[ 4:42 p.m. Saturday ]
Travelers across the country are facing days of grief ahead as thousands of flights get canceled because of Hurricane Irene.
Airlines are scrapping more than 9,000 flights this weekend from North Carolina to Boston, grounding passengers as Irene sweeps up the East Coast. There were more than 3,600 cancellations on Saturday alone.
All New York City-area airports closed to arriving flights at noon on Saturday, when the city's public transportation system shut down. The biggest airlines, United Continental Holdings Inc. and Delta Air Lines Inc., canceled thousands of flights each. United Continental, the world's largest airline, suspended operations altogether in the New York area. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport were both open Saturday afternoon, but most flights had been canceled.
[ 4:05 p.m. Saturday ]
Officials say a second person in Virginia has died from a tree toppled by Hurricane Irene.
Virginia Department of Emergency Management spokesman Bob Spieldenner says a tree fell on a car in Brunswick County and killed someone inside the vehicle. He did not have any more details.
Earlier Saturday, an 11-year-old boy was killed when a tree crashed through his Newport News apartment.
City spokeswoman Cleder Jones says the unidentified boy and his mother were in the apartment when a large tree fell shortly after noon. Jones says the boy's mother was able to make it out of the apartment uninjured. The boy was pronounced dead at the scene.
[ 3:35 p.m. Saturday ]
More than half a million utility customers in North Carolina have no power as Hurricane Irene grinds up the coast.
Progress Energy reported Saturday there is no power getting to about 270,000 customers. The North Carolina Electric Cooperatives say 150,000 of their customers are affected.
Virginia-based Dominion Power reported more than 65,000 customers in North Carolina are down. And an umbrella group largely comprised of North Carolina towns and cities that provide their own service say 97,000 have no power.
[ 2:26 p.m. Saturday ]
Hurricane Irene lashed the North Carolina coast with the strongest winds registering 115 mph and pounding shoreline homes with waves.
Farther north, authorities readied a massive shutdown of trains and airports in New York City, with 2 million people ordered out of the way.
On Saturday afternoon, forecasters said Irene's effects could be felt as far north as Canada even after it weakens. A tropical storm warning extended from the U.S. border to Nova Scotia's southern coast.
[ 1:52 p.m. Saturday ]
A driver in Pitt County perished when his car struck a tree on the side of a road Saturday morning. State Highway Patrol officials say they were investigating the fatal wreck and were not sure if it was storm related.
In New Hanover, authorities said a man was missing after he either jumped or fell into the Cape Fear River.
[ 12:34 p.m. Saturday ]
CNN is reporting a second death as a result of Hurricane Irene. According to reports, a man died Friday after suffering a heart attack while trying to put up plywood over the windows of his Onslow County home.
Earlier in the day, emergency management officials said a man died after a tree limb fell on him outside his home while he tried to feed livestock.
The identities of the two victims have not been released at this point.
Energy companies along the North Carolina coast are reporting 269,000 customers without power. There are several local reports of crews already working on lines in an attempt to restore power.
[ 11:45 a.m. Saturday ]
Authorities in North Carolina say Hurricane Irene blew a large tree limb onto a man, killing him.
Nash County Emergency Management Director Brian Brantley said the man was walking outside his home in a rural area of the county around 10:20 a.m. Saturday when the limb hit him.
Paramedics were called to the scene, but the man was already dead. Wind gusts in the area had reached more than 60 mph as Irene's outer bands passed through.
Brantley says more details, including the man's name and age, will be released later.
[ 11:15 a.m. Saturday ]
Hurricane Irene maintained its status as a Category 1 storm with sustained winds of 85 mph winds, according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm is situated about 50 miles west of Cape Hatteras. The eastern side of the storm is the most intense, so it could be inflicting significant damage on that section of the state.
The storm's peed increased slightly, to 15 mph.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency held an 11 a.m. media briefing to provide warnings for the people still in the storm's path along the Delmarva peninsula and new England.
[ 10:14 a.m. Saturday ]
Gov. Bev Perdue said in a media briefing Saturday morning that the state was standing strong, but still had a lot of Irene left to deal with and a massive clean-up effort after that.
The governor said there are reports of extensive flooding all over the northeast portion of the state and officials expect river flooding to become an issue as Irene moves farther north. Currently, there are an estimate 227,000 customers without power, she said.
She said there are several hospitals and state agency offices working on generators at the moment, but the state's 81 shelters are open and housing nearly 8,000 residents.
She pleaded with residents along the coast to think of their safety first. "Please stay inside. Stay safe," she said.
Perdue said the mayor of the city of New Bern has declared an emergency and is advising people to stay indoors and allow emergency crews to work.
Perdue said she plans to get an aerial tour of the damage "as soon as I can get in the air safely," she said. "I want to see it with my own eyes."
Further up the coast in Norfolk, Va., Coast Guard crews are searching for a sailboat in the churning waters ahead of Hurricane Irene. It is unclear at this point if there are any people aboard the vessel.
[ 9:30 a.m. Saturday ]
Repoert Dave Faherty said Irene is moving slowly closer to where he is stationed in Kill Devil Hills. He estimates the winds are now sustained at 40 mph, and there are gusts at 60 mph. He said that he can see some minor roof damage at the hotels near the beach.
One woman left her home overnight and moved into the hotel, he said. She told Faherty that there were nearly four inches of rain covering most of the roadways in Nags Head, where she had been before Irene impacted the coast.
