The exodus from the North Carolina coast has begun and tonight it is a slow motion, bumper to bumper march inland as tens of thousands heed warnings to get out of the way of Hurricane Irene. 
 
 Gas stations are running out, ATM's are out of cash and one woman was out of a very special night. 
 
 Melissa Cook was supposed to get married this weekend. 
 
 "The TV showed the mandatory evacuation and I burst into tears," Cook said. "Everything I had planned and dreamed about." 
 
 Hurricane Irene's wave of disappointment also affected beach goers in South Carolina. Police closed the beaches to swimming after six swimmers were rescued from rip currents caused by the massive storm. 
 
 As Irene -- a Category 3 hurricane with 115 mph winds -- blasted through the Bahamas, the U.S. began bracing for the storm's worst. 
 
 To See Irene's Expected Path Over East Coast, Click Here 
 
 Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, under President Obama's direction, contacted East Coast mayors and governors potentially in Irene's path. Later, she and FEMA director Craig Fugate later held a conference call with state, local, and tribal officials on planning for the storm. 
 
 "Given the unpredictability of these storms, we are currently planning for several scenarios, including potential impacts to major metro areas and critical infrastructure," Napolitano said in a Department of Homeland Security news release. 
 
 Evacuation orders were issued along the coast of North Carolina today in Dare, Currituck and Cateret counties. There are 180,000 people just in Dare County and another 150,000 people were told to get out of Ocean City, Md. 
 
 "This is a very, very serious situation," said Dorothy Toolan, public information officer for Dare County, N.C. "We have not seen anything like this in the lifetimes of most our residents...Once the storm hits it will be very difficult to respond to distress calls." 
 
 Not everyone was heading out of town. The parking lot of a Wal-Mart in Moorehead City in Cateret County was filled with people stocking up on supplies to ride out the storm. 
 
 "I've lived through hurricanes all my life, and I've only run from one," said a man who identified himself simply as George. "Unless it's a (category) 4 or 5 coming straight at me, I'm not leaving." 
 
 "I'm going to sit at home, watch television and play on my computer. I'm not worried about this thing," George said. 
 
 In Florida, at least 8 people were hurt after a wave knocked them over on the jerry they were on off Boynton Beach Inlet, The Associated Press reported. 
 
 Others were taking no chances. A state of emergency was declared in Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. 
 
 New York City's Mayor Michael Bloomberg said police are deploying more than 80 boats around the city as well as several helicopters to prepare for emergencies. City hospitals have tested their emergency generators, and the city's airports are stockpiling diapers, cots, blankets, pillow and bottles of water. 
 
 Fearing Irene's wrath, Amtrak announced it is canceling all train service south of Washington D.C. for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 
 
 Irene is traveling at 12 mph, making it a slow moving storm which will allow it to hover over an area and area to dump rain and batter it with ferocious winds for an expended period. ||||| Separately, several cities, including Stamford, Conn., and Islip, N.Y., also ordered residents out of flood-prone areas. 
 
 “As conditions continue to deteriorate we’re seeing more people," with rain and increasing winds, she told NBC News. 
 
 Five shelters were open in Atlantic County for those five affected municipalities that are home to some 66,000 people, according to census data, said Linda Gilmore, a county spokeswoman. One of the shelters was already full. 
 
 Delaware Gov. Jack Markell ordered a mandatory evacuation of an estimated 50,000 people in coastal communities. In New Jersey, mandatory evacuations were ordered for Sandy Hook south to Cape May, an area that includes the casinos in Atlantic City and popular beach resorts. 
 
 The city opened 65 shelters in public schools on Sunday morning and said more could be opened. Last year, the mayor called for an evacuation in anticipation of Tropical Storm Irene, which officials called unprecedented. 
 
 “This evacuation is mandatory. It is for your own safety,” Bloomberg said. 
 
 New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered mandatory evacuations (.PDF) of 375,000 people from low-lying areas in New York City, signifying officials' growing concern about the severity of the storm and its impact on the five boroughs. About 45,000 of those were people living in public housing, where the heat, hot water and elevator services will be turned off, Bloomberg said, according to NBCNewYork.com . 
 
 Mandatory evacuations Forecasters said Sandy could make U.S. landfall anywhere between Maryland and southern New England. Some computer models show a likely landfall between Delaware and the New York/New Jersey area, where the storm surge could reach from 6 feet to 11 feet. 
 
 "The combination of an extremely dangerous storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters," the National Hurricane Center said in its advisory. 
 
 A late Sunday advisory from the National Hurricane Center said Sandy was about 290 miles east of Cape Hatteras, N.C., and 470 miles south-southeast of New York City. It was moving northeast at 14 mph. 
 
