it's very important to have a great crew. thankfully we've got photo journalist jeremy with us. >> at your service, governor. >> and we have producer alicia with us. alis alisha, how many miles are we going today? >> about 350. >> 350, oh, yeah. ♪ first stop, smith23ifield, virginia, the ham capital of the world, which is great if you're hungry. problem is, this is a prop. we need the real deal. unfortunately as you know reality can sometimes be a little bit harsh. here at the museum, take a look at this. oh, my gosh. it is world's oldest it dibl ham. the run right there in the middle. tracey and i, the museum's curator, is here. >> it's a wonderful curing process at smithfield ham. a combination of smoke and salt and cured in 1902, we're thinking you can still eat it but we haven't cut into it. >> i'll take your word for it. wow. something else that's really cool here, check it out. it's the world east oldest peanut. amazing. here in smithfield. you think something like tha

right now, live coverage from our affiliate out of norfolk, virginia, wavy, wayv vy as it i referred to. sure talking about a child that might be trapped. let's listen in. >> two people and their cat rescued after their boat was anchored and they got caught in some vicious water trying to escape hurricane irene. we understand they are okay. we also have many road closings. the hrbt is closed with the midtown tunnel and the chesapeake bay bridge tunnel. you look at the pictures and you can see why. this is a view from our vdot traffic cam, traffic jam cam, it shows virtually nobody on the road because conditions are getting progressively worse. >> we talked to melody woodrow a few minutes ago in hampton. melody had to move because the james -- she was stand on the james river -- the conditions got so much worse there that we had to move melody from that location. we're going to be talking to melody from another location coming up a little later in our newscast. >> another central part of concern, virginia beach, the sand bridge area and the ocean front. we'll go to ten on your side's

the areas that we're most concerned about are norfolk, delmarva peninsula, delaware bay, close to new jersey, new york harbor, and long island sound, where isolated areas could see storm surge as high as four to eight feet. preparations in this area from north carolina to song new england should be rushed to completion. national hurricane center. >> bill: fascinating information. i want to switch gears, north carolina, the governor, this is her first briefing since irene started to exit that state. let's listen here. >> experienced flooding over the next few days. we know that a major power transmission line is down in tarboro and outages are widespread throughout the east. there are problems being reported all day at waste water treatment plants in once wick, terrell and wayne county, as well as carolina beach, columbia and fremont. we have had reports of possible tornadoes that struck last night in three counties with some minor injuries reported in terrell county, along with structural damage to several homes. the hurricane-force winds are expected to leave about 8:00 o'clock or 9:

if i'm in between, in norfolk, washington, d.c., philadelphia what is the impact. >> and d.c. last for any one spot probably 10 hours. it is a big storm. we are talking a storm that is around 6, 700 miles wide. it is going to take a long

not, kree yacreating the category 1 and also a foot of range and storm surge one to eight feet, and norfolk who is most prone to the flooding we could be looking at a situation like isabel which led to over $1 billion in damages in the state of virginia. tamron, back to you. >> i have been to virginia beach many times and beautiful community, and a lot of hotels and if you have the surf championship going on and the rough weather timeline there, and have people evacuated from the hotels close to where you are? >> they are waiting for a mandatory order, otherwise they are not going to evacuate. we cannot see it, but it is one of the first hotels on the boardwalk here and full of banners from the surfing championship where everyone is staying for the most part, and they say they will be there unless they get the mandatory order, be for right now most of the evacuations are voluntary k3e79 except for the extreme areas. >> and now over to jim cantore, and we just got an update from the mayor of new york who was talking about mandatory evacuations for the first time also in the city's history an

