but i can not. are you ready? states of hnemergency are in if effect from north carolina all the way to connecticut. it could be a very rough weekend. so let's head right to atlanta and check in with jackqui jeras. >> once again it's a little later than usual, so i'm scrambling to get it all out to you. hurricane watches now posted from the north carolina/virginia border to sandy hook, new jersey. so that includes delaware bay, chesapeake bay. we also have hurricane warnings in effect from little river inlet north carolina northward to sandy hook including delaware way, chesapeake bay, south of smith point. so that includes basically everybody from long island on southward. so this is a developing situation. of course. second thing that's new here that just came in, the intensity of the storm. category 2. look at that number. 110-mile-an-hour winds. the threshold between the two is between 110 and 111. 111 makes it a major hurricane, 110 makes it a think not major hurricane, but we need to right this like a major hurricane p the reason why it went down a little bit overnight is we're going through an eyewall replacement cycle. so the center of the storm used to be tie, it has a circle of thunderstorms right around the middle. that's collapsing now and on the outside of it, a new one is developing. so what's ultimate lir going happen is it mean it is could make it a stronger hurricane overall as that second eyewall for starts on to close in and intensify that storm. our pressure also has been dropping, so that's significant because when your pressure drops, in turn eventually your wind speeds begin to increase, as well. so look at that, there is the forecast track showing it back right up to a 3 by tomorrow. this will be heading toward the carolinas, slapping them through the day on saturday with landfall probably later in the day and then heading its way on up towards the theeft. all of those good computer models now are showing some type of landfall in to the northeast. look at the tight cluster that we have on these compared to what we've had the last couple of days. and then in the northeast, everything is inland. so preparation is key. we'll likely see more evacuations as we head throughout the day and all those states of emergency has have been issued, too, from connecticut down in to the carolinas. >> when you said category 2, i was a little up. but then you dashed my hopes. >> i know. >> thank you, we'll get back to you. we'll head live to north carolina in just a bit, but let's talk about new york first. irene could become the most destructive hurricane to hit the new york area in more than 70 years. chad myers shows us what might happen. >> if this is over new jersey the entire time, the storm will lose some power. if it's just offshore, this could still be a cat 2, 2 of this. i don't position 3 becauosition. and the piney woods, between atlantic city and trenton and princeton, and just kind of run on up the turnpike. that would steal a lot of thrg because the eye is not over water. a category 4 would completely wash over the southern part of the island up here in to the south street seaport. so this is the threat in that is not the storm. this is not the category 4 end of the world storm. >> i hope you feel better after that. buts it is why city crews are cleaning out storm drains to keep the street flooding down and why mayor bloomberg has ordered patients in low lying areas at health care facilities to be moved by 8:00 eastern tonight. city officials are thinking about evacuating other low lying areas of queens, brooke len and statten islands, but a coastal geology professor says the city has an even bigger challenge than the actual storm. what's your biggest concern? >> the new yorker. >> why? >> because they don't listen. you can always tell a new yorker, but you can't tell them very much. >> okay. let's talk about north carolina because north carolina is irene's door to the united states. that's where hurricane warnings and mandatory evacuations are already under way and it's where reynolds wolf is this morning. he joins us live from kill devil hill. so looks peaceful now, but -- >> reporter: absolutely. what's interesting about this area is this truly is a barrier island. it's one that basically is a ribbon of sand, some 200 miles long, roughly about three miles. one big concern, you have this enormous strip jutting out in to the ocean. i know the concern is elevation where you have points that range thir from 7 to 11 feet. so in places that are so narrow at some points, you can actually stand up, look across on one side, the atlantic ocean. which means when you have a tropical system, when you have even a depression made makes its way up the aern see board, you have the potential of really being lashed not only by the strong wind, but by a great deal of water on both sides. it's always vacation destination for millions of people. just beautiful beaches. you see the water coming in, very dark, not a lot of people. there were widespread evacuations. the official evacuation gets understand w under way at 8:00 this morning. people have been told plain and sever simple get out. yesterday we talked to judy. >> upset, but, you know, i guess hopefully there will be other vacations. i'm