Slower but still powerful, Irene hits land in NJ

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By SAMANTHA GROSS and MITCH WEISS

NEW YORK (AP) - Barely a hurricane but massive and packed with rain, Irene lumbered onto the New Jersey shore Sunday morning on its way toward pummeling New York, which turned eerily quiet as the city hunkered down.

The National Hurricane Center said the center of the huge storm reached land near Little Egg Inlet at 5:35 a.m. The eye previously reached land Saturday in North Carolina before returning to the Atlantic, straddling the East Coast as it flooded towns, killed at least eight people and knocked out power to more than 2 million.

Broadway, baseball and most other things were shuttered in New York, where the transit system stopped because of weather for the first time in history. Mayor Michael Bloomberg warned late Saturday that no matter whether residents of low-lying areas heeded his calls to evacuate, "The time for evacuation is over. Everyone should now go inside and stay inside."

Hours before the storm's center was to reach New York, a 58 mph wind gust hit John F. Kennedy International Airport and a storm surge of more than 3.5 feet was reported in New York Harbor.

Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20110828/D9PD1J200.html

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The New York City skyline is seen under clouds as Hurricane Irene approaches the region, early Sunday, Aug. 28, 2011, in New York. Irene has the potential to cause billions of dollars in damage along a densely populated arc that includes Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, Boston and beyond. At least 65 million people could be affected. (AP Photo/Karly Domb Sadof)

[Beacool]

1. It was not as bad as expected, thank goodness.

Lots of rain and winds, but the winds in my area were not as bad as they could have been. Some people were without power due to some downed power lines and a handful of trees fell, but the town made it OK and we are on the edge of the Hudson river, across from Manhattan and we are below sea level. So we can't complain.

I hope everybody else at DU is safe too.

:-)