Hurricane Irene: States of Emergency Declared Across East Coast

Hurricane Irene is set to hit the eastern seaboard of the United States, making landfall in North Carolina first and hurricane warnings have been issued for South Carolina to New York. The states of North Carolina up to New York have all declared a state of emergency with North Carolina activating 180 national guard troops and utilizing the state patrol to perform evacuations. North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue has called on President Obama to declare a federal disaster emergency before the storm makes landfall. Maryland has rarely dealt with hurricanes and is concerned that the storm might hit Baltimore which was just hit by an earthquake a couple of days ago. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has advised people not to go to the Jersey Shore this weekend and has asked that the barrier islands voluntarily evacuate. New York has said it is operating its emergency operations center 24 hours a day and is prepared to stop all public transit as needed.