concerned because all the storms have been much worse than anybody expected. so that's why i'm scared about this one. >> reporter: i got to tell you, they are prepared here as best they possibly can. we spoke to members of the county emergency management office, they seem to be same couldn't of approach, a fatalistic sort of thing. they've had a great deal of experience with he's systems. one of the big storms that affect them years ago was back in 2003, that was hurricane isabel. it cut a swathe through part of the outer banks, 200 feet wide and 15 feet deep. back to you. >> reynolds, will people actually leave? i know that -- i saw pictures last night of a massive amount of people leaving the outer banks, but once this starts up at 8:00 a.m. eastern time, more evacuations, do you think people will heed the warnings and go? >> reporter:ic the majority of the people will leave. but there are always going to be some holdouts. we spoke with an emergency management official yesterday and his words were if you make the decision to stay on the islands, once this thing comes calling, there will not be rescues. once the winds reach a certain peak, once that rain starts coming and once the storm surge rae starts enveloping parts of outer banks, if you're on the islands, that's exact will i where you're going to stay for the duration. >> reynolds wolf, we'll get back to you. thanks so much. after barreling through north carolina, irene is aimed at virginia. governor rob mcdonnell spoke to piers morgan about the people in the direct path. >> no matter what the government does, people have to on take precautions with everything from their pets to their backup power systems to all the things that they need to do to protect themselves. and if they're in a low lying area, we're telling them try to get out thousand because within 36 hours or so, we might be closing row closing roads and bridges and tunnels. >> national guard troops are getting into position. sent shi sea. it's set to hit maryland on sunday afternoon. residents there, too, are being asked for evacuate. people in ocean city are being ordered to leave. people are getting sand bags for their homes and businesses. the governor says people need to be prepared for for hair power and water to be out for up on three days. he spoke with candy crowley about the threat to the coast and to the chesapeake bay. >> predicting the title surge in the bay is a very, very tricky business. it's a bit of a shallow path b ttu bathtub. so a lot of low lying areas will be very vulnerable to that tidal surge that comes from this hurricane. so this is a very serious and potentially deadly storm. >> now let's head to delaware where the storm is slated on to hit midday on sunday. right how there is a mandatory evacuation of all visitors in coastal areas. the governor says there will likely be mandatory evacuations for residents in some areas, as well. they're told to have at least enough food and water for three days. i sound like a broken record, but this is what they're telling us. next to pennsylvania where landfall is expected on sunday afternoon, tidal flooding along the delaware river is possible. people living in florida prone areas should make arrangements to stay with family in safer areas. and be sure to sign up for text or e-mail alerts on pennsylvania's emergency management agency's website. irene set to make landfall in new jersey on sunday. new jersey is also under a state of emergency. tolls will be suspended starting at 8:00 a.m. eastern this morning for parts of the garden state parkway and the atlantic city expressway. starting at 6:00 a.m. eastern, atlantic city and the surrounding barrier island are under a mandatory evacuation. preparations, evacuations, cancellations, hurricane irene is disrupting weekend plans all along the eastern seaboard, including afternoon anticipated dedication honoring a civil rights legend. but first, here is today's quote of the day. 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[ woman announcing ] new beneful healthy fiesta. another healthful, flavorful beneful. if you're in hurricane irene's path and right now that's near will he everybody along the eastern seaboard, fema wants to you check out website ready.gov. there's all kinds of information on that website on how to prepare. candy crowley talked with a fema administrator. >> what worries you the most? >> i think again i'm breaking it down into the phase of what we'll see first. and that's going to be the impacts on coastal areas to the evacuations and how many people comply with that. that will be key to reducing the loss of life and minimizing the impacts there. but then again, it will be how far in-land do the winds go, how strong are they and how much rain we get. this area particularly in the northeast has had so much rain recently, even today we've had severe weather and flash flood advisories. so more storms, we're afraid of a lot of flooding and power outages. pretty much on the i-95 corridor from as far south as the carolinas all way north up through boston and on into maine. >> irene has cities and states up and down the east coast getting ready as i've tould. the nation's capital is no exception. d.c. mayor cent gray is letting residents