new york transit irene americans flee homes as Irene closes in

NEW YORK: Tens of thousands of Americans fled their homes and vacation spots on Saturday as a weakened but still formidable Hurricane Irene lashed the US East Coast with gale-force winds and rain, shutting down airports, transit systems and businesses.
Irene, now fewer than 55-km south of Cape Lookout, North Carolina, packed winds of 150-km per hour as it was officially downgraded a notch to a Category One storm, the lowest grading.
"Little change in strength is expected before Irene reaches the coast of North Carolina," the Miami-based National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said in its latest advisory. "And Irene is expected to remain near the threshold of Category One and Category Two strength."
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has ordered an unprecedented mass evacuation and the closure of the subway while US President Barack Obama cut short his summer vacation and returned to Washington.
After North Carolina, the hurricane was forecast to churn up the eastern seaboard towards Washington, New York and Boston. The densely populated corridor, home to more than 65 million people, was under threat of flooding, storm surges, power outages and destruction that experts said could cost up to $12 billion.
Bloomberg told a news conference on Friday he had ordered the first-ever mass evacuations from low-lying areas across the densely populated city that are home to some 250,000 people, calling it a "matter of life or death."
"We have never done a mandatory evacuation before, and we wouldn't be doing this now if we didn't think the storm had the potential to be very serious," Bloomberg said.
Authorities had earlier announced that New York's massive transit system would begin to shut down midday on Saturday in another rare move that could hinder transport into Monday's rush hour.
All major New York area airports will close on Saturday at noon (1600 GMT), officials said.
New York state meanwhile said major links into the city would be cut if winds exceeded 60 miles per hour, as predicted, and authorities called up 900 National Guard troops and 2,500 power workers to prepare for emergency repair work, the largest ever deployment.
Neighbouring New Jersey on Thursday ordered 750,000 people out of the Cape May area.
Rain and tropical storm-force winds were already pummeling North Carolina and other parts of the coast.
The NHC said Irene would likely remain a hurricane as it passed over or near the mid-Atlantic on Saturday night before churning north towards Canada.
Irene's approach stirred painful memories of Hurricane Katrina, which smashed into the Gulf Coast in 2005, stranding thousands of people in New Orleans and overwhelming poorly-prepared local and federal authorities.
The popular North Carolina beach resort of Kill Devil Hills was a ghost town on Friday, as forecasters predicted up to 15 inches of rain in some places and the first power outages were reported.