- Title: USA: New Yorkers prepare for Hurricane Irene
- Date: 27th August 2011
- Summary: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (AUGUST 26, 2011) (REUTERS) CONSTRUCTION TRUCK AND MEN BOARDING UP WINDOWS ON HOUSE WORKERS BOARDING UP WINDOWS WORKER DRILL BOARDS TO HOME ROCKAWAY BEACH (SOUNDBITE) (English) ANNETTE BENZEEV, HOME OWNER ON THE COAST OF ROCKAWAY BEACH, SAYING: "I have no experiences with Hurricanes. I'm here a couple years and we had some wind s
- Embargoed: 11th September 2011 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Usa, Usa
- Country: USA
- Topics: Environment
- Reuters ID: LVA21DOD62A2STFOWP0EPASQ6NLY
- Story Text: Residents in New York's low-lying areas boarded up their homes on Friday (August 26) in an attempt to minimize damage that could be caused by Hurricane Irene.
The United States' biggest city of more than eight million people took the unprecedented step of ordering mandatory evacuations of people living along the coast.
A quarter of a million New Yorkers have been ordered to evacuate coastal communities that could be in Irene's path. Those affected were ordered to evacuate by 1700 (2100 GMT) on Saturday afternoon.
Rockaway beach resident Annette Benzeev said she has been listening to reports about the storm, but is unsure what to expect.
"I have no experiences with Hurricanes. I'm here a couple years and we had some wind storms, but nothing horrible, but we did take all our stuff inside, all our furniture and outside stuff and we're probably going to border our big windows later on today or tomorrow morning and then we're going to see what happens. If it gets bad, we'll leave. If not, we'll stay."
Irene's wide swirling bands are lashing the seaboard with winds and rain from the Carolinas to New England - and for the area's surfers, that's good news.
Juan Skirrow, a Brooklyn resident, said the waves that Irene is bringing in could create swells that are five feet (1.52 metres) high.
"It's a phenomenon of nature and it creates beautiful parts, too and one of those is really nice waves that I can take the day off for and surf," said Skirrow.
Some in the area said they would be stocking up on every day items like food, water and toilet paper.
Anne Curley, a life-long resident of Rockaway Beach, said she'd like to join the surfers, but at her age - evacuation was the only option.
"I'm only leaving because I have a four-year-old grandson. Otherwise, when I was much younger, we would wait it out. We would go ride the waves, surf, but this time, I'm a lot older, so we're leaving, my husband and I, but my children are staying."
In Coney Island, emergency medical technician Jeff Mirto said plans were underway for an evacuation of the Coney Island Hospital.
"We're getting word, waiting on word from our bosses that they're doing a full evacuation of the hospital, so we're just waiting where to take and what time to take our patients to, so it's just a waiting game," Mirto said.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said hurricane force winds extended outward up to 90 miles (150 km) from Irene's center, while tropical storm force winds extended out to 290 miles (465 km), giving the storm a vast wind field width of nearly 600 miles (960 km).
Irene weakened early on Friday to a Category 2 hurricane from a 3 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, but it still was carrying winds of up to 100 miles per hour (155 kph).
It is expected to remain a hurricane as it sweeps up the mid-Atlantic coast on Sunday. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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