 “Sandy is a large hurricane and large systems pose multiple hazards for more people than … smaller systems of comparable intensity,” National Hurricane Center Director Rick Knabb said Sunday. “The large size of the system is why it is so capable of producing a life threatening storm surge, with that threat being applicable to many areas.” 
 
 In anticipation of widespread damage and vast power outages, states of emergency were declared in nine states from North Carolina to Maine, as well as in Washington, D.C., as Sandy made its way north after killing at least 65 people in the Caribbean. 
 
 Workers on Sunday night began shutting down New York City's subway, bus and commuter railroads , as ordered by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. In New Jersey, bus, rail and light rail services were gradually shut down starting Sunday afternoon. 
 
 "The size of this alone, affecting a heavily populated area, is going to be history making," said Jeff Masters, a hurricane specialist who writes a blog posted on the Weather Underground . 
 
 Sandy could be the largest storm ever to hit the United States, according to NOAA's website . 
 
 "We're looking at impact of greater than 50 to 60 million people," said Louis Uccellini, head of environmental prediction for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). 
 
 Forecasters said Sandy has the ingredients to transform into a "super storm" as it merges with an Arctic jet stream, which could make the storm unlike anything seen over the eastern United States in decades. The storm is projected to make landfall late Monday . 
 
 Meanwhile, U.S. stock exchanges said they would not be trading on Monday and possibly Tuesday. In Washington, D.C., federal offices will remain closed Monday, and federal courts in affected areas sent out releases saying they, too, would be shuttered in anticipation of the historic storm. 
 
 A day before the storm was scheduled to make landfall, state and local officials issued mandatory evacuation orders for hundreds of thousands of residents in low-lying areas and began the slow, grinding process of shutting down New York City’s massive transit system. 
 
 Hurricane Sandy lumbered toward the East Coast early Monday, leaving potentially tens of millions of residents with only hours to prepare for its onslaught of punishing wind, torrential rains and, at higher elevations, heavy snow. 
 
 Tips on preparing for Sandy 
 
 Not everyone was heeding the evacuation orders. Peter Mercatanti, 26, who lives on Deauville Beach in Mantoloking, N.J., said Sunday afternoon that he had kayaks ready and had packed wet suits, waterproof book bags, flares, glow sticks, flashlights, propane and food to bear out the storm. 
 
 He had stocked sandbags around his home and put up shelter blinds on all of the windows and the doors. But ocean water was hitting his fence and winds that he estimated to be about 25 to 30 miles an hour could be heard screaming on the beach. 
 
 “I just wanted to be here for it, see it, experience it, and try to take care of my house as much as possible,” Mercatanti, a chief of operations for a gym chain, told NBC News by telephone. 
 
 Though he is "extremely worried," he won't leave the island but will head to a friend's house nearby if need be. 
 
 Peter Mercatanti won't leave his house on Deauville Beach in Mantoloking, N.J., saying he wants to home to experience the storm and try to take care of his house. "I can be sustainable and floating," he said. He took this image around 6 p.m. ET on Sunday. 
 
 "I’ve pretty much kind of prepared for every possible situation," he said. "I can be sustainable and floating." 
 
 The Coast Guard also rescued a surfer near Sea Bright, N.J., where authorities have issued mandatory evacuations. 
 
 "We can't stress enough to stay clear of beaches," said Chief Petty Officer Rodger Krass, the command duty officer in the New York sector, said in a statement. "Now is not the time to head out onto the water to go surfing as sea conditions are extremely dangerous and are continuing to worsen as Hurricane Sandy approaches shore." 
 
 President Barack Obama on Sunday visited the National Response Coordination Center at FEMA Headquarters, where the deployment of federal resources and teams to states up and down the East Coast will be coordinated, the White House said. 
 
 Calling it a "very serious storm event," he said: "This is going to affect a big swath of the country and because it's slow moving, it could be a number of days until people get power back." 
 
 FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate said earlier Sunday that the "time for preparing and talking is about over." 
 
 "People need to be acting now particularly as this storm … is becoming a rather substantial risk to storm surge," he added. The hurricane is "going to produce very high potential life threatening storm surge … that may require additional evacuations today." 
 
 Coastal flooding posed a major threat, particularly in low-lying areas like New York City, the global financial nerve center, and Alexandria, Va., across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. Flooding also could occur in parts of North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New York, the National Hurricane Center said. 
 
 But Fugate warned that "this is not a coastal threat alone" and that the impact will be felt "well inland." 
 
 Share your images of Hurricane Sandy preparations 
 
 Some areas could experience up to a foot of rain, while others, such as West Virginia, Virginia and the area around the North Carolina-Tennessee border, could get from 1 to 3 feet of snow. 
 
