• Entire public tranport system as well as five main New York City airports on lockdown from midday
• Experts say biggest worry are the storm surges of up to 11 feet that could hit the city
  
• President declares federal emergency for New York state and warns U.S. is about to experience 'historic hurricane'
• Mayor Bloomberg tells people in evacuation zones to get out as early as possible
  
• States of emergency declared in six states - New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina and Delaware

New York City today prepares to go into an unprecedented lockdown as Hurricane Irene roars its way northwards up the East Coast.

The Carolinas were lashed with ferocious winds and rain throughout the night, leaving a trail of destruction as forecasters reiterated calls for New Yorkers to brace themselves for the hurricane's arrival.

Although Irene's strength waned last night, experts warned that the hurricane is still a Category 2 and could wreak havoc when it hits New York because of storm surges pushing seawater ashore and heavy rainfall causing flooding.

Public transport in the city will be completely shut down at midday, with the subway, buses and MTA trains all ceasing operations. The five main airports in New York will also be closed to arriving passenger flights from noon affecting hundreds of thousands of peoples' journeys.

More than 2 million people across the Eastern Seaboard have been told to move to safer places,with hurricane warnings from North Carolina in the South all the way to Massachusetts in the North. It is the first hurricane warning issued for New York City in more than two decades.

Sustained wind strength within the storm is till 100mph, with the hurricane still expected to cause strom surges of up to five feet even if the wind speed drops to around 80mph over the weekend. That could cause flooding in Downtown Manhattan and the at-risk areas ordered to be evacuated by Governor Cuomuo.

Barriers: Pedestrians walk past sandbags laid down yesterday, which will be used to control possible floods at downtown Manhattan in New York

Landfall: The hurricane is expected to make landfall at 9am as category two hurricane in North Carolina at 9am EDT before weakening to a category one

 

Shutting up shop: Workers on Broadway in Manhattan begin boarding up windows, including this one outside Uniqlo, in preparation for Hurricane Irene

Gone baby gone: Paramedics and EMTs load an incubator holding a baby into an ambulance on Friday after NYU Langone Medical Center was ordered to evacuate about 400 patients

Major bridges and the state Thruway will close if gusts reach 60mph.

The windows and doors of Broadway stores are being boarded up, with sandbags lining some entrances, as owners attempt to limit damage caused by storm surges which could be as high as 11 feet.

Residents were yesterday stocking up on equipment such as flashlights, batteries and bottled water in case the power outages that are predicted to affect millions materialise.

'The basic issue is, first, New York City has world-class emergency planners. But the city is out of practice when it comes to hurricanes,' homeland security expert Stephen Flynn, and author of 'The Edge of Disaster, told CNN.

'This isn't a mammoth storm in terms of lots of death and destruction, but what it is going to do is be very disruptive, and people have to be in position to camp out in their house.'

This massive, slow-moving hurricane is forecast to soak an already drenched Northeast and may come ashore at a time when tides are unusually high, making storm surge even worse – 4 to 11 feet with waves on top, forecasters say.

Getting out of Dodge: Ralph Lauren, left, and Steven Spielberg, right, were both pictured on Friday boarding helicopters out of New York City

Blinding: A downpour from Hurricane Irene slows traffic in downtown Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, late on Friday

'Water is the No. 1 killer,' retired National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield said on Friday. 'That's going to cause the greatest loss of life.'

MIT meteorology professor Kerry Emanuel said the flooding from Irene could be worse than the 1938 New England hurricane that killed 564 people.

'I think everybody is confident, unfortunately, that this is going to be a bad event from freshwater flooding,' he said.

Forecasters predict Irene will dump six to 10 inches of rain in a swath from North Carolina to New England with some areas getting as much as 15 inches of rain. That's partly because the storm is unusually large and is moving fairly slowly - around 15 mph - allowing it to dump more rain over large areas.

'And all of this rain will come in a short period of time, and that could lead to life-threatening flash floods,' National Hurricane Center meteorologist John Cangialosi said Friday.

