NYC appears to escape the worst as Irene roars in
Under its first hurricane warning in a quarter-century, the nation’s largest city had taken extensive precautions leading to an unprecedented shutdown of the city. Photo source: ©© Eguchishintaro
Excerpts;
Seawater surged into the streets of Manhattan on Sunday, but the New York city appeared to escape the worst fears of urban disaster.
Under its first hurricane warning in a quarter-century, the nation’s largest city had taken extensive precautions leading to an unprecedented shutdown of the city. There were sandbags on Wall Street, tarps over subway grates and plywood on storefront windows. The subway stopped rolling.
A storm surge of 3 1/2 feet was recorded in New York Harbor, and water pressed into Manhattan from three sides, the harbor, the Hudson River and the East River.
Across the Eastern Seaboard, at least 2.3 million people were under orders to move to somewhere safer, experts said that probably no other hurricane in American history had threatened as many people…
