nation's most populous city, business have shut down. hundreds of thousands have been forced to evacuate and the entire transit system is at a standstill. dozens of ferries, thousands of buses and 840 mile of rail are out of service for the first time in new york city's history, leaving the millions of new yorkers who don't own cars essentially stranded. all this as the storm is expected to reach new york at high tide tomorrow morning. meteorologist nick o'kelly will have more on that in a moment. first kerry sanders has this look back on the path of hurricane irene's destruction so far. >> reporter: hurricane irene made first landfall just south of the outer banks on north carolina's coast. winds in excess of 100 miles per hour ripped apart, unsecured siding. tilted electrical poles and church steeples. downed trees. an unconfirmed tornado is believed to have touched down in belhaven, damaging waterfront businesses. while the storm surge damaged the roadways, the waves hammered the atlantic beach pier. this is what the pier looked like before irene and now after. the final section is gone, washed out to sea in the early morning hours. north carolina state officials say early indications are damage is minimal. duncan reeds who rode the storm out with his 80-year-old parents said he is thankful eye clean had been a category 3 hurricane showed mercy when she made landfall here as barely a category 1. >> i just kind of battened down the hatches and put everything away that can blow around. >> reporter: irene came ashore here in the early morning hours. the eye of the storm passing directly over atlantic beach. >> this is the back end of the hurricane coming through here. these are the hurricane force winds. and it is brutal, i've got to tell you. the sand is like a sand blaster. i can barely turn that direction. >> reporter: along the north carolina coast, more than 200,000 home are still without power. for those who evacuated inland, emergency managers say there will be at least one more night away from home before the all-clear signal. >> it is really danger. you endanger your safety and the safety of the first responders who might come to try to rescue you. please stay inside. >> again, that was nbc's kerry sanders in atlantic beach, north carolina. as we mentioned, the storm is expected to hit new york city during high tide tomorrow morning. nick is tracking irene and joins us with what that could mean in terms of flooding. hello. >> absolutely. hitting right at high tide. they'll have a storm surge of four, six, perhaps as high as eight feet so you get the high tide, the big waves. could be some big flooding issues for new york city. here's the developing of the storm weakening a bit as it hit the outer banks of north carolina. just got the update at 11:00 p.m. still sustained winds at 80 miles an hour. what's amazing about this storm is just the sheer size of it. it is about 500 miles across. that would cover about two-thirds of the state of california if it were on the west coast. here's a zoomed in picture. the center of the system not quite as wrapped one rainfall. a little drier air. it is creeping along at 15 miles per hour to the north northeast. right now it is off the maryland and delaware county coast -- the state coasts and moving to the north. it will be impacting new jersey, getting into new york and long isle here in the overnight hours, and it does appear tomorrow morning at about, let's say, 8:00 a.m. it will start to see the strongest sginds the highest waves reaching that area. after it makes landfall into the northeast, it will lose strength quickly but still a big rain maker, and this will be a big system. we're talking about six to 14 inches of rain. that big storm surge and the strong damaging winds as it moves into new england and off into nova scotia here in the next couple days. the impacts will be felt here for the next 48 to 72 hours. we'll continue to track it and i'll be back in a few minutes at our local weather which is very, very quiet compared to that. the effects of hurricane irene are being felt here of course agency well. the airlines canceled dozens of flights at all three major bay area airport leaving thousands of passengers just about stranded. now a look from sfo. >> reporter: good evening. a total of 70 departing flights have been canceled here at sfo. 40 today and another 30 tomorrow. and as a result, some passengers tell us they expect to be stranded here in san francisco at least until wednesday or thursday. >> i am very disappointed. very angry. >> reporter: the wait in line at the united counter at sfo was so long, people camped out waiting three, four, five hours to rebook their flights. >> i wait three hours, three hours i'm waiting. two people taken care. they have time. continental. they have time. how much time i need to wait? how much time? no water, no food. i'm tired. >> i'm