 Sandy's winds were not overwhelming for a hurricane -- sustained near 75 mph Sunday afternoon with higher gusts. But its width is exceptional. Hurricane force winds extended up to 175 miles from its center while its lesser tropical storm-force winds reached across 520 miles. 
 
 Officials urged residents to stock up on emergency supplies, but items like lanterns, generators, propane, rain boots and batteries were hard to find at stores throughout the region. Grocery stores also reported runs on bread, bottled water and canned foods. 
 
 Long lines also were reported at gas stations that remained open. 
 
 Sandy also was disrupting travel in the region. More than 6,800 flights have been canceled so far, according to FlightAware.com, a flight tracking website. Rail traffic also was impacted, with Amtrak canceling all of its northeast corridor service in addition to some other lines it operates in the region. 
 
 Some local governments, including New York City and Washington, D.C., announced schools would be closed on Monday and Tuesday. Federal government offices in Washington, D.C., will also be closed Monday and non-emergency employees there as well as in Connecticut and Massachusetts have been told not to come to work. 
 
 The Broadway League said it was calling off all Broadway performances on Sunday and Monday evenings. 
 
 Workers also halted construction on Saturday at the World Trade Center, where efforts to secure the site were ongoing, Cuomo said in a statement. All construction materials have been tied down and nailed to concrete floors, or secured with heavy chains, and more than 1,000 sandbags had been placed around low-lying areas next to Battery Park and the Hudson River. 
 
 "I've directed the Port Authority to ensure that the World Trade Center site and the Memorial are protected from flooding and high winds due to Hurricane Sandy," Cuomo said. "The World Trade Center is being built well above and beyond normal flood protection standards; however we must take every precaution to ensure the site is protected from a potentially historic storm." 
 
 Election issues 
 
 Coming in the hectic run-up to the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 6, the storm presented a challenge to the campaigns of Obama and his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney. 
 
 Obama canceled campaign stops in Virginia and Colorado early next week because of the hurricane and was planning to remain at the White House, his spokesman said Saturday. 
 
 Romney rescheduled his campaign events for Virginia on Sunday and headed to Ohio instead. 
 
 Obama said officials did not expect the storm to impact voting, "but we're obviously going to have a look." Meantime, Maryland’s governor also announced that early voting in the state would be canceled Monday, so as not to jeopardize the safety of voters, NBC Washington reported. 
 
 Sandy is set to deliver potential election surprise 
 
 Power outages caused by the storm, expected to affect millions or residents and businesses, could continue through the election, NBC meteorologist Bill Karins warned. Some 3,000 people were without power in Virginia, where it was raining Sunday and up to 200 people were going to be evacuated, said Gov. Robert McDonnell. 
 
 "After the storm hits, expect the cleanup and power outage restoration to continue right up through Election Day," Karins said. "Serious and life-threatening weather conditions are expected from Outer Banks to New England." 
 
 Although Sandy is not forecast to be as strong as other recent storms to hit the Northeast -- such as Hurricane Irene in August 2011, which left $4 billion in damage -- it holds the potential to cause significant damage because it will be moving slowly. 
 
 Some experts predict at least $1 billion in damage in the United States. 
 
 Insurers prepare for impact of Hurricane Sandy ||||| Hurricane Sandy bore down on the Eastern Seaboard's largest cities Monday, forcing the shutdown of mass transit, schools and financial markets, sending coastal residents fleeing, and threatening a dangerous mix of high winds, soaking rain and a surging wall of water up to 11 feet tall. 
 
 Sandbags line the entrance of a building as people walk by near the Hudson River water front, Sunday, Oct. 28, 2012, in Hoboken, N.J. Tens of thousands of people were ordered to evacuate coastal areas... (Associated Press) 
 
 Sarah Korman and Michael Cunba, who evacuated their home in Long Beach, N.Y., bring their dogs Jade, left, and Ava to a pet shelter at Mitchell Park's Field House, run by the Nassau County Office of Emergency... (Associated Press) 
 
 People venture out during the strong winds and high surf of the Atlantic Ocean before the arrival of Hurricane Sandy on Sunday, Oct., 28, 2012, in Long Beach, N.Y. (AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek) (Associated Press) 
 
 A maintenance worker named Vitto attaches plywood to a sidewalk grate at the 2 Broadway building of Lower Manhattan in New York, Sunday, Oct. 28, 2012, as a child walks along the temporary structure.... (Associated Press) 
 
 Shoppers pass an empty egg section of a Food Emporium supermarket in the West Village in the wake of the storm, Sunday, Oct. 28, 2012, in New York. Tens of thousands of people were ordered to evacuate... (Associated Press) 
 
