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| Hurricane Irene hit New York |
New York City who normally frenetic now deserted. Roads and bridges was almost empty. Broadway shows were canceled. Offices closed and subway passengers scurrying to catch their last trains. More than 370 thousand New York residents have been asked to evacuate out of town - the first time this has happened in the history of this metropolis city.
The city government has asked residents not to wait until the last minute, and offers transportation to transport them to get out of dangerous areas. Hospitals and orphanages have to evacuate since Thursday.
This was the first New York subway system shut down all those natural disasters.
A number of landmarks in New York are in evacuation zones, including ferry boats used to transport tourists to the Statue of Liberty. Development projects were stopped throughout the city, and workers at the World Trade Center area unload their heavy equipment.
On Wall Street, sandbags placed around the entrance to the subway near the East River, which is expected to overflow so hurricane approaching New York.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg warned residents who decided to stay, that the elevators in public apartments will be stopped in operation. Something similar will be done in other high buildings, to prevent the people trapped inside if the power failure. The biggest electric company in town said they would probably turn off the electricity to their customers 6500 in Lower Manhattan and Wall Street if the flood so deteriorated.
Subway system will not open until at least next Monday, after the flood is pumped out. Even when not flooded, 49 to 57 million liters of water must be regularly pumped out of the halls of the subway.
New York subway transports an average of about 5 million passengers each weekday.
Five airports in New York City area were also closed on Saturday afternoon local time for all domestic and international flight arrival. In fact, three of these airports - Kennedy, LaGuardia, and Newark Liberty - are the most busy airports across the U.S.
In the last 200 years, New York's only major hurricane ever hit a few times.
Source: associated press