though sand bags are available and alerting them to emergency routes on out of the city as well as washington's preparation guide. amtrak has shut down service in d.c., but only the southbound trains. i think the northbound trains are still running. is that correct? kre, the northbound trains are still running, but south from d.c., amtrak has canceled train service. the approaching storm brings us to our political ticker with tim farley. he's live in washington morning. so first the big earthquake and now the hurricane. >> yes, indeed. and it's been fascinating to watch this week what has been transpiring number one is clearly the emergency aid, really it's a state kind of thing as you you know, it's more of where state as opposed to federal government coordinates events, although in d.c. it's a different situation because the federal government is kind of in charge of washington, d.c. but here's a couple things people should know. the martin luther king celebration on sunday, the dedication of the new monument, has been postponed. they made the decision last night, a wide one probably, because we were expecting somewhere around 250,000, 300,000 people here for the ceremony on sunday. in a way, it might be a good thing that it's been postponed. and there is no date yet for the rescheduling because the national cathedral was also scheduled to be a part of the celebration this weekend and that has been closed because of the earthquake that you just mentioned, they had shaome dama there. so a fairly rough week for events specifically surrounding that. >> you're not kidding. some are saying it's the sign of the apocalypse. but they always say that. the interesting thing is that democrat after all of this is over, they'll point to fema and say, hey, see, government works. >> you make an excellent work. interesting to mote that the house majority leader eric cantor who was in mineral, sla have a, is he from virginia, was pointing out that the federal government will provide the money if necessary, but there will have to be some cuts made if that money is to be provided. so that's a balancing yet to be fought. i should note, also, that monday is the sixth anniversary of katrina. and this administration is being very careful because they realize that any disaster since then has been viewed through of lens of dreen inkatrina. this time i have a memo from the white house many, many pages long about the tick to being this week as they call it, all the different things the administration has done to keep in touch with what's been going on. the president will be back tomorrow and i expect you'll be seeing him on tv as the president is engage this had what is taking place. >> of course still hungered down in martha's vineyard. tim farley, thanks so much for joining us this morning. new message from moammar gadhafi telling loyalists not to leave tripoli to the rats. the city still a battlefield as the man hunt for the fugitive leader intensifies. s too? discover aveeno positively radiant tinted moisturizers with scientifically proven soy complex and natural minerals. give you sheer coverage instantly, then go on to even skin tone in four weeks. aveeno tinted moisturizers. here are three things to put on your radar. officials with the new york city offices of emergency management will hold a news conference in preparation for hurricane irene. an hour later, the national hurricane center issue as new storm advisory and this report will update us on on the hurricane's location, speed and projected past. and at 10:00 a.m. eastern in washington, craig fugate will update us on how the federal government is coordinating with states and local agencies to deal with the storm. the unite td nations prepar to go release $1.5 billion to will i be kra. it's money seized by the united states last spring and soon officials say it will be used to build a post-me mar gadhafi will i be xrap but gadhafi is still missing. the than humanhunt intensifying. in a new audiotape, he tells loyalists not to leave tripoli for the rats. the fighting does go on. rebels trying to squash stubborn loyalist pockets throughout the city. here's arwa damon. >> reporter: we're up on on the tarmac of the tripoli international airport. we have to stay low because the rebels say there is a sniper who has been shooting at them, but we wanted to show you this, that smoldering airplane. this airport complex has been bomb about boarded relentlessly by gadhafi loyalists using various kinds of artillery and rockets. and if he we come over to this side, i can still hear the sound of explosions and gunfire, but if we move around, you cancan s more of the wreckage that's been caused. if we come over to the other side of the air control tower, you can see the wreckage of an aircraft that was hit overnight and the rebels say that the assault on this airport complex is so intense for a number of reasons. first of all, the senior commanders here believe that gadhafi loyalists are trying to keep huge swathes of land that the rebels don't control free so that they can sneak gadhafi himself through them, but also rebels believe they're employing a scorched earth policy, they want to demolish anything that they possibly can. they're still facing a fierce, an