 Teresa Perez of Buxton, N.C., runs off a sand dune near Cape Hatteras Lighthouse on Hatteras Island Sunday, Oct. 28, 2012, as Hurricane Sandy works its way north, battering the U.S. East Coast. (AP Photo/The... (Associated Press) 
 
 This NOAA satellite image taken Sunday, Oct. 28, 2012 shows Hurricane Sandy off the Mid Atlantic coastline moving toward the north with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph. Tens of thousands of people were... (Associated Press) 
 
 Michael Bolick works on the roof of his friend Chris Villarreal's house Sunday, Oct. 28, 2012, in Sunset Park, N.C. Forecasters say Hurricane Sandy is a couple of hundred miles off the North Carolina... (Associated Press) 
 
 Mark Palazzolo, owner of a bait and tackle shop on the Manasquan Inlet in Point Pleasant Beach, N.J., sits next to wood he has used to board up his business in previous major storms, Sunday, Oct. 28,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Graphic shows the population density of areas projected to get more than two inches of rain from the superstorm (Associated Press) 
 
 This satellite image from the National Hurricane Center in Miami shows Sandy, at 10:03 a.m., Sunday, Oct. 28, 2012. Hurricane Sandy was headed north from the Caribbean, where it left nearly five dozen... (Associated Press) 
 
 Mayor Michael Bloomberg speaks to the media at Seward Park High School on the lower east side, the site of one of many public shelters set up in preparation of the storm, Sunday, Oct. 28, 2012, in New... (Associated Press) 
 
 Oswaldo Falleres puts tape on the window of a restaurant in preparation for the arrival of superstorm Sandy, Sunday, Oct. 28, 2012, in Hoboken, N.J. Tens of thousands of people were ordered to evacuate... (Associated Press) 
 
 Sandy strengthened before dawn and stayed on a predicted path toward Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York _ putting it on a collision course with two other weather systems that would create a superstorm with the potential for havoc over 800 miles from the East Coast to the Great Lakes. About 2 to 3 feet of snow were even forecast for mountainous parts of West Virginia. 
 
 The tempest could endanger up to 50 million people for days. 
 
 Many workers planned to stay home Monday as subways, buses and trains shut down across the region under the threat of flooding that could inundate tracks and tunnels. Airports also closed, and authorities warned that the time for evacuation was running out or already past. Utilities brought in extra crews, anticipating widespread power failures. 
 
 The center of the storm was positioned to come ashore Monday night in New Jersey, meaning the worst of the surge could be in the northern part of that state and in New York City and on Long Island. Higher tides brought by a full moon compounded the threat to the metropolitan area of about 20 million people. 
 
 "This is the worst-case scenario," said Louis Uccellini, environmental prediction chief for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 
 
 As rain from the leading edges began to fall over the Northeast on Sunday, hundreds of thousands of people from Maryland to Connecticut were ordered to leave low-lying coastal areas, including 375,000 in lower Manhattan and other parts of New York City, 50,000 in Delaware and 30,000 in Atlantic City, N.J., where the city's 12 casinos shut down for only the fourth time ever. 
 
 "I think this one's going to do us in," said Mark Palazzolo, who boarded up his bait-and-tackle shop in Point Pleasant Beach, N.J., with the same wood he used in past storms, crossing out the names of Hurricanes Isaac and Irene and spray-painting "Sandy" next to them. "I got a call from a friend of mine from Florida last night who said, `Mark, get out! If it's not the storm, it'll be the aftermath. People are going to be fighting in the streets over gasoline and food.'" 
 
 President Barack Obama declared emergencies in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, authorizing federal relief work to begin well ahead of time. He promised the government would "respond big and respond fast" after the storm hits. 
 
 "My message to the governors as well as to the mayors is anything they need, we will be there, and we will cut through red tape," Obama said. "We are not going to get bogged down with a lot of rules." 
 
 Authorities warned that New York could get hit with a surge of seawater that could swamp parts of lower Manhattan, flood subway tunnels and cripple the network of electrical and communications lines that are vital to the nation's financial center. 
 
 Major U.S. financial markets, including the New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq and CME Group in Chicago, planned a rare shutdown Monday. The NYSE closed on Sept. 27, 1985, for Hurricane Gloria. The United Nations also shut down and canceled all meetings at its New York headquarters. 
 
 New York called off school Monday for the city's 1.1 million students and announced it would suspend all train, bus and subway service Sunday night. More than 5 million riders a day depend on the transit system. 
 
 "If you don't evacuate, you are not only endangering your life, you are also endangering the lives of the first responders who are going in to rescue you," Mayor Michael Bloomberg warned. "This is a serious and dangerous storm." 
 
 New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was typically blunt: "Don't be stupid. Get out." 
 
