Hurricane effect the Nc's outer bank tourism as well battering the east

BUXTON, N.C. (AP) — Tens of thousands of tourists on North Carolina’s Outer Banks are being told to cut short vacations and flee the exposed strip of coastal villages and beaches as Hurricane Irene approaches.

An evacuation order for Dare County went into effect Thursday morning and officials estimated up to 150,000 tourists would be leaving. Authorities concerned about traffic closed schools in Dare and a neighboring county on what was to be the first day of the academic year.

Some visitors left Wednesday night to avoid traffic on the main road that cuts through many communities. As of early Thursday there was no crush of traffic, but many expected that could change.

Brandon Shirley, of Atlantic Beach, sits on his porch, Friday, August 26, 2011 as rain bands start to move through Atlantic Beach, North Carolina. Hurricane Irene is expected to make landfall on the North

WILMINGTON, N.C. - The first punch from Hurricane Irene landed here Friday, foreshadowing with brutal authority what is to come as this vast storm, its most forceful winds stretching outward for 90 miles, churned north toward New York City.

Mandatory evacuations were ordered all along the Eastern seaboard as far north as the New Jersey shore and parts of New York City. Roads and highways were filled with caravans of ousted vacationers and homeowners, many fleeing under sunlit skies in anticipation of torrential rains, dangerous tidal surges and the likelihood of days without power.With an estimated 55 million people in the path of a storm the size of California, the East Coast's major cities prepared for the worst. Hurricane watches were posted and states of emergency declared for North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and New England.

Amtrak canceled train service for the weekend, and airlines began canceling flights, urging travelers to stay home. For the first time, New York City planned to shut down its entire mass transit and subway system - the world's largest - at noon today. New Jersey Transit was set to suspend service then, too.

Although it slowed a bit during the day - sustained winds were about 100 mph - the unusually wide, wet and slow-moving Category 2 hurricane began to clip this coastal town with tropical storm-force winds in the late afternoon.

By early today, Hurricane Irene's eye should be about 66 miles from Cape Fear, N.C. Winds along the North Carolina coast will most likely hit 98 mph, with gusts of as much as 132 mph by this morning, according to the National Weather Service.