new year s eve, there were multiple reports of drones flown in and around casino properties on the las vegas strip. the nypd saying it will take down any unauthorized drones. if you do fly one, there is a good chance you re going to end up getting arrested. reporter: and tom, the crowds already pouring in, and you can see this blocker truck stopping traffic. authorities say there s no credible threat to the festivities, but they re warning everyone to be vigilant. tom? erielle reshef along with our team there in times square. erielle, thank you. we do move on now to the deadly lion attack at a zoological park in north carolina. authorities investigating how a male lion escaped a locked area, killing a 22-year-old intern cleaning part of the facility. the victim s family says she was following her passion. abc s stephanie ramos is there. reporter: tonight, an investigation into how a lion was able to escape a locked enclosure at this conservatory center in north carolina and k
half drive. we are starting to see hotels fill up along the gulf coast. a noncasino hotel 1500 a night for one of the casino properties. how does it compare to past super bowls? very similar. we see prices go up from 200 to 400 percent for super bowl weekend. the thing that is different about new orleans is they don t have as many hotel rooms. it no offense to indianapolis but indianapolis in february. and you have mardi gras right on the heels of super bowl. people may be taking part in those if he istities. how do you get around when you get there? traffic will be a mess. it is normally bad and this weekend will be three times as bad. so everyone in the area recommends not renting a car if you don t have to. it s not expensive. only about 25 a day.
hurricane irene is driving to the coast today with 110-mile-an-hour winds. the storm will go on a climb up the east coast impacting, perhaps, one-fifth of the nation s population. north carolina s outer banks will feel irene s winds by nightfall. the full fury will bear down by saturday evening. the window for preparation is quickly closing. if you are in the projected path of the storm, please listen to your state or local officials. please listen to emergency radio or television. if you are told to evacuate, please do so. irene could make a direct hit on new york city. already the mayor has ordered several hospitals and nursing homes to move patients to higher ground. a broader evacuation may come later today. this animation shows irene s surge which could overwhelm manhattan s subway and tunnel systems. what is your biggest concern? the new yorker. why? because they don t listen. you can always tell a new yorker, but you cannot tell them very much. president
residents are feeling the effect of near record flooding already right now. elizabeth prann is live in tunica, mississippi, to show us amazing pictures. reporter: we re downstream from memphis, on one of the in front of one of the nine casino properties here in tunica that brings in millions of dollars of revenue for the state. it looks like this. i want to talk to you about the building behind me. you can see the lobby is totally underwater. talk about the design of the building because the gaming, levels are both sides, they re on barges. they are designed to withstand 48 feet of water. it was all designed part of the 100-year flood plan. we spoke with one of the tourism officials here. he said the problem is once it starts to get closer to 48 feet, it will really start to impede structural integrity of the buildings. we start to see the clean-up efforts take longer than just three to six weeks.