 Wary of being seen as putting their political pursuits ahead of public safety, Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney reshuffled campaign plans as the storm approached. 
 
 In Virginia, one of the most competitive states, election officials eased absentee voting requirements for those affected by the storm. Early voting was canceled Monday in Maryland and the District of Columbia. 
 
 Sandy, a Category 1 hurricane with sustained winds of 85 mph early Monday, was blamed for 65 deaths in the Caribbean before it began traveling northward, parallel to the Eastern Seaboard. As of 5 a.m. Monday, it was centered about 385 miles south-southeast of New York City, moving to the north at 15 mph, with hurricane-force winds extending an unusual 175 miles from its center. 
 
 Gale-force winds blew overnight over coastal North Carolina, southeastern Virginia, the Delmarva Peninsula and coastal New Jersey. 
 
 Sandy was expected to hook inland Monday, colliding with a wintry storm moving in from the west and cold air streaming down from the Arctic, and then cut across into Pennsylvania and travel up through New York state. 
 
 Forecasters said the combination could bring close to a foot of rain in places, a potentially lethal storm surge of 4 to 11 feet across much of the region, and punishing winds that could cause widespread power outages that last for days. The storm could also dump up to 2 feet of snow in Kentucky, North Carolina and West Virginia. 
 
 Airlines canceled nearly 7,500 flights and Amtrak began suspending train service across the Northeast. New York, Philadelphia, Washington and Baltimore moved to shut down their subways, buses and trains. Those cities shut down their schools, as did Boston. Non-essential government offices closed in the nation's capital. 
 
 Pennsylvania's largest utilities brought in hundreds of line and tree-trimming crews in anticipation of several days of power failures or intentional shutdowns in areas with heavy flooding. 
 
 In New Jersey, where utilities were widely criticized last year for slow responses after the remnants of storms Irene and Lee, authorities promised a better performance. More than 5,000 homes and businesses already were without electricity early Monday, mainly in Ocean and Cumberland counties. 
 
 About 90 miles off the coast of Cape Hatteras, N.C., 17 people abandoned a replica of the tall ship made famous in the film "Mutiny on the Bounty" after the vessel began taking on water, said Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class David Weydert. 
 
 The Coast Guard is trying to determine whether to use cutters or helicopters to rescue the crew, who are in two lifeboats and are wearing survival suits and life jackets, he added. 
 
 On Sunday evening in Rehoboth, Del., only a few cars rolled along Route 1, an artery that is often bumper-to-bumper in summer. 
 
 "We were told to get the heck out. I was going to stay, but it's better to be safe than sorry," said Hugh Phillips, who was one of the first in line when a Red Cross shelter opened Sunday afternoon in neighboring Lewes. 
 
 Despite the dire warnings, some refused to budge. 
 
 Jonas Clark of Manchester Township, N.J. _ right in Sandy's projected path _ stood outside a convenience store, calmly sipping a coffee and wondering why people were working themselves "into a tizzy." 
 
 "I've seen a lot of major storms in my time, and there's nothing you can do but take reasonable precautions and ride out things the best you can," said Clark, 73. 
 
 The storm threatened to drench areas still recovering from last year's deluges. 
 
 In Pompton Lakes, N.J., where record flooding inundated homes a year ago, some residents were already putting belongings out near the curb in advance of the storm. 
 
 "They're figuring, divide and conquer," said resident Kevin Gogots. "They'll take the stuff they want to save and put the rest out. Of course, if the street floods again, we'll just have things floating around." 
 
