joining me now, north carolina governor bev perdue.morning to you, madam governor, we have been all over your state here at nbc. we've had lee looks at atlantic beach, nags head, kill devil hills. you have the dubious honor of having taken aboard the landfall nearly an hour ago. how are things going right now in your estimation? >>. >> well, we're in the full onslaught of the storm, as you know, and our state is known as hurricane alley, so we are very respectful of irene. she's hitting us with 70, 90 miles an hour wind, and we are most concerned after the eye moved on out. the eye is still over cape lookout. we have a couple hundred plus folks without electricity right now. north carolina has had hurricanes so consistently that we have stood up a terrifically robust system that starts with locally elected officials and moves to fema in washington and the state is the coordinator. our system is fairly seamless. we've had no problems. the planning and execution has been terrific. we are right now in the throws of the storm, and sometime

a short time ago, north carolina governor bev perdue declared a state of emergency. we know kerry sanders who is there, we know it is picturesque, but bad weather could be there soon. >> that is why the governor bev perdue announced the state of emergency. that is why i am standing here, because this water is particularly warm, and around 80 degree degrees, and this is the fuel for the engine which is irene and the warm water when irene is over the open water is where it draws the power and so a lot of folks who have never been through a hurricane are hearing the reports like the governor here saying a state of emergency, but it may not make a whole lot of sense. they heard, you know, mayor bloomberg talking about this, but what do they do? here are a few things that the folks in north carolina and others have been through hurricanes know that is information those who have never been through this. first of all, talk about the wives tales. this is not going to work, okay. this is a wives tale, don't get tape out and put it on the windows in your house. it will do abso

. >> that was north carolina governor bev perdue speaking about her concerns regarding hurricane irene. i'm back with continuing coverage of hurricane irene on msnbc. the national hurricane center reports that sustained winds for the storm have decreased. but irene will remain a hurricane as she travels up the mid-atlantic coast even as the storm is expected to lose more strength as it hits land. strong winds are extending 100 miles from irene's center. at least 60 million people are in irene's path including 3.5 million residents along the north carolina coast where the storm is expected to make landfall later this morning. let's bring in jeff who's been tracking the storm. what's going on with it right now? >> we're seeing it getting close to landfall along the outer banks of north carolina. for those of you in the north carolina area hopefully you have evacuated because those outer banks are getting lashed right now. the winds are at 100 miles per hour in the center of the storm. you can see it winding up on the radar as we've been showing you. there's the ie wall at the -- the eye

governorr bev perdue toured the area. >> reporter: neighbors are helping each other pick up the pieces. >> this is our hometown. can't let it be like this. >> reporter: the kestler family received help moving deb bring outside their home without even asking. >> very humane thing to do. >> reporter: they decided to ride out irene but won't take that chance next time around. cbs5 news, maneo, north carolina. >>> the 129th rescue ring of the california national guard at moffet field this morning to head to new jersey. it was scrapped before it began. they were onboard with two helicopters when the call to deplane came 11:30 this morning. 20 other guardsmen were preparing to take the second flight. since the hurricane wasn't nearly as devastating as was thought it was going to be and they weren't needed. >> in this case the situation with the hurricane dictated the cancellation of the mission. >> 40 members of the rescue ring did take off on a c17 yesterday and they are now on the east coast. >>> over in sacramento red cross workers are getting ready to possible hurricane deploy hundreds o

north carolina governor bev perdue has declared a state of emergency for counties along the east coast, and tourists and residents alike are packing bridges seeking higher grounds. kerry sanders joins us live from atlantic beach, north carolina. kerry? >> reporter: i'm actually standing in the water here for a reason. as you know, a hurricane gets its strength from the warmth in the ocean. the atlantic waters here are 80 degrees or warmer. which means there's a lot of fuel for that energy that hurricane irene is now on open waters. so there's a real concern not only of the path it's going to take but how strong this hurricane will get. here in atlantic beach you can see there's still some people at the beach. it's mostly empty as compared to yesterday. that's because tourists have been told time to leave, time to get out. it appears they're beginning to understand that vacations are being cut short. residents will begin leaving tomorrow. the idea is to get their homes prepared and get their supplies to leave. the big concern from the red cross, from the emergency managers local, from t

we have north carolina governor bev perdue on the phone. thank you for being with us.e you doing to get residents ready and out or hunkered down? >> and thank you, candy, you all are doing the best job by reporting it and getting people to realize that this may be a very big storm. we are planning for the worst and we are praying for the best. that's how we do things in north carolina, so as i speak, ocracoke, hide county has been evacuated. we're standing up the emergency centers all over the coast. we understand tonight that dare county has decided -- dare to the far end of north carolina, up in the northeast, has decided to evacuate there starting tomorrow. lots of tourists on our outer banks and we're trying to be safe, but we're also trying to be very, very systematic. and so we have everything in place. our shelters will start opening tomorrow or friday as we need them. but we're waiting on you guys at cnn to give us a great forecast that it's gone further east and that it's not going to hit our state. >> we're looking for the right-hand turn that chad myers was