intense battle at this airport complex from gadhafi loyalists. arwa damon, cnn, tripoli. irene is ready to make u.s. wlafl tomorr landfall tomorrow in north carolina. tens of million of americans may be in its path. we're getting the latest for you just ahead. [ woman ] welcome back, jogging stroller. you've been stuck in the garage, while my sneezing and my itchy eyes took refuge from the dust in here and the pollen outside. but with 24-hour zyrtec®, i get prescription strength relief from my worst allergy symptoms. it's the brand allergists recommend most. ♪ lily and i are back on the road again. where we belong. with zyrtec®, i can love the air®. it is friday, august 26th, this is your a.m. wake upcall. it's 28 after the hour. hurricane irene now a honest sister monster category 3 storm. it's brewing just off on the atlantic coast and taking aim at the eastern united states.categ. it's brewing just off on the atlantic coast and taking aim at the eastern united states. 50 million americans could feel the impact this weekend. jacqui jeras is tracking irene. did you say it fell to a cat 2? >> yeah, it did. cat 2, 110 mile per hour winds, but just one mile per hour that's it. major is cat 3 at 111. take a look at this mop aap her. look at that whole bend area. this storm about if you just talk about the cloud cover, it's about 1,000 miles wide. if we're talking about how far out those tropical storm force winds extended out, they're about 290 miles from the center of the storm. so the storm is not always symmetrical, but you can kind of estimate and say it's somewhat pushing 600 miles in terms of those strong winds. so just incredible. and size really matters because storm surge is one of the biggest concerns with this thing as it heads up the coast. and the bigger the storm, not necessarily the more intense, although that makes a difference, too, but the bigger the size of the storm, the greater the storm surge tends to be. and that's why they took that storm surge estimate out of the saffir-simpson scale. they did that last year. here is the forecast track. there you can see it's pulling out of the bahamas, so it has nothing but intensification expected because the winds are light and also the water temperatures are warm. so landfall likely sometime on saturday, scraping up the coast all the way through sunday. pretty much all the models are keeping it along or on the coast. and this is a megalopolis, this is where a chunk of our country lives and millions will be impacted with flooding and poutpout pow are outages. and we're so worried about the water getting in to new york city. best thing we he can say is we do think it will weaken after it moves past north carolina. >> i'm praying if for the folks in north carolina. it's hard it on believe that new york will get hit that hard and there will be massive flooding i think so tinside the city. >> wall street could be flooded, battery park will likely be flooded. you think about the subway system. and all the people that live in high rises, the winds are stronger, so if you live in the top floor of a building, it could potentially be more like a category 2 as opposed to a category 1. it could be a real hazard. >> and the buildings sway anyway because they have to or they would fall down immediately, right in, a strong gust of wind. but they'll really sway with those strong gusts of winds and that will be really freaky. okay. keeping my fenk fingers crossed. let's head to north care carry because it is under a hurricane warning. the state's governor says she's praying for the best, but preparing for the worst. part of that preparation means evacuation orders. a steady stream of tourists leaving the coast ahead of the storm and north carolina isn't alone, of course. states of emergency have been declared in virginia, maryland, new jersey, new york, delaware and connecticut fp if you're planning on traveling on to the east coast this weekend, fair washin warning. double check the status of your flights and trains. hundreds of flights into and out of major east coast cities have already been canceled. but if you've already booked a bit of brighter news, a lot of big airlines are dropping the ticket change fee. as far as rail service goes, amtrak has canceled most service south of washington, d.c. through sunday. trains running on the northeast corridor are not affected yet, but a spokesperson says that could change as irene moves. but for now, north carolina is first up in irene's path at least in the united states. the hurricane expected to make landfall sometime tomorrow. so state leaders are telling people to board up and get out while the getting out is good. >> this is a first hit for all of us. and there are a lot of newcomers who have moved to the coast of north carolina who have never seen a hurricane before. i hope people heed the warnings. i know it's really hard for folks who have small businesses to leave. but everybody should take this very seriously. >> reynolds wolf is live in kill devil hills, north carolina. reynolds, most people heeding the governor's warning? >> reporter: absolutely. it's interesting hearing your report when you were talking moments ago. outer banks of north carolina, one thing it's famous for, not only the