 ___ 
 
 Breed reported from Raleigh, N.C.; Contributing to this report were AP Science Writer Seth Borenstein in Washington; Katie Zezima in Atlantic City, N.J.; David Porter in Pompton Lakes, N.J.; Wayne Parry in Point Pleasant Beach, N.J.; and David Dishneau in Delaware. ||||| As massive Hurricane Irene advanced toward the Eastern Seaboard with 115-mph winds, officials issued a hurricane warning for the entire North Carolina coast to the Virginia border, New York ordered low-lying hospitals and nursing homes to evacuate, and at least seven states declared emergencies.If Irene follows its current projected path, it will make landfall along North Carolina's Outer Banks on Saturday. The Category 3 storm withdrew from the Bahamas late Thursday, traveling north at 14 mph, the National Hurricane Center said.Although North Carolina will take the first blow, "The rest of the Eastern Seaboard is well within the path of this storm," National Hurricane Center Director Bill Read said.North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Delaware and Connecticut declared states of emergency."This could be a 100-year event," New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said.runtime:topic id="PLGEO100100804000000">New York City officials said they might have to suspend all mass transit beginning Saturday.In addition to ordering nursing homes and hospitals in low-lying coastal areas to evacuate ahead of possible flooding, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg advised residents to stay out of parks."Because of the high winds that will accompany the storm, we are also urging all New Yorkers, for their own safety, to stay out of parks, where the high winds will increase the danger of downed trees and limbs," Bloomberg said. "And incidentally, it's a good idea to stay out of your own backyard if you have trees there."Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial postponed it indefinitely.The hurricane center warned of tidal surges 5 to 10 feet high in North Carolina, accompanied by "destructive and life-threatening waves." Projections show Irene making landfall between Morehead City, N.C., and Cape Hatteras before pushing north. Irene could inundate the state's coastal areas with 6 to 10 inches of rain, and up to 15 inches in some locations, forecasters said.More than 50 million people live in the projected path of the storm. Some forecasters have said Irene has an outside chance of growing into a Category 4 storm, with sustained winds topping 130 mph. But current forecasts predict it will diminish to Category 2 after pummeling North Carolina, with sustained winds up to 110 mph as it plows into Virginia, Maryland and Delaware.North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue declared an emergency in all counties east of Interstate 95, about a quarter of the state, and officials set up emergency shelters inland. President Obama declared North Carolina an emergency too, expediting federal help.The Federal Emergency Management Agency established a depot for food, water, generators, baby formula and other emergency supplies at Ft. Bragg, N.C., as well as at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey and Westover Air Reserve Base in Massachusetts.Cars loaded with coolers and surfboards fled the Outer Banks on Thursday, as people heeded orders to leave the exposed barrier islands. Tourists' vehicles clogged the main highway north to Virginia, and traffic on roads leading inland grew heavier as the day wore on.Up to 200,000 tourists and residents are affected by evacuation orders in North Carolina alone, with states to the north rushing to prepare their own evacuation plans. Forecasters said Irene was so big and powerful that severe road flooding and widespread electrical outages were likely, especially in the Northeast, where the ground is saturated from recent rains."This is a very dangerous storm," said Dorothy Toolan of the Dare County Emergency Management office in Manteo, N.C., across the Roanoke Sound from Nags Head . "People really need to take this seriously."Irene would be the first hurricane to hit the U.S. mainland since Ike devastated the Texas coast in 2008.Facing a two-hour delay on the highway north to their home in Virginia, sisters Susan Wright and Beth Edwards decided to stick around and enjoy a final day in the sun and sand in Nags Head — complete with mimosa cocktails. They had planned a weeklong vacation with their husbands and other friends and family at a $4,000-a-week beach house, only to be hit with a mandatory evacuation order. ||||| Hurricane Irene is forecast to turn north into the U.S. on a path similar to 1985’s Hurricane Gloria, threatening as much as $13.9 billion in insured losses and possibly forcing the evacuation of parts of New York City, officials and forecasters said. 
 
 Mayor Michael Bloomberg said a decision on evacuations would be made tomorrow for residents in areas including Coney Island, Battery Park City and parts of Staten Island. 
 
 Irene, a Category 3 major hurricane, is expected to grow larger as it moves toward North Carolina’s Outer Banks this weekend before crashing into the Northeast as early as Aug. 28, according to the National Hurricane Center track projection. The storm is 105 miles (169 kilometers) east-northeast of Nassau, the Bahamas. 
 
 “This track is eerily similar to Gloria,” said Chris Hyde, a meteorologist with MDA EarthSat Weather in Gaithersburg, Maryland. “Millions are potentially going to be losing power from North Carolina all the way up to New England.” 
 
 Irene may cause $13.9 billion in insured losses and $20 billion in overall economic losses due to lost hours at work, power outages, interruption of shipping and airline traffic, according to estimates by Kinetic Analysis Corp. 
 
 Gloria killed 11 people, the hurricane center said. It caused $900 million in damage, said Weather Underground Inc. 
 
 Population Threat 
 
 More than 65 million people, or about one in five Americans, from North Carolina to Maine, are in the way of the hurricane, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News. 
 
 Mayor Bloomberg said at a press conference the city is expecting “winds of 60 mph or more” and the storm may be “possibly as strong as a Category 2 on Long Island.” The mayor is founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP. 
 
 New Jersey Governor Chris Christie declared an emergency there and urged people to leave the shore by midday tomorrow. North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue declared a state of emergency for counties east of Interstate 95. 
 
 A Category 2 storm has winds of at least 96 mph, and poorly constructed homes are at risk for losing their roofs, high-rise windows can be broken and many shallow-rooted trees will be snapped off or pulled from the ground, according to the National Hurricane Center. 
 
 “No matter which way you slice it, there’s probably going to be hurricane-force winds in New York,” said Eric Wilhelm, a senior meteorologist at AccuWeather Inc. in State College, Pennsylvania. 
 
