As of Sunday at noon, 10 deaths have been reported due to Hurricane Irene and millions are without power up and down the East Coast from North Carolina to New England. Damage minimal in Atlantic City area, mostly fallen trees.
Sunday, Aug. 28, Noon - Update: ATLANTIC CITY - The Golden Nugget casino is reportedley open for business as of noon on Sunday and is even helping out in sheltering evacuees.
According to the Resorts Casino Hotel Web site, Atlantic City's first casino, which has been shut down, due to Hurricane Irene, for only the third time in its 33 years, will re-open on Monday.
As of noon on Sunday, Gov. Chris Christie's office has sent out no media releases, however, the following road closures in Atlantic County are in effect, according to the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management.
NJ 152 Both Directions, CR 635/Bay Ave, (MM0.0) , Somers Point, all lanes closed and detoured - Flooding
NJ 50 Both Directions, North of US 322, (MM21.2) , Hamilton Twp, all lanes closed and detoured - Downed tree
NJ 50 Both Directions, North of US 40/CR 559/Main St, (MM20.0) , Hamilton Twp, all lanes closed and detoured - Flooding
US 30 Both Directions, Adriatic Av, (MM58.3) , Atlantic City, all lanes closed and detoured - Flooding
US 30 Eastbound, West of US 9, (MM51.5) , Absecon City, all lanes closed and detoured - Police department activity
US 322 Both Directions, US 40, (MM50.1) , Hamilton Twp, all lanes closed and detoured - Flooding
US 322 Both Directions, West of CR 614/Cologne Av, (MM48.9) , Hamilton Twp, 1 lane may be closed - Flooding
US 322 Westbound, Leipzig Av, (MM49.8) , Hamilton Twp, all lanes closed and detoured - Flooding
US 40 Both Directions, Atlantic Ave, (MM64.3) , Atlantic City, all lanes closed and detoured - Flooding
US 40 Eastbound, CR 608/Franklin Av, (MM59.7) , Pleasantville, all lanes closed and detoured - Operational Activity
US 9 Both Directions, CR 563/Tilton Rd, (MM38.2) , Northfield, all lanes closed and detoured - Flooding
Update: 9am 8/28/2011: Irene hit land a few miles above the Borgata, in Little Egg Inlet, at approx. 5:30am Sunday. This was the first time a hurricane hit land in New Jersey since 1903. Go here for a few post-Irene pics from Somers Point.
Update: 2:15pm 8/27/2011: CNN reports that Hurricane Irene is responsible for a third death in North Carolina. Also: President Obama arrived at FEMA headquarters in Washington DC at 12:27pm.
At 2pm, the National Weather Service says there is an about 50-percent chance of 50-knot wind speeds in the southern New Jersey shore area today and over next few days.
Click here for a map of storm surge probabilities.
ATLANTIC CITY - A tornado warning has been put into effect by the National Weather Service until 8pm Saturday night for parts of the Northeast, including southern New Jersey, and parts of Maryland and Delaware.
See live photo feed on second page...
Meanwhile, Hurricane Irene hit North Carolina at around 7:30am on Saturday, Aug. 27, with heavy rainfall and damaging wind gusts. The first hurricane to make landfall in the continental U.S. since 2008, Irene's wrath could be felt hundreds of miles to the north by 10am.
Rain soaked parts of southern New Jersey, as tourist spots such as Ocean City and Atlantic City, and some of surrounding areas, looked as if they were ghost towns.
In North Carolina, thousands are without power as Hurricane Irene's heavy winds knocked down trees along the state's east coast. At 1pm, there is an estimated 470,000 people without power due to the storm.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that "Progress Energy Inc. reported around 250,000 customers without power concentrated in coastal North Carolina. Dominion Resources Inc. reported about 188,000 customers in northern North Carolina and southern Virginia without power."
The paper's Web site also says that "President Barack Obama received a briefing on Irene Saturday morning from federal officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate, the White House said in a statement.
"Mr. Obama returned to the White House Friday night after cutting short by a day his vacation on Martha's Vineyard.
"Mr. Obama is likely to publicly address the storm at some point on Saturday," according to the article.
According to reports, there have been two deaths associated with the storm already.
CNN's blog, at 12:19pm Saturday, reports that:
"A man feeding livestock in North Carolina was crushed by a tree limb Saturday morning amid Hurricane Irene's high winds, an emergency official in Nash County told CNN. On Friday, a man in the state's Onslow County died of a heart attack on Friday as he put plywood over his windows in preparation for the storm, a state emergency spokesman said."
Earlier in the day, just past 10am, the CNN live Irene blog reported that it was likely that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was planning to turn off the city's power due to the storm and was encouraging all those in affected parts of New York to heed the official call for an evacuation and not break the "law."
"New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Saturday it's 'conceivable' in downtown Manhattan there will be no electricity after Hurricane Irene blows through. He said that mass transit, which will be halted at noon on Saturday because of Hurricane Irene, is not likely to be fully back by Monday morning.'
New Jerssey Transit also halted service at noon on Saturday.
Transformation — It's a buzz word that only refers to the overall vision of Landry's Inc., the parent company of Golden Nugget, but also ties in nicely with the major shifts taking shape in Atlantic City as a whole.
While Hurricane Irene has everybody signing the wrong words to the 1982 Dexy's Midnight Runners No. 1 hit "Come on Eileen," the following songs have likely come to mind for many in the path of the big storm.
See live photo feed, live Atlantic City Web cam and latest updates on Hurricane Irene and the Jersey shore region.
"Shelters are places of last resort," Christie said. "Do not go to a center because it's close to your house and driving to a friends' house would take an hour."
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1. Anonymous said... on Aug 27, 2011 at 01:25PM
“Mr Obama? Really?”
2. hey You said... on Aug 27, 2011 at 01:29PM
“you have a problem with that mr. dork?”
3. Anonymous said... on Aug 27, 2011 at 02:05PM
“I heard he was reading a book to a class full of kids at the time of the briefing and didn't leave until he was done.”
4. Anonymous said... on Aug 27, 2011 at 02:22PM
“Mr. Obama is an insult..”
5. Anonymous said... on Aug 27, 2011 at 02:29PM
“He is President Obama, and should only be addressed as such.”
6. Anonymous said... on Aug 27, 2011 at 02:49PM
“Mr. Obama is totally appropriate, He may have been elected to the office of President, But he hasn't earned the title so far.”
7. Rogena said... on Aug 27, 2011 at 04:59PM
“Really? President Obama IS the president and HAS earned that title BY being elected. Let him read to the students. Seriously! Wow! People still amaze me!”
8. Anonymous said... on Aug 27, 2011 at 06:25PM
“The Associated Press style book says the first reference uses the title, subsequent references don't need to do so. This is common practice for reputable newspapers as regular readers know. The story is decent with plenty of sources....looking forward to updates, especially quotes from our president, Barack Obama.”
9. Anonymous said... on Aug 27, 2011 at 06:56PM
“on boat sea isle city nj right now”
10. Anonymous said... on Aug 27, 2011 at 08:15PM
“That was Pres. Bush who was reading to children when 9/11 was happening.”
11. Anonymous said... on Aug 27, 2011 at 09:43PM
“Hmmm, at least President Obama knew a hurricane was coming... Can't say the same thing for Bushco though, can you?? Idiot. Can we all say "Heck of a job Brownie" as New Orleans was destroyed??”
12. Anonymous said... on Aug 28, 2011 at 06:10PM
“Ummm ... President O only knew about the storm because it was going to affect his golf vacation. At least Biden was away in Hawaii working hard!”