[ 8:45 a.m. Saturday ]
Gov. Bev Perdue told CNN during an interview that it was too early still to assess damage along the coast, but did say the storm claimed one life so far. She is going to hold a media briefing at 10 a.m. Saturday to address the impact of the storm along the coast. That will be streamed live on wsoctv.com.
Irene has lost some of its organization as it hit the Carolina coast. According to the most recent National Hurricane Center update from Miami, the storm's winds had decreased to 85 mph, making it a Category 1 storm.
[ 8:18 a.m. Saturday ]
In Atlantic Beach, Linzi Sheldon found part of the Sheraton Pier on Atlantic Beach had been destroyed by Hurricane Irene. Some reports indicate 20 or 30 feet of the pier were damaged.
According to the Emerald Isle Twitter account, part of the Bogue Inlet pier was also damaged by Hurricane Irene.
[ 7:40 a.m. Saturday ]
President Barack Obama issued another state of emergency in New Jersey ahead of Irene's move through the mid-Atlantic and Northeast U.S.
Meteorologist Steve Udelson said the bulk of the heavy winds and rains from Irene are on the north and east side of the storm, meaning areas in the Outer Banks are only just beginning to see the real power of the storm and would likely experience them for several more hours.
According to Progress Energy, there are already more than 175,000 people in North Carolina without power as a result of Irene. But the power company has said they have a team of 1,000 ready to deploy once it is safe to do so.
Allison Latos said Highway 12 in Kill Devil Hills is already starting to flood and they saw several cable lines down during a drive through the Outer banks. When she informed police, they told Latos they were seeing that same problem all across the area. One woman who has a beach home on Nags Head showed up at Latos' hotel and said the beach around her home is gone.
[ 7:00 a.m. Saturday ]
Eyewitness News meteorologists say Hurricane Irene is now starting to make landfall at Cape Lookout.
[ 6:49 a.m. Saturday ]
From Atlantic Beach, an Eyewitness News crew filed this video showing the dark streets, homes and businesses in the pre-dawn hours before Irene makes landfall. See that report. Further down Atlantic Beach, near the Channelworker Restaurant, damage from the heavy winds and rain is revealed as daylight breaks.
[ 6:33 a.m. Saturday ]
Dave Faherty said the winds have increased so much in the last hour that sand off the beach is kicking up. Faherty said they are seeing significant erosion south of Kill Devil Hills where a massive renourishment project was underway before Irene headed toward the coast. One woman said the beach near her home was washed away and now the ocean is rushing in under her home.
The New Hanover County government said on Twitter their website was no longer functioning and referred people to NHCgov.com..
[ 5:32 a.m. Saturday ]
Reporter Linzi Sheldon said traffic lights are out and they are seeing non-stop heavy rains in Morehead City. In nearby Atlantic Beach, only emergency vehicles are on the roadways and there is a curfew in effect for people who elected to stay in the path of the storm, she said. Atlantic beach's police chief said officials are already seeing flooding on secondary roads and there are several thousand people without power. The county manager said they have recorded gusts up to 60 mph. See that report.
In Kill Devil Hills, Dave Faherty said tropical storm-force winds are picking up and blowing inland. He said they have seen minor damage around the hotel where he and the rest of the Eyewitness News crew is staying during the storm.See that report.
According to emergency officials, there are already 45,000 people without power in North Carolina. Progress Energy said they have 1,000 employees ready to move into impacted areas once the storm passes with the hopes of restoring power as quickly as possible.
[ 5 a.m. Saturday ]
Eyewitness News reporter Linzi Sheldon said the power is out in Morehead City and the people there are seeing strong gusts of wind and heavy rains. See that report.
About 150 miles north of Morehead City in Kill Devil Hills, reporter Allison Latos said the winds are picking up and the rain is getting heavier, but so far there are no power outages and cell towers are still functioning. See that report.
In an update from the National Hurricane Center, the storm's eye was located about 35 miles south of Cape Lookout.
Ahead of Irene's landfall, President Obama declared emergencies in three more states -- Virginia, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.
[ Earlier Saturday ]
Hurricane Irene's northern eyewall was located about 50 miles south of Cape Lookout, N.C., by a hurricane hunter aircraft early Saturday morning.
As the storm draws closer to the coast, it appears Cape Lookout will be where Irene makes her first landfall on her march up the east coast. Given Irene's movement, the storm's northern eyewall will pass over the cape around 8 a.m.
In the most recent National Hurricane Center update, Irene was downgraded again to a Category 1 with maximum sustained winds of 90 mph. Irene is moving north-northeast at 14 mph, the NHC reported.
SLIDESHOW: Eyewitness News Crews Covering Irene
SLIDESHOW: East Coast Awaits Fury Of Hurricane Irene
An NOAA station at Cape Lookout recently recorded a sustained wind of 67 mph with gusts up to 76 mph. At a nearby weatherflow station in Fort Macon, N.C., wind gusts of 85 mph were recorded.
Irene is expected to wreak havoc and destruction all the way up the Eastern Seaboard this weekend.
Already, Irene has prompted the cancellation of hundreds of flights, the shutdowns of the New York and Philadelphia subway systems, and never-before-seen evacuations in parts of New York City. Forecasters expect Irene to bring deadly storm surge, heavy rainfall and misery to millions.
Ocean surges of nearly 11 feet are possible along the North Carolina coast before moving up the coast into the Delmarva peninsula and then New England.
NHC officials said Irene will bring with her destructive, life-threatening waves.
Evacuations were under way in 19 North Carolina counties, but state officials estimate Thursday afternoon that nearly half of the coastal population elected to stay behind and ride out the storm.