today, north carolina's governor, bev perdue, reported that hurricane irene destroyed more than 1,000 homes in her state and caused at least $70 million in damage. notably, she made that announcement while standing alongside janet na epal nepalatano. you as a state can't predict when a disaster is going to strike, you can, of course, set aside money in a disaster fund, but often the scale of the disaster is more than a state can handle. that's where fema comes in, and right now, as states all across the country attempt to pick up the pieces from a 2011 that has essentially been one disaster after another from wildfires out west, to floods and tornados in the heartland, to hurricanes on the east coast. right now we learned that fema, the agency all of those states rely on is running out of money. it has less than $1 billion left to help those states rebuild. and why is fema all of a sudden broke? well, in part, thank you, house republicans. the ongoing disputes over deficit reduction and spending cuts have threatened what is a routine annual exercise to replenish fema's coffers. in the

many times are the taxpayers going to have to cover the cost of the hurricanes before the governor bev perdue said as many times as necessary as the residents of those islands require a highway into their homes. >> and lilia from duck, north carolina, thank you. >>> and whether authorities can forcibly medicaid jared loughner tops the news. right now a court is weighing whether prison officials can give the man who carried out the tucson massacre medications against his will. he is held in a missouri prison after a judge was found that he is not mentally fit to stand trial. >>> and mexican police have arrested five men who are believed to have torched a casino last month killing 52 people inside. the gang members confessed to their role, and one of the worst attacks in years, and police are looking for other suspects. >>> and polygamist sect leader warren jeffs is in a medically induced coma and critical condition after weeks of fasting. the 55-year-old is serving a life sentence for sexually assaulting young girls and he has a history of refusing food, and officials say it is not clear how l

north carolina governor bev perdue warned more than 200- thousand people to head for higher ground, withr coastal counties ordering mandatory evacuations. >> we're asking people all over eastern north carolina and our coastal regions to take this storm very seriously and to begin to implement their plans. >> holman: as always, some people decided to stay put, despite the warnings. >> we got chased off last year by the storm and it amounted to nothing so we're not going to go anywhere this year. >> holman: up the coast, u.s. navy ships at norfolk, virginia headed out to sea to ride out the storm in calmer waters. and new york city mayor michael bloomberg said he may order evacuations in >> if the worst scenario is going to happen this weekend, we will activate other elements of our coastal storm plan, including the possibility of evacuating new yorkers who live in low-lying areas that could be affected by the storm surges. >> holman: but much of that was contingent on where the storm ultimately tracks. some models had the center of irene moving over the north carolina mainland. others had

. >> brown: north carolina governor bev perdue warned people not to take irene lightly. >> we know she, hurricane irene, is a big storm. 115 m.p.h. winds is a big wind. get your evac kit ready, get your meds ready, take insurance docs and have plan to get out if you have to. treat this seriously. but then pray real hard that north carolina will be fine. >> brown: farther north, new englanders were prepping for the storm's possible arrival in a few more days, including at martha's vineyard, massachusetts, where president obama was vacationing. a spokesman said he's getting updates from craig fugate, head of the federal emergency management agency. >> this is somebody who is a legitimate expert on these issues. logistical issues are a part of that effort, that's why we're in such close communication and consultation with state and local officials up and down the eastern seaboard. >> brown: irene has already dumped heavy rain on puerto rico. more than a million people there lost electrical power as the storm hit. president obama declared a state of emergency for the u.s. territory. >> bro

governor bev perdue warned all those along the state's coast-- and not just on the outer banks- - to evacuate. >> as governor of this state, i want to remind you this hurricane is real. we continue to pray for the best. i urge every citizen along the coastal plains to evacuate. it is so much better to be safe than sorry. >> brown: despite the warnings, there were still people swimming today and stalwart locals prepared to stick it out. >> we've been getting prepared, and we know a lot of people are leaving town and preparing themselves for what might be severe, but we're just happy to keep doing what we always do. >> probably some scariness in the wind. i'll probably be scared, but we'll get through it. >> brown: but emergencies were declared in at least six states and the district of columbia. and up and down the east coast, national, state, and local officials added to the urgency. >> given the amount of rain associated with this storm and the likelihood of flooding, don't focus on whether its category 2 or 3. if you are in storm path, you won't be able to tell much difference. >>

north carolina governor bev perdue spoke minutes ago. >> this hurricane is real.ve had tremendous briefings from our staff and from the meteorologists. by the end of today, late this afternoon, we will have 11 counties with fully stacked operational shelters with supplies and medical personnel and equipment. >> tourists and locals along the north carolina coast are hitting the road ahead of a hurricane that could bring a 10 foot storm surge to the state's shorelines. >> best case is five feet of water and it goes away. worst case is my house is gone. >> some of the old-timers around here, when this first came out, were calling this a hurricane made for tv because you guys get all excited about it. but that same guy yesterday was boarding up his house. so they're taking this one seriously. >> nbc's carrey sae kerry sande atlantic beach, north carolina. >> it can seem look a real hassle and maybe you get caught up in thinking this is hype, but it is not. the evidence is here in north carolina where people here and up the coast are in a mandatory evacuation and they'

