News wires
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said a decision could be made by Friday about whether to evacuate people in low-lying areas ahead of Hurricane Irene’s arrival.
These areas include: Coney Island and Manhattan Beach in Brooklyn; Far Rockaway and Broad Channel in Queens; South Beach, Midland Beach, and other low-lying areas on Staten Island; and Battery Park City in Manhattan.
“We don’t yet have enough information yet to make that call,” Bloomberg said. “There are still too many unknowns, but we will make a decision on whether to call for evacuating certain areas based on the track, the speed, and the strength of the storm.”
Crown Heights, home to a large Chabad-Lubavitch community, was not mentioned among them.
The latest forecasts show Hurricane Irene reaching the New York area on on Sunday as a Category 2 storm, but there remains significant uncertainty around its ultimate path. “Anything can happen in terms of its direction and its severity,” Bloomberg said.
As of Thursday morning, officials in New York City said they expected the city will be hit with tropical storm-like conditions, which bring heavy rain and winds of 60 mph or more. The city activated its emergency operations center in Brooklyn on Wednesday afternoon.
The mayor outlined a series of steps his administration is taking to prepare for Hurricane Irene:
• The Police Department is positioning 50 small boats at station houses in low-lying areas. The NYPD’s special operations division also has several helicopters and 33 boats in place.
• Public hospitals have tested their emergency generators and topped them off with fuel.
• The Parks Department has forestry crews, inspectors and contractor available to handle any emergency tree conditions.
• The Department of Transportation is deploying crews to 26 designated flood locations to clear debris from catch basins. There are 143,000 catch basins in New York City.
The storm will likely force hundreds of flights to be cancelled through this weekend and create delays that could ripple across the country.
Airlines said passengers could rebook those trips to many East Coast destinations, from Boston to the Carolinas, for free.
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thoms up
Mayor Bloomberg is evacuating people on friday and shabbos
Anybody, who lives near and ocean or river lakes in new york city should evacuate that’s what he said, also. all the Rockaways are to be evacuated and the MTA Subway and buses are forsure shutting down. The bridges might shut down. the Garden State is shutting down.
all you people worried about the weather. be a man and stand up and enjoy it. this may be a once in a lifetime experience. im so sicked
Pray to Hashem that it doesnt become a 3 or 4 those are dangerous and scary! They create tornadoes the force of these winds you have no idea. I lived through 5 hurricanes and let me tell you Category 3 and 4 are no joke. A 2 will cause flooding and broken windows due to flying debris but are not so bad. NYC on the other hand is not a city used to these type of storms so I dont know, anything can happen. Good Luck
you clearly don’t own anything you’re worried about. For the rest of us – we don’t want our homes damaged, basements flooded, valuables lost – all with the high cost of repair. Not to mention the possibility of casualties. Grow up!
i hope they will prepare well and with hashems help noone should get hurt!!
are you crazy?
YOU WANT PEOPLE TO DIE?
yes its fun but what if it was your family that got hurt?
you guys don’t want this stoma to get any stronger i live in florida and if a category 2 came along we would be happy look up what happened in florida 1999 hurricane Floyd hit. it destroys houses trees get ripped out from the grounds cars get turned over power outage for days and sometimes electrical fires let me just tell you that u should just be happy its not so bad
People are killed by hurricanes!
BS:D are you normal 3 & 4-people are killed in tornadoes.is that action enough for you
I also want some excitement ! The shturem of Moshiach’s arrival and the strong wind of Geula Now!!
Hopefully, the Rabanim are making Shalom and getting rid of the storm between themselves.
The Baal Shem Tov said you have to learn from everything you see and hear.
So all of you in Lubavitch land who are brewing a storm STOP!!!!!!!!!!!! Get rid of your STORM NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Get strong
finally some action is coming to NY. i hope it gets stronger as it gets here
I live in Manhattan Beach!
I work for the City and we got detail instructions on preparations and possible evacuation. Hopefully it will skip NY but getting ready is very important.