 Forecast Track 
 
 Small fluctuations in the track, which currently passes directly over Queens, could mean much greater damage to the city from storm surge, Wilhelm said. 
 
 Irene is expected to strengthen later today, the hurricane center said, and could become a Category 4 storm on the five- step Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale, bearing winds of at least 131 mph. 
 
 “The hurricane will affect millions and cost billions,” Wilhelm said. “This will be remembered as a Northeast hurricane and not a North Carolina hurricane.” 
 
 A hurricane watch is in force from Surf City, North Carolina, to the Virginia line, according to the center. A tropical storm watch is in effect from Edisto Beach, South Carolina, to Surf City. A watch means storm conditions are likely to begin in two days. 
 
 Governor’s Warning 
 
 North Carolina’s Perdue told reporters today she was “dismayed that many of the ferries were still empty” at Ocracoke Island, which is evacuating tourists. “We are asking people all over eastern North Carolina to take this storm very seriously,” she said. 
 
 The U.S. Navy moved 64 ships away from Norfolk, Virginia, to keep them from being damaged by the storm, the Associated Press reported. 
 
 The dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial on the National Mall in Washington on Aug. 28, at which President Barack Obama is scheduled to speak, is still on schedule. 
 
 Residents along the coast north of the Carolinas will “experience a raging hurricane,” said Jim Dale, a risk meteorologist with High Wycombe, England-based British Weather Services. “They will see 70-100 miles-per-hour winds and also copious amounts of rain. Flooding and storm damage from wind is inevitable.” 
 
 Bahamas Impact 
 
 Irene is ripping through the Bahamas with winds of 115 miles per hour, damaging homes, felling trees and triggering flooding, according to the Bahamas Emergency Management Agency. 
 
 The U.S. center warned the Bahamas would experience storm surges of as much as 11 feet above sea level and that up to 12 inches of rain may fall. Irene’s hurricane-strength winds of at least 74 mph extend 70 miles from its core, and tropical-storm- strength winds reach out 290 miles. 
 
 The last hurricane to strike the U.S. was Ike in 2008, a Category 2 storm when it went ashore near Galveston, Texas. The most recent major hurricane, one with winds of at least 111 mph, was Wilma in 2005. 
 
 Farther east in the Atlantic, Tropical Depression 10 probably will be upgraded to a tropical storm today, the center said. The next tropical storm will be named Jose. 
 
 The system is about 505 miles west of the southernmost Cape Verde Islands and moving west-northwest across open waters at 12 mph, the Miami-based center said. 
 
 To contact the reporter on this story: Brian K. Sullivan in Boston at bsullivan10@bloomberg.net. 
 
 To contact the editor responsible for this story: Bill Banker at bbanker@bloomberg.net ||||| As Hurricane Irene swung north Thursday, putting the Washington region in its sights, Maryland and Virginia declared a state of emergency and Sunday’s dedication of the memorial to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was postponed. 
 
 Organizers said the event will be rescheduled for September or October. The memorial, the first on the Mall honoring an African American, has been a quarter-century in the making, but safety trumped ceremony. 
 
 Hurricane Irene was forecast to sweep over the Outer Banks of North Carolina overnight Friday and advance into the Washington area with a vanguard of showers beginning Saturday afternoon. 
 
 Early Friday morning, the National Weather Service upgraded the Tropical Storm Watch issued for much of the D.C. area to a Tropical Storm Warning. Meanwhile, Irene weakened slightly to a Category 2 storm as it approached the East Coast, where a hurricane warning was also extended to New Jersey. 
 
 If the hurricane stays on track, the worst of Irene will arrive in Virginia, Maryland and the District later Saturday and into Sunday morning. Late-summer vacationers evacuated Atlantic coast beaches, which are expected to be hit hardest before the storm wallops New England. 
 
 The intensity of the storm and the shift in the forecast track farther to the west prompted the decision to delay the memorial dedication, said Harry E. Johnson Sr., chief executive of the memorial project foundation. 
 
 “I’m disappointed and hurt, really,” Johnson said. “But the memorial is going to be there forever.” 
 
 Johnson said the change might allow those who planned to travel to stay home and for those in Washington to leave ahead of the storm. 
 
 Governors along the coast, including those in Virginia and Maryland, declared states of emergency Thursday, and thousands of weekend events were canceled. 
 
 “This is a large, this is a deadly, this is a slow-moving hurricane that is bearing down on the state of Maryland,” Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) said in declaring an emergency. “There will no doubt be a lot of flooding. Citizens should anticipate long periods of electrical outages.” 
 