listening to conversations of people ahead of us. it sound like thursday or friday was the best deal would you get at this point. >> reporter: joe and his wife are from new york. they wade in line for five hours after their flight home was canceled. even so, tam considers himself one of the lucky ones. >> we got a flight out on sunday. we will fly to cincinnati, arriving sunday evening. and we'll stay with my brother and rent a car and drive to the newark area and be home monday night. >> reporter: even people not headed to the east coast with affected by the hurricane. dozens of flights to other locations such as hawaii, houston and oregon were delayed because they depended on aircraft arriving from somewhere on the east coast. >> it's frustrating, i guess. for me, i guess, especially for them it is much worse. i'm going to houston so hopefully i'll get away. their flights are canceled so i don't know where they'll go. hopefully i'll make it out but these guys, i'm sorry for them. >> a very disappointing toned a very nice vacation. these things happen. and with the hurricane, nobody is to blame. it's just the way it is. so you deal with it. >> reporter: and in terms of delays and cancellations, we understand that a very similar situation in both oakland international and the san jose airport. because of this ripple effect, airport officials are urging you to call your airline, no matter destination. monty francis, nbc bay area news. thank you. members of the california air national guard at month of why it field are gearing up. it specializes in time sensitive response to state and holeland emergencies including natural disasters. so more than 90 members of the unit are expecting to finish loading equipment. >> we were prepared to deploy seven to ten days. obviously we don't know what will happen here. how much damage it will be or how long our services will be needed so we're prepared to stay there up to 30 days or indefinitely, as long as they need us there. >> the unit expects to take off from sunnyvale around 9:00 tomorrow morning and arrive on the east coast just after the storm passes new york and massachusetts. stay with bay area news for continuing coverage on air and online. click on the weather tab for up-to-the-minute information. in solano county, an eight alarm brush fire is burning in a remote area between fairfield and vacaville. about a thousand acres have burned so far and that number could reach 1,500 by morning. one structure was threatened. no injuries have been reported and all the fire units, by the way, are working this fire tonight as well as some engines from contra costa county. coming up next, we'll have a live report on the effect of the new security measures at candlestick park as well as an update regarding the suspects in last weekend's violence. >> plus, pilots using ipads in flight?, oh, yes, it is part of the effort to make flying more green and efficient. ♪ [ woman ] sam begged and pleaded... so i sent him to camp. we'd earned lots of points with our new citi thankyou card... and i put them to good use. he told me about his bunkmates, and how he signs up for every activity. ♪ he even hangs out with the camp director. just like that. [ male announcer ] the new citi thankyou premier card gives you more ways to earn points. what's your story? citi can help you write it. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] unlike some car companies, nissan is running at 100% which means the most innovative cars, are also the most available cars. nissan, innovation for today. innovation for all. football fans at candlestick park are being watched much more closely, both inside and outside the stadium. san francisco police and the 49ers want to make sure there is no repeat of last weekend's violence. and kimberly terry is at candlestick with some changes. kimberly? >> reporter: those new rules started today. we saw a lot more police and a lot less tailgating. at candlestick saturday, football fans were met with some changes. parking lots opened only four hours before kickoff. once the game started between the niners and the houston texans, those with tickets were prompted to get inside the stadium. those without were asked to leave. the san francisco police made themselves more visible, working to engage fans and mitigate disruptions. >> it is a beautiful night out here at candlestick. a beautiful night inside the stadium. people were tailgating, having a good time. there were kids around. i mean, this is the way it's supposed to go. so last week, not so much. >> reporter: the security changes came as a result of last weekend's violence. during a preseeks game between the niners and the raiders, two men were shot and one man was beaten unconscious. >> all of this is out of an abundance of caution but it makes good sense. >> reporter: the police chief wouldn't give us hard numbers but said 40% more