beaches and ocean, but for its southern hospitality. but you're right, it's just the opposite of what they're getting right now. it's not welcome, it's get out as fast as you possibly can. yesterday they had evacuations for the people visiting. they average 150,000 people. however when it comes to year-round residents, there's about 35,000. they're expected -- that evacuation for the residents will begin today at 8:00. it will be really an interesting situation getting all these people across this causes way back to the mainland. and we spoke yesterday with a management official and he told us that he wants everyone, whether they plan on staying or leaving, to be prepared. >> mandatory evacuation is us telling people they need to leave. this is a big storm and they need to go. we're not going to be dragging people out of their homes or anything. we can't do that. but it is important that they leave. it's not something where they need to sit around and decide whether they want it go or not want to go. this is something that they need to evacuate and we're making them leave as best we can. >> reporter: what's interesting about this, when you think about a storm of this magnitude, chugging its way right unthe eastern seaboard with this area, the outer banks right in its range, you have to remember what these islands are made of. this is not like a coral refoundation of what you'll find in the florida keys or made on bedrock. it's sand. it's simply sand. that's all it is. and because it is simply sad, it is prone to all kinds of erosion when you have these tropical systems that come calling. this is one of the situations where there's really not going to be a whole lot of shelter. there are buildings that are strong structures, but when you think about the elevation be very low, anywhere from like 12 to even 7 feet above sea level, even around 12 feet, you can see what a difference it will makes a the stoas the storm edges clo. >> i have visions in my mind of people evacuating new orleans and remember what an absolute nightmare that was. i'm sure north carolina officials have some plan in place to ease the traffic flow? >> reporter: absolutely. this is something that they think about year round. even though it happens just a few times a year where they have the idea idea of even thinking about evacuation or putting those order they have it planned pretty well. they said yesterday everything worked very well. they expect the same to be the case today. residents have a better idea of when and how to take these hinghing things seriously. >> some of the best storm pictures and video is on cnn.com and it's coming from you. we of course will be watching for your eyewitness accounts of hurricane irene, to send them to ireport.com. time for today's smart question of the day. you can name the costliest storm to strike the united states since 1900? is it hurricane andrew, hurricane katrina, or hurricane ike. 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[ female announcer ] yoplait greek. it is so good. oh, and there's a smile. it is 40 past the hour. this is your a.m. wake-up call. today's get smart question, we're asking you to name the costliest storm to strike the understand since 1900. is it hurricane andrew which hit florida in '92, hurricane katrina which hit in 2005, or was it hurricane ike which struck texas and louisiana? 2008? the answer is b, hurricane katrina with at least $108 billion in property damage. the other hurricanes and the damage they caused doesn't come close. irene is on track to plow up the coast, but its exact path still not quite certain. the spaghetti spring projections show the possible turns irene could take as it treks northward. but the hurricane center says we should focus on the big picture. >> this is a large hurricane and you really don't want to focus on that little skinny line. it's a large circulation and even if the inner core weakens a little bit and moves over eastern north carolina, the large circulation won't disappear. so you'll have the storm surge, the large waves, wind and rainfall. >> there you have it. today's money news is of course connected to our big story this morning. that would be hurricane irene. let's go to ali velshi live here in new york with me. i find it interesting they're going to send you out in to the storm monday because i figure it's because you have no hair. >> that's exactly why it is. >> you're storm ready. >> i am storm ready. one of the things that people -- we look at the storm from a money perspective from a new angles, one is wherein vest this had stock in his the insurance companies. and i think if you're not, you're curious whether b. whether your insurance company will be able to pay it out and how financially sound she are. take a look at what these estimates are. once this storm, if gets to new york, when you look at coastal areas in new york, there is $2.3 trillion worth of coastal insured area. all those other states, south carolina, north carolina, maryland, virginia, rhode island, new hampshire, maine, only add up to $2 trillion. so it's a big financial difference in it gets to new york and part of the rob is that that will be a very costly endeavor. we no it happens here particularly in new york city, the