Impact of Hurricane Irene: Known Dead, 2 Million Without Power

Thursday, Hurricane Irene moved northbound across the east coast of the United States after hitting the Bahamas hard.

Hurricane Irene was moving at 115 mph winds today at five o’clock EST, making it a Category 3 Hurricane. A fear going into Thursday was that the path of the storm would move westward enough to threaten the Maryland area, including Washington D.C.

After already seeing the Bahamas lose power, endure flooding, and having multiple buildings damaged, the fears of the American citizens are completely founded.

According to Bill Read of the National Hurricane Center, the storm has the potential to hit New York and the surrounding area at a strength of a Category 2 and with approximately 100 mile per hour winds.

All across the east coast states, heavy rain is expected with as much as ten inches of heavy rain in some areas.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is already getting ready to go to work in the event that major damage is done and people are in need of major help.

Every time we talk about a hurricane in the United States, we look back to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and along the Gulf states. While Hurricane Irene is not expected to be nearly as strong, the fear is always there in the minds of Americans.

Hurricane Irene marches north, leaving at least 8 people dead and close to 2 million without power in the states it has already hit. Tonight it bore down on millions more from the Delmarva peninsula to the Jersey Shore and the New York metropolitan area.

The deaths reported so far included victims of car accidents and falling tree limbs. One man suffered a heart attack as he boarded up his house in North Carolina. Many more -- the precise numbers change -- have been injured as a result of high winds and tornadoes that have reportedly touched down in Virginia, North Carolina, West Virginia, New Jersey, and Delaware.

Nearly 10,000 airline flights have been canceled around the country. Philadelphia's airport, among others, completely shut down operations as of 10:30 p.m., and New York's three major airports said they would as well.