officers were brought in and the 49ers added additional security on top of that. >> the chief has shown great leadership. i think the 28 police officers are interacting with the fans is exactly from our perspective we would like to see every week. we know that's what they'll do from this point forward and we'll be well positioned the rest. season. >> reporter: the security director was at the game and intends to go to the raiders game last sunday night. he said what happened last week was an aberration but something the nfl will learn from and use to make changes to ensure fan safety going forward. >> we know that they pay hard earned money to come here and follow our teams and we want them to know they're going to have a good time. and we won't allow someone else to take that ability away from them. >> reporter: football fans including some rooting for houston say they're happy to see the hearty police presence. >> we hope that you guys can protect us and take care of the fans that come out to see good football. >> especially with young kids now, it is about fun. having a good time. and if there are other things going on you have to worry about, it makes thing complicated. so with more presence it is easier. a lot more relaxing. more fun. >> reporter: tonight there were two arrests for public intoxication and 12 people were ejected from the game. but police say all in all it was a calm night. dui checkpoints were set up all around the stadium. and that is going to go on throughout the season. live in san francisco, nbc bay area news. >> thank you. of the three men sent to the hospital lassaturday work the are still hospitalized in fair condition. l this is a sketch of the man who attacked a fan in the bathroom. he is described as samoan or pacific islander. police say they are making progress on that front and they have detained a suspect in the shooting but are waiting for forensic results to move forward on that. coming up next at 11:00, we'll have a look at the weather. it is warming up. as well as sports. for that we turn to henry from comcast sports net. hello, henry. what's going on? >> hello, diane. remember that giants baseball team that had you sitting on edge throughout the game? it happened tonight. the giants turokie making his big debut. whatever we'll tell you what went down tonight. go! go! completing an atm deposit in record time... that's a step forward. go! go! with deposit friendly atms, you can make ultra fast, secure deposits with no slips or envelopes. take a step forward and chase what matters. the newest release with verizon 4g lte. the first phone pre-loaded with access to netflix's massive movie library. powered by verizon 4g lte for an unparalleled streaming experience. see how mobile entertainment was meant to be seen. only with verizon 4g lte. now get the revolution by lg for $199.99 and receive 3 months of netflix free. welcome back. the giants have trouble scoring runs. we know that. but they came into saturday night's game with houston knowing they would have to find a way to get some offense going in support of their young pitcher making his major league debut. the giants and astros' big day for eric surkamp. this is the guy who was big tonight. he struck out four in six solid innings. take a look at this guy going down, one, two, and then in the third inning, another strikeout. brett myers, jose altuve, these guys could not handle it. game tied 1-1. in the bottom of the tenth. jeff keppinger. play at the play. mike fontenot, you are safe at the plate. >> we won so that's the biggest thing. your first game up here, being able to dog pile like that. i don't think it gets much better than that. >> great job. the kid showed great poise out there. the bases loaded and made pitches. he mixed it up well and he did a great job. >> that was mark derosa, by the way, with the winning run. for chris young, a two-run shot to left. his 19th home run of the year. 2-0, arizona. to the bottom of the sixth, pad wres some self-inflicted damage. aaron harang's picked off attempt goes into foul territory. comes across 3-0 d'backs. they go on to win by a final of 3-1. a three-game lead. the 49ers and texans. first game scrimmage. didn't mean to do that. ahmad brooks takes it back. 7-0, 49ers. allow, all downhill after that for san francisco. alex smith pulled after the 49ers' first two possessions. colin kaepernick takes over. this is intercepted by troy nolan. takes it 73 yards to the house. alex smith brought back in. jim harbaugh says you have to do something for me. late in the second, he is picked off. troy nolan again, 49ers' pass protection was shaky. fri 49ers lose 30-7. >> a bitter pill to swallow when you're beaten that thoroughly in pretty much all phases. the defense wasn't quite as bad as special teams. and special teams weren't quite as bad as offense. >> all right, diane. that does it for tonight. the niners' offensive line can use some help. i'm going to eat about three more cheeseburgers. that will put me up about 300 pounds. i'll be ready to go. >> i think that's an excellent plan. for a check on the weather, it is gorgeous out there. >> good cheese burger eating weather. beautiful conditions across the bay today. a little cloudiness hanging tough at the coast. we warm thing up nicely. redwood city, 77. 