lashing new england with powerful winds and rain. hello again, everyone. i m fredricka whitfield. i m brooke baldwin. let s get you caught up on what we know at this hour on this storm. president obama an hour away from making the statement about the storm. he will be doing so 5:00 eastern from the rose garden. we ll bring it to you live as soon as we see the president. irene continues to lose power since making landfall this morning. floodwaters are receding on new york s long island and downtown manhatt manhattan. evacuation orders for low lying areas including the rockaways were lifted just last hour. residents are venturing out to examine the storm damage. the storm has proven to be fatal. at least 15 people across six separate states were killed during the storm. irene s powerful winds toppled trees, knocked down power lines, damaged homes. early wind damage estimates alone are expected to top more than $1 million. more than 4 million people without power. as hom
so i want people to understand that this is not over. response and recovery efforts will be an ongoing operation. and i urge americans in affected areas to continue to listen for the guidance and direction of their state and local officials. before the storm made landfall, the department of homeland security and fema worked very closely with our state and local partners as well as volunteer organizations to preposition supplies and teams of first responders along the hurricane s projected track. and the american red cross opened shelters in communities across the region. i want to thank those americans for their work over the past several days, which has saved lives and property up and down the east coast. we continue to have search and rescue personnel on alert as well as water, food and other needed resources. and moving forward, fema s working with state and local responders to assess damage and assist in the recovery. i do want to underscore that the impacts of this storm
to countless communities where irene, now a tropical storm, is causing catastrophic flooding this is margaretville, a small village in the catskill mountains, about two and a half hours south of the city. within the past hour president obama addressed the government s response to this natural da disaster. i do want to underscore that power may be out for some time, perhaps days. i want to make sure dhs, fema and other agencies are doing everything in their power to help folks on the ground. reporter: irene is now over central vermont and moving north at 25 miles per hour, it s still got plenty of juice to make life miserable with 50-mile-per-hour winds and torrential rains. some of our best images have come from you, our ireporters. fred moore took this video of irene as it washed over west haven, connecticut. all up and down the coast we are seeing the impact irene has had. more than 15 people have lost their lives in the storm, more than 4 million homes and businesses a
this is hillside new jersey west of newark. there could be power lines in the floodwaters. it s ironic, look at this police car in newark alone six police rescues getting people out of their cars that were stuck in stranded roads because of this water. that s incredible. the force of the water can t be underestimated. it s amazing how it could probably move like that picture demonstrating, moving that park bench. why they call it flash flooding. it s pretty significant. this alone, 6 inches is drown a person. alexandra steele. thanks very much. for now, welcome back. top of the hour and we want to bring you up to date on this tropical storm irene. i m fredericka whitfield. the storm is chaurning over new england and upstate new york pounding the area with wind and rain. it hit little egg inlet in new jersey and weakening to a tropical storm, it hit land at coney island, i rerene s march accompanied by death. 15 people are dead acrond more n 5 million without power
nice to be here with you for the next five hours. tropical storm irene after lashing new york city, irene is dutching heavy, heavy rainfall in parts of upstate new york and also new england. the storm made landfall overnight as a hurricane in two stops, first on the landfall on little egg inlet in new jersey, and then it hit another landfall, coney island, new york. at that time irene had weakened to a tropical storm. on long island, irene s storm surge flooded downtown long beach. some streets in manhattan also flooding, but the water really has started to recede already. it is sweeping up the east coast. irene has killed at least 15 people at last count as it started, as it fist made landfall in north carolina, more than 4 million people as a whole without power. irene moving north now. its biggest threat is inland flo flooding. still the word is caution, and we have cnn crews up and down the east coast for you to bring you up-to-the-minute coverage on tropical storm