i m t.j. holmes bringing you the latest on the massive storm. hurricane irene that could affect about 20% of the population of the united states. here you are getting a look at the path of the storm. the projected path of the storm right now. some 65 million people are being threatened by this storm. it s in some of the largest cities of the country that are under threat of the storm. we are talking about new york, washington d.c., baltimore, boston, philadelphia. all areas not accustomed, necessarily, to being ready for hurricanes. hurricane irene is now a category one storm. it is on the north/northeastern path. it has been downgraded to a category one storm, but do not let that fool you. this is still a massive and powerful storm which is on the higher end of the category one strength. it did weaken overnight. it weakened somewhat overnight. still has sustained winds that are around 90 miles an hour. that is on the higher end of a category one storm. you have hurricane war
4,000 local post offices around the country. more than one in ten of its retail outlets. the possible closures are a response to continuing budget woes that have caused the agency to suspend payments to pension funds and eliminate bonuses to workers. in las vegas a hang up in congress has halted construction on a new control tower at the airport. dozens of construction workers are out of work because republican house members refuse to fund the faa project. actually, the faa budget, workers were told not to show up for work yesterday to finish the new air traffic control tower and now tax footers will foot the $8700 bill for every day the project is delayed. there are other projects around the country as well. the recession has caused a historic wealth gap between whites and minorities. the greatest in a quarter century. with hispanic families suffering the largest single decline. according to the new study based on census data, hispanic household wealth fell by 66%
the country. more than one in ten of its retail outlets. the possible closures are a response to continuing budget woes that have caused the agency to suspend payments to pension funds and eliminate bonuses to workers. in las vegas a hang up in congress has halted construction on a new control tower at the airport. dozens of construction workers are out of work because republican house members refuse to fund the faa project. actually, the faa budget, workers were told not to show up for work yesterday to finish the new air traffic control tower and now tax footers will foot the $8700 bill for every day the project is delayed. there are other projects around the country as well. the recession has caused a historic wealth gap between whites and minorities. the greatest in a quarter century. with hispanic families suffering the largest single decline. according to the new study based on census data, hispanic household wealth fell by 66% from 2005 to 2009, while black
and water tries to come out they battle creating a muddy mess. look at the debris from these hillsides. two to three inches of rain. mountainsides could get eight inches of rain. that s the mother lode storm coming in tonight moving into l.a. and orange counties. here s the pacific. it s nasty. we have about five to six footers out there. it s also eroding away at the beaches. a lot of seaweed up here and whatever can blow in. a report about an hour ago of fishing vessel where they had to go a water rescue on the beach in santa barbara. the mountains are getting clocked. the sierra has had four to five feet of snow. nearby ventura county mountains not far from los angeles up above 5,000 feet. a report of 13 inches of snow. just a really bad day here. we re still concerned with flash flooding. maybe some mud slides. most of this will be backing off tonight. by tomorrow a much better day in l.a. and up here in santa barbara. back to you. maybe a beach day. here s hoping. thank you very
we are talking 12 to 14 foot waves that will crash against the sea wall here. that will break up a lot of this ice. lake shore drive, maybe besides the magnificent mile and michigan avenue, the most known boulevard here could be under water and 25 footers out there in lake michigan will cause problems. blizzard warning in effect. 1967 is the landmark year everyone in chicago remembers. that was the historic snowfall. 23 inches fell and crippled the city. this one is likely going to rival that if not best it. you remember in 1979 another epic snowstorm here in chicago. the mayor was out and mayor burns took over on the platform of snow removal. they have 274 plows that could take over this city. they could put another 200 plows on garbage trucks. we are talking roughly 500 vehicles to take care of the roads here. it s discouraging.