you hear, for instance, the governor of north carolina, bev perdue, she's already declared a state of emergency before the storm arrives. what does that really mean to individuals and folks up in virginia? but even further north, up into maryland and new england, folks who have never been through this, take some tips from the folks down here. first of all, what you don't do, you don't get tape, go to your house, and put tape across your windows. big wives tale, doesn't do anything f you're going to put up shutters, you want to put the shutters up not on one window in the front of your house. the reason you're putting shutters up, and the wind comes from all different directions, if a tree limb or something smashes through your window and creates a tunnel for the air and wind to get in, it can lift your roof off. if you're going to put up shutters, you have to do every window. otherwise, you're really potentip potentially wasting your time, and you don't want to do that. when you're going to get the bottles of water. there's going to be a lot of people there. it looks like the supplies

we've just managed to get north carolina governor bev perdue on the phone for us.or, your state is used to take some major storm hits. this is a slower storm, bigger than a lot of people have seen for awhile. are you ready? >> yeah, we're ready, anderson. we've got -- evacuations are complete. everything's tied down. and tonight's the hard night. we're just waiting for it to hit. >> how have the evacuations gone? i mean, people say mandatory evacuations but a lot of times some folks don't want to leave. >> obviously people don't leave. you have to let people do what they want to do. that's why it's america. we feel really good that most of our tourists have left. this is the height of tourism weekend, the last of the summer along all of coastal carolina and the southern part of the country. and so we've got lots of tourists have left. a lot of real people, a lot of people are citizens there, have decided to stay. they're smart. we're urging them to use common sense an not go out tonight in the middle of the storm to try to see what's happening. but again we feel li

i spoke with the north carolina governor, bev perdue, about an hour ago about the damage she's already seeing from this storm. >> we expect the whole east, just about 43 counties, to be affected in some way or the other. 3.5 million people are the total number who is live in that area. so they've all battened down their hatches. we are also in the middle of a robust agricultural season, and so later this afternoon, we'll start trying to figure out the crop damage. we are very concerned, still, about surges and flooding through many of the communities of eastern north carolina. >> let's move back to north carolina. there's our reynolds wolf, who has been in these elements for the past several hours. reynolds, hello to you once again. >> reporter: hi, t.j. great to hear from you. i'll tell you, the situation here on the outer banks, specifically kitty hawk, the rain is intermittent, but one thing that's just been continuous for the last ten minutes, at least since i've been out here, is just blasted, absolutely blasted by the sand. it's like a stinging sensation, almost like these micros

in kittyhawk, complete sections of roads washed away, homes destroyed, north carolina governor bev perdue says cleaning up from this storm is going to be a huge challenge. >> there's a lot of property damage. it's what you would see on the first day after a hurricane. we saw peoples' goods in the streets, waiting for pickup, we heard about debris everywhere, about what's going to be the process for debris. it's been a hard week for a lot of people in north carolina along the coast. martha: boy, that's the truth. jonathan serrie is live in wilmington, north carolina. jonathan, how much damage? what's the graph of the total state issue here? >> reporter: yeah, governor perdue is still trying to get her hands around it as she continues her tour of eastern and north carolina. yesterday she visited portions of the outer banks which really took the brunt of the storm. we have some dramatic pictures to show you from the kittyhawk and kill devil hills area in that video. you can see damaged buildings, washed out roads, including highway 12, which is the major thorough fare going through these out

governor bev perdue was asked that question, she said no, she's not angry. described the people on hatteras island as the real north carolinians, the true lifeblood of the place. it's costing taxpayer money to get the supplies out there. this is only set up in an emergency. and also if anybody is in need of dire medical attention it's probably going to take a helicopter flight to pick them up and get them out of there. that's several thousand dollars a pop as well. >> brian todd on the scene always, thanks very much. >>> a record in the wake of hurricane irene in 2011, the united states has endured ten natural disasters causing $1 billion or more in damage. it's more fuel for politicians worried about the nation's soaring debt. we asked jim acosta to take a closer look into the politics of this storm and all the other disasters for that matter. what did you find out? >> this discussion is happening at an important time on this sixth anniversary of hurricane katrina, the debate over the federal government's role in disaster response is still raging and the te

governor bev perdue of north carolina declaring a state of emergency.'s one of at least four states -- four governors in the states to do so. many areas only accessible by ferry there. voluntary evacuations have become mandatory. some ferries still not full and that has the governor worried. >> i was dismayed when i saw that many of the ferries were nearly empty. people on ocracoke island need to take this seriously because it's hard to get off if the ferries are full. >>> well, those sailors for the u.s. navy sure take their orders seriously. they are gone out to asea trying to protect the assets from damage. other concerns, what impact irene could have on the scheduled dedication of martin luther king jr. memorial. >> we're going forward with our program. we will give you more information as they come. we will bring you back tomorrow to talk about if, in fact, we have any change. but today, we feel confident that we are moving forward with the dedication of the martin luther king memorial. >>> folking in new york prepare for flooding should irene come