as well as down towards norfolk. so flooding, rivers are going to rise, they're going to be up for several days. so keep that in mooned. if you live in a low-lying area that's flood prone you need to be moving to higher ground and make sure you listen to authorities when they tell you you need to evacuate. let's talk about timing. it's picking up forward speed, that's a little bit of good news. 17 miles per hour is the rate this thing is running. the faster we can get this out of here, the less rainfall we're going to get. timing at this point, we think this will scrape along the jersey coast through the rest of the morning, this will be moving over long island, probably midmorning, late morning, maybe midday, noonish. this will head up towards connecticut and boston by midafternoon. by tomorrow morning we'll be done with this. a lot of impact still expected. we'll see a lot of trees down and a lot of flooding. we'll talk more about what to do in a high-rise building and how the winds change as you go up when i see y

but this is for military families in the norfolk, virginia, area with a very special toy giveaway at the end. >> we're hoping for 5,000 children. and based on this line, i think we're going to get it. >> thank you. >> reporter: working the snow cones are four of the franklin five. 13-year-old colin, 6-year-old jacob, 5-year-old aidan and father chris. mom heather is a first lieutenant in the army, serving in afghanistan. >> hugs and kisses. >> reporter: they have been apart six months now. aidan and jacob don't quite grasp the danger. but colin, the big brother, trying to fill in for mom, understands too well. >> colin, it is like you're about to cry. >> why are you crying? you miss your mom? >> i never saw him do this before. >> reporter: since heather left, colin marks the days on his calendar. he can't tell you when she's coming home. >> i just keep track of how long she's gone. >> reporter: it is a fear, a worry chris can't make disappear. but events like the toy giveaway can help. >> it gives them that distraction, that enjoyment of just getting something for no other reason tha

i went to virginia beach, norfolk and hampton yesterday. they are regularly in touch with dominion and the other co-ops that serve the region. we're expecting far more than the 114,000 or so reported. it's actually up to about 150,000 as of noon. the problem is, of course, north carolina and maryland and other neighboring states are going to have their own problems. so we'll have to have people from other places if we need extra capacity. dominion's already planning on that. i've gotten personal calls from governor perry in texas and the governor in florida to say, we're here to help you. i have to say, for our residents, they need to know that despite the great efforts of these power companies who will be out even during the storm, that it may take days to restore all of the power or longer, depending on how many outages we have and people need to be patient. they need to help one another, be good neighbors. hopefully they've got ice or can buy ice after the storms and do everything they can to be self-sufficient. but if you have legitimat

right through norfolk, past baltimore, through philadelphia, to the east and perhaps, right over long island as a category 1 hurricane. a coastal storm surge up to 10 feet, make up to 15" of rain in some of the wettest spots with winds starting off at 100 miles per hour and dropping off to 75. for the higher skyscrapers in large areas like lower manhattan you'll see a lot of wind damage in addition to flooding. something we'll be watching closely as the continue situation continues to develop over the weekend. jessica? >> we'll check back. >>> here, a south bay school has gone through a complete transformation. gone are the days of no air conditioning and bear-bones technology. this week they opened the doors to the 21st century. we're live at the new san antonio school in east san jose, damian, how lucky are those kids to have the best in education technology in their hands? >> reporter: they can't wait to get those hands on that technology, jessica. i remember doing stories here at the school during heatwaves because they did not have air conditioning in their classrooms. now they h

this is coming from norfolk, virginia. somebody just sent this in after the after effects of the flooding that irene left. you can see how high that water is. it looks like a shopping center in the background there. the water is obviously very high. as they wake up this morning down in southeastern virginia which really took a hit from the storm, they're going to be dealing with a lot of flooding as an aftermath of this storm. we go next upstate to new york where somebody sent in this picture of a cracked power line pole. we've been speaking about everything going on in the storms, moving closer to new york, they'll be feeling the brunt of the storm in just a couple of hours. they'll be dealing with a lot more of this in the coming hours. next we go to west hempstead, new york, where somebody sent in a picture of downed trees, downed branches. obviously that's been the story in our area and region for the past couple of hours. irene is making its way north, we're seeing the same story in new york. these next pictures comin