power lines are underground and obviously subways and tunnels are youpd grouundergrou. these insurance companies are state farm, nationwide, allstate and travelers. and they've had a rough year because of those tornadoes, it's actually been one of the most expensive years so far. it's not the most expensive, but this could help put it over the top. bottom line is we've been talking to analysts who say they're safe, these insurers have a lot of money. they have seen their stocks drop a lot this year. they dropped again on these insurable events, but they're safe you should get paid out. you saw help set up shop really well and trying to get the claims carried out quickly. >> i hope, because i suspect they'll have plenty. i live in baltimore and i'm really worried about my house as many are because so many live so close to the harbor. so that's good to hear. and the other problem is a lot of people probably don't have insurance like that or that would cover damage like this. because you you remember all the problems with the storm surge. >> and a lot of them can't get it. some people have tried to get it and they can't get it. others don't have it because it's expensive. so at this point, you gets a prepared as you can and hope for the best. >> we'll keep our fingers and toes crossed. see you in a bit. in other new, the united nations prepare to go release $1.5 billion to libya. soon officials say it will be used to build a post-gadhafi libya. of course as you know, gadhafi is still missing. the manhunt intensifying with rebel forces going door to door searching for him. and check this out, rebels say will is moammar gadhafi's rv. and they claim he may have been hiding out in it very recently. but wherever he is, the man is not going down quietly. this is apfaerparently his void an audiotape released yesterday. >> translator: do not leave tripoli for the rats, do not believe them. fight them. destroy them. you are the overwhelming majority, you have marched in millions. march with the same millions but fight this time. fill streets and the fields. >> right now most of tripoli is quiet and secretary of state hillary clinton is calling on rebel leadership to move quick tli ly to build a government. irene is coming. it could be getting stronger. ty discover customers are getting five percent cashback bonus at the pump... and at many of the places their summer plans take them. it pays to switch, it pays to discover. purina cat chow helps you well-being. we're all striving for it. nurture it in your cat with a full family of excellent nutrition and helpful resources. purina cat chow. share a better life. s it is friday, august 26th. thank you for joining us this morning. we're live there new york. it's 48 past the hour. irene has left the bahamas, is now heading toward the united states. if you live along the east coast there north carolina all the way to maine, irene will be part of your life over the next few dayses. so let's head to the "weather center" and jacqui jeras. is it possible this thing could fizzle out some way? >> it will get weaker as it moves up the coast and as it interacts with land and as it moves in to the cooler water and starts to interact with drier air. that's really the best thing we can tell you about the storm. but everybody from north carolina on northward needs to be on high alert. this is a dangerous situation because the size of the storm just means millions will be i impacted. there will be a lot of flooding as a result, too. i want to update you, this was at the top of hour will case you missed it on the watches and warnings. so the hurricane center now has a hurricane warning in text from north carolina all the way up to sandy hook, new jersey. north of there is a hurricane watch. we're expecting to see tropical storm force winds in north carolina by later on this afternoon. so you need to rush to your final preparations and before that sun goes down, if you've been told to evacuate, you've got to be out of there. if you'rening about leaving, now is the time. the storm did weaken a little bit, so it's good it to see even a little bit of weakening to category 2. 110-mile-an-hour maximum sustained winds, but you only have to nudge up one more to be a major hurricane. we're going through the eyewall replace chlt psyment cycle, but can end up being a stronger storm. nowhere to go but north, so it is making a bee line towards the outer banks and we're likely to see the storm moving in after the day tomorrow. after that it will be moving up through the northeastern coastline and all the computer models are keeping it close to the shore or on the shore so that missed situation where it stays offshore looks less and less likely at this time. so anyway you shlice it, we'll e talking about likely a major flood threat even if it did get that best case scenario. and here's a forecast showing you how much rain we're expecting between now and monday morning. it's that dark about your spell area where we're talking about 6 to 10 inches of rain with locally heavier amounts. there will be a lot of water from the inland flooding as well as the storm surge because of the size of this storm. >> so let me ask you this question, jackie. let's say it stays a category two which i get would be better, but really we're worried about the storm surge, maybe not on necessarily about what category the storm is. >> right. the greater the category the storm, the greater the surge will be. and the greater the size of the storm the greater the surge will be .there will be some difference between a 1 and a 2. obviously you'll be hoping for the 1. but i think even with a 1, we are going to be get something sear surge flooding. the latest prediction it is for surge for north carolina coastline is somewhere between 6 and 11 feet. that's above the average tide. so tides also will play a factor. 