80 in san jose. 91, 77 in fremont. tack on three, four, maybe even five degrees and you've got tomorrow's highs. we were looking at some moisture moving out from the south. it hit the sierra but didn't make it into the southern monterey bay area. we saw the thundershowers move east with high pressure building in, things are looking quiet and somewhat warmer. here the headlines. the fog is returning. maybe a little drizzle at the coast. warmer temperatures he where. even at the coast, it will warm up. we'll continue to track hurricane irene making its way into the new york city area into the early morning hours and we'll have live coverage. here's the story. kind of a tug-of-war if you will between this high pressure ridge which has been stationed across the four corners region and the series of low-pressure systems coming through and thickening up those marine clouds. it looks like the ridge will win as we finish off the latter stages of the season. mainly in the 50s to around 60. santa rosa, tomorrow in her more, a little warmer. morgan hill and gilroy work into the mid 90s. borderline hot. 86, san jose. very, very summer-like conditions. 70s to low 80s near the bay. 70 in san francisco. cooler toward daly city. ni vacaville, west winds, firefighters out that way battling that wildfire. 91, novato. we are heating things lohoilngw w up. stla h? ini th kin d taywos.i and then se'll r tye rlalduieb. layer rebuild. itn al bit dn a bit rnmo gcl morning clouds, afooten t orat s orsly t.lyo tk talt talk abouh abe l f so day fecxtasnet f o got an extended weekend. and i think we'll warm things up with 90s returning to the bay. but west coast. quiet weather, very pleasant weather. we'll be watching things on the east coast. >> absolutely. thank you. coming up, how ipads aren't just way way for passengers to pass time on the plane but a way for pilots to do their jobs more efficiently. ♪ [ woman ] sam begged and pleaded... so i sent him to camp. we'd earned lots of points with our new citi thankyou card... and i put them to good use. he told me about his bunkmates, and how he signs up for every activity. ♪ he even hangs out with the camp director. just like that. [ male announcer ] the new citi thankyou premier card gives you more ways to earn points. what's your story? citi can help you write it. so you've probably seen ipads on planes before. they're fun and make it easy to read books and watch movies in flight. they are making some airlines more efficient. nbc's business and tech reporter scott budman logs on in the cockpit. >> the wind changes, they want to you change to another approach. we'll pull it up immediately. >> reporter: it is a device you probably already know. you probably fly with one. an apple ipad now showing up inside airline cockpits and making the friendly skies a whole lot more high-tech. >> the ability to pull up, type in the identifier and go directly to it instead of having to pull out the 10, 12, whatever number you need charts to go. >> reporter: this is a united airlines cockpit. united says readministration 38 pounds of paper each flight with a 1.5 pound ipad can eliminate 16 million sheets of paper a year. by getting rid of all that weight the airline will also save 326,000 gallons of jet fuel a year. it's silicon valley know-how helping pilots to be more efficient. >> aviation is especially interested in thing that can reduce loads, reduce weight to playing it more efficient. a small device, whether it is a smart phone or an ipad or something like that can take the place of big computers or stacks of paper, that's a good thing. >> reporter: as long as the screens show this and not angry birds, it should be smooth sailing with the high-tech boost to the environment. in san jose, scott budman, nbc bay area news. >> you're pretty surprised that happened that fast, huh? >> i know. at least they're not using the angry birds. >> that would be bad. thank you for joining us. ♪ ♪ [ female announcer ] because you never stop improving your recipe... we never stop improving ours. we've added a touch of philly cream cheese to kraft natural shredded cheese, which adds a touch of creamy to any dish. kraft touch of philly shredded cheese. we're not just making great cheese. we're taking it further. ♪ the following is an address from the president of the united states. [ applause ] >> good evening. in the next few days, the u.s. house of representatives and the senate will be voting on a vital piece of legislation.