 A significant storm surge is expected to flood coastal areas, and wind-driven flooding may occur along the shores of the Chesapeake Bay. The worst of the weather is likely to be east of the Interstate 95 corridor, which may get four to six inches of rain, prolonged winds of 50 to 70 mph, and gusts of 90 to 100 mph, according to meteorologists with The Washington Post’s Capital Weather Gang. 
 
 Amtrak canceled train departures from Southeastern states and curtailed some service in the Northeast. Airports said they expected flight delays and cancellations through the weekend, with many airlines allowing fliers to change their plans without penalty. 
 
 An endless stream of vacationers rolled across the bridge out of Ocean City, on Thursday evening, and homeowners rushed in the opposite direction to board up their rental properties. Ocean City was one of many resort areas where evacuation was mandatory. 
 
 Colleges on the verge of opening for the fall semester warned students to delay their arrival, and the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg told its students to go home. 
 
 Three other schools — the University of Maryland, George Washington University and Catholic University — said they would open their dormitories a day early, on Friday, so that students could get settled before the storm hit. George Mason University said it would implement a flexible move-in schedule. 
 
 In New York, the Associated Press reported that Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg (I) said officials expect to shut down the city’s transit system Saturday afternoon ahead of the hurricane, which is forecast to strike eastern Queens. 
 
 After passing over the Bahamas on Thursday, the storm first fell on the U.S. coast in Florida, where its outermost bands swept in with bursts of wind and rain and a driving riptide. 
 
 The exodus from the Outer Banks began early Thursday after an evacuation order Wednesday night. Traffic on Route 168 crawled as lines of sport-utility vehicles with surfboards and fishing rods mounted on their roofs headed north from the barrier islands. 
 
 “My aunt and uncle are used to storms, but they got a bit worried about this one,” said Melissa Wallace of St. Louis, who had been vacationing at their Cape Hatteras beach house. “We just thought better safe than sorry.” 
 
 In the Washington region, there were warnings that people should be prepared for power outages as toppling trees take down electrical lines. Road crews were on alert to clear fallen trees and other wind-driven debris from highways. 
 
 More than 2,000 sandbags were being placed at Metro stations where water tends to come up over the curbs and flow down escalators. Metro crews also checked drains in tunnels, and some vehicles assigned to Metro supervisors were being equipped with chain saws to keep the transit system moving. The District and Alexandria offered free sandbags to residents. 
 
 O’Malley said the mandatory evacuation of Ocean City underscored the seriousness of the storm. “This is not a time to get out the camera and sit on the beach and take pictures of the waves,” he said. 
 
 Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) authorized local officials to issue mandatory evacuation orders. 
 
 “I reserve the right to direct and compel evacuation from the same and different areas and determine a different timetable both where local governing bodies have made such a determination and where local governing bodies have not made such a determination,” McDonnell said in a statement. 
 
 Pepco urged customers who need power for critical medical equipment to review emergency plans and be prepared for extended power outages. Dominion Virginia Power and BGE said repair crews were preparing for emergency restoration work over the next several days. Extra crews from other states were headed to the region to assist with recovery. 
 
 “This storm has serious potential to cause widespread damage,” said Rodney Blevins, Dominion’s vice president. “We are geared up to handle any situation as quickly and safely as possible. We are treating Hurricane Irene seriously, and we urge our customers to monitor local weather forecasts for changing conditions in order to remain safe.” 
 
 Staff writers Shyamantha Asokan, Dana Hedgpeth, Jenna Johnson, Anita Kumar, Michael E. Ruane and John Wagner contributed to this report.
– Frightened North Carolinians fleeing Irene are jamming highways as the East Coast steels for what could be the biggest hurricane in decades. At least seven states have now declared a state of emergency, and hundreds of flights are being canceled. Gas stations are running out of fuel and ATMs have been emptied of cash as Americans hit the road for a bumper-to-bumper trip out of Irene's angry path. The Category 3 storm is expected to hit the Southeast sometime tomorrow, and hundreds of thousands of residents have been ordered out of their homes in three North Carolina counties. Norfolk, Va., is also ordering residents to evacuate, and Washington, DC, has been forced to postpone Sunday's planned MLK Memorial dedication. "This is a very, very serious situation," a spokeswoman for Dare County told ABC News. "We have not seen anything like this in the lifetimes of most our residents. Once the storm hits, it will be very difficult to respond to distress calls." Irene is some 700 miles wide now and moving at a slow 12mph, which means it can wreak extensive damage in a region over a long period of time; it could cause up to $13.9 billion in damage on the East Coast. The storm is expected to barrel into New York City on Sunday, packing winds of up to 90mph. New Jersey communities are already being evacuated, and hundreds of street fairs have been canceled and elder care facilities and hospitals in low-lying area will be evacuated in New York today. NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg says residents in low-lying parts of the city should get out today as the transit system is planned to be shut down tomorrow.