mary, thanks. this is cnn s breaking news coverage of hurricane irene. i m martin savidge at the cnn world headquarters in atlanta. i m keira phillips. thanks for staying with us for the hurricane coverage. a massive category 1 storm is what we re talking about, slowly churning up the east coast. it it s large, dangerous and relent areless. at least nine deaths are now blamed on this hurricane, more than 1 million customers have lost power. right now irene is closing in on ocean city, maryland. like every other beach resort along the mid-atlantic, it is just about deserted. winds have decreased slightly to 80 miles an hour but it remains a hurricane as it it pushes north toward new york. irene is especially dangerous because it s moving slowly. we ve talked about this all morning, all afternoon. it s almost certain to create a tripling storm surge. as you just heard mary mention, new york transit officials earlier today shut down the city s mass transportation system