4 to 8 feet for the chesapeake bay and the delmarva area, that's delaware, maryland and virginia. and then for the jersey shore, we're talking about to 6 feet potentially of water. so it does go down the further north you go, part of that ha w storm, but this will be funneling up the rivers, so the hudson river could flow backwards for a little bit because those winds will be pushing in there so strong. >> so weird. thank you for explaining, we appreciate it. irene could become the most destructive hurricane to hit the new york city area in more than 70 years. mayor michael bloomberg has ordered patients who are in hospitals in low lying areas to be moved out of those facilities by 8:00 eastern tonight. as far as other vevacuations go city officials are thinking about it. >> there are different ways to evacuate. one is to suggest that people move. another hinge is the mayor apparently has the power to issue an executive order and to force people to move. >> there you have it. matt mary snow live in snonew york c. it's hard to believe that the streets of new york city could be flooded. >> reporter: it really is. but also the mta is considering shutting down the mass transit system. so imagine all of the city subway, millions of people take them each day, coming to a screeching halt. this is so rare for new york city, but experts have long warned that it would not take a major hurricane to cause significant damage in new york city because it's so vulnerable on low lying areas like where we are here in lower manhattan that it could trigger flooding pretty easily. and some worst case scenarios have been accumulated over the years. consider this one from noaa. they came up with a worst case scenario with what a category 2 storm would look like flooding the brooklyn bratry tunnel which connects than hat tan and brooklyn. the army corps of engineers also came up with worst case scenarios. a category 1 has the potential they say of flooding lower manhattan subway station with 3 1/2 feet of water. worst case scenario for a category 2 they say could put jfk airport under more than 5 feet of water. this of course all worst case scenarios. but it has been out there because it is so rare in new york city. one person that has really been studying this is it a professor at queens college, and he says he's not so much worried now about a hurricane, but the people. take a listen. >> what's your biggest concern? >> the new yorker. >> why? >> because they don't listen. you can always tell a new yorker, but you can't tell them very much. >> reporter: and he has a point. new yorkers don't take directions all that easily. and because they haven't really been through this many times, they may reconsider. but the mayor will make a decision saturday. >> i think they'll listen this time because the local stations are going crazy and putting the fear of god into people. mary snow live in new york city. thanks so much. let's take a look at the word of the day. it has to be storm surge. find out what it means and why you need to though about it rigknow right after this short present. if something is simply the color of gold, is it really worth more? we don't think so. chase sapphire preferred is a card of a different color. unlike others, you get twice the points on travel, and twice the points on dining, and no foreign transaction fees. call now or apply at chasesapphire.com/preferred. [ male announcer ] get ready for the left lane. the volkswagen autobahn for all event is back. right now, get a great deal on new volkswagen models, including the jetta, awarded a top safety pick by the iihs. that's the power of german engineering. hurry in and lease the jetta s for just $179 a month. ♪ visit vwdealer.com today. discover aveeno positively radiant tinted moisturizers with scientifically proven soy complex and natural minerals. give you sheer coverage instantly, then go on to even skin tone in four weeks. aveeno tinted moisturizers. then go on to even skin tone in four weeks. naturals from delicious, real ingredients with no artificial flavors or preservatives. naturals from purina cat chow. share a better life. this is your a.m. wake-up call. time for the word of the day. that has to be storm surge. here's what it means. it's an abnormal rise in sea level or simply water that is pushed toward the shore by the force of winds swirling around the storm. this is one of the biggest hazards when a hurricane strikes because the rise in water level can cause severe flooding in coastal areas. that's what we're all afraid of here. here are three things to put on your radar. at 7:

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