Evacuating: New York Police Department officers and NYU Langone Medical Center employee Danny Hernandez help an 83-year-old patient after finding her a cab during rush hour after the hosptial was ordered to to discharge or move about 400 patients

Gasoline supplies are ample, although there were reports of several stations running dry. Analysts do not expect prices for power and gas to rise.

Hundreds of thousands of travellers will have vacation plans changed by Hurricane Irene, meanwhile. Airlines will cancel at least 6,100 flights over the next three days, grounding passengers as the storm sweeps up the East Coast.

If weather forecasters are right, the storm could strike major airports from Washington to Boston, buffeting them with heavy rain and dangerous winds.

The five main New York City-area airports will be closed to arriving flights beginning at noon on Saturday, aviation officials said. The suspension affects John F. Kennedy International, Newark Liberty International, LaGuardia, Stewart International and Teterboro airports. It applies to domestic and international flights.

Chaos: Travellers wait for train announcements at New York's Grand Central Station, as New York ordered residents in low-lying areas to evacuate

Experts spelled out fears of grounded transport, floods in the city and smashed skyscraper windows - as President Barack Obama warned the U.S. is about to experience 'a historic hurricane'.

President Obama has now declared an emergency for New York state, which means the state can receive federal aid to supplement state and local emergency and clean-up assistance.

Mayor Bloomberg warned New Yorkers there will be an unprecedented mandatory evacuation of 'Zone A' coastal areas and rest of the Rockaways in 'Zone B' (scroll down for map) by 5pm Saturday.

'We've never done a mandatory evacuation before in any part of this city,' he said yesterday. 'The sun is shining but don't be misled - there's a very dangerous storm headed in our direction.'

Around 250,000 people will be evacuated from Zone A areas. The city will be able to shelter around 70,000 people and hopes the rest will stay with family and friends in safer areas.

'We're going to get hit with some wind and high water that is going to be very dangerous. It's heading basically directly towards us.'

Almost 100 emergency facilities will be opened in the city this afternoon and bridges will be closed if there is danger of vehicles falling off them.

Mayor Bloomberg urged New Yorkers to stay indoors from Saturday 9pm to Sunday 9pm so they avoid potential injury from glass, trees or debris.

Transport services may not be restored in time for Monday morning, so many employees of businesses may enjoy a long weekend if they cannot get into work after the weekend.

A pedestrian passes next to sandbags used to control possible floods at downtown Manhattan

‘This is very serious - you just can't wait until gale force winds arrive, you have to start your preparations now,' Mayor Bloomberg explained.

'The danger is great - the likelihood of tragedies exists,' he said, warning that if New Yorkers do not follow mandatory evacuation orders, 'people might die'. 'It's a matter of life and death,' he added.

Popular Mechanics magazine has analysed what may happen, and claims 100mph counter-clockwise winds could dump 500 million tons of seawater directly into New York Harbor.

A storm surge could grow up to 15ft high and 2,900 miles of roads in the Brooklyn and Queens regions would be flooded, while the subway would flood in around 40 minutes.

Three tunnels linking Manhattan to New Jersey and New York’s boroughs would also flood, while a million people would lose electricity.

‘We've been very, very lucky because we haven't had that (direct hit),’ Cynthia Rosenzweig, of the NASA Goddard Institute in New York, said. ‘But the potential vulnerability for that is very high.’

Workers would spend weeks pumping water out of transport tunnels and the salt could corrode power lines, transformers and switches on train lines, reported Popular Mechanics.

President Barack Obama addressed the nation yesterday, urging Americans to 'take the storm seriously' and warning it is set to be 'a historic hurricane'.

'You need to listen to your state and local officials,' he said. 'If you're in the way of this hurricane you should be preparing now. If you're instructed to evacuate please do so.'

He said disaster response agencies have millions of litres of water, millions of meals and tens of thousands of cots and blankets - and the Red Cross has begun preparing shelters in North Carolina.

'The more you can do to be prepared now, the quicker we can focus our resources after the storm on those who need them the most,' Mr Obama added.

'One of my greatest nightmares was having a major hurricane go up the whole Northeast Coast,' said Max Mayfield, ex-chief of the National Hurricane Center. 'This is going to have an impact on the United States economy.'