Irene set out for an area 15 miles southeast of Atlantic City, New Jersey. According to the latest bulletin from the Miami National Hurricane Center, she is expected to pass near New York City in the east before returning inland to southern New England.
Irene is wearing now maximum sustained winds of 75 mph and moves north-northeast at 18 miles per hour.
A tropical storm warning has been issued for areas up to the south coast of Nova Scotia. “Interests in other parts of eastern Canada should monitor Irene’s progress,” the NHC bulletin said.
Sunday, 8/28/11 2:26 a.m. / ET: Irene turns off 20,000 NYC customers
The early rains of Hurricane Irene disconnected nearly 20,000 customers in New York City on Sunday.
According to Consolidated Edison Staten Island was the hardest hit neighborhood with 8,402 homes and businesses without electricityWhile Queens and Brooklyn had between 3,000 and 5,000 power outages. Only 15 customers in Manhattan were without power at 2:01 p.m. EDT.
In total, nearly 2 million customers in the northeast are now without power, with the largest outages being reported by Domination in Virginia, where 820,000 customers are without power, followed by Baltimore, where nearly 300,000 Constellation (BGE) customers are without power, according to Reuters.
The National Hurricane Center states that the eye of the storm is now approximately 315 km south-southwest of New York City and moving north-northeast at 28 km / h.
Saturday, 8/27/11 11:52 PM / ET: NYC transit shutdown completed
New York Transit officials have now completed shutting down the entire system of local trains, buses and subways, according to the AP. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) said it secured all of its equipment and sent all employees home to shut down the largest transportation network in the United States in an unprecedented manner.
It is unclear when the system will be running again. The MTA says even if the damage is minimal, getting service back will “be a lengthy process”. And floods, mudslides, fallen trees, and rundown power lines could make the job dramatically more difficult.
Mayor Bloomberg warned a few hours ago that the outer edges of Irene had reached the city and it was no longer safe to be outside.
Saturday, 08/27/11 7:42 p.m. / ET: Update – ConocoPhillips will be closed