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The New York City skyline is seen under clouds as Hurricane Irene approaches the region AP Photo/Karly Domb Sadof

Irene: 14 confirmed dead across six states as NYC evacuation order lifted

Irene has now been downgraded to a tropical storm as it heads northwards with authorities currently dealing with its aftermath.

Updated 7pm

THE EVACUATION ORDER in place for low-lying parts of New York City has been lifted allowing some 370,000 residents to return to their homes in the city.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg confirmed the lifting of the mandatory evacuation order this evening saying on Twitter: “This could have been a lot worse. The bottom line is NYC was prepared, as we had to be.”

Here’s a gallery of how residents of the US east coast have been coping with Irene.

Earlier…

Updated 5.20pm

Hurricane Irene has led to the deaths of 14 people in the US, as it was downgraded to a tropical storm earlier today.

Making landfall in parts of New York, the high winds and heavy rain also affected the eastern states of Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina and Virginia where there were a total of 14 deaths.

There were five deaths in total in North Carolina, four in Virginia, two in Florida, and one each in Maryland, Connecticut and New Jersey, AP news reports.

Earlier President Barack Obama was briefed on the latest developments in the White House situation room. Here’s a picture via White House photographer Pete Souza:

Earlier…

Updated 4.50pm

US President Barack Obama has been briefed as Irene has been downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says Obama instructed administration officials to continue to be aggressive in their efforts to deal with the storm and its aftermath.

Napolitano says the worst of the storm has passed for most areas. But she says communities still in Irene’s path should continue to be vigilant even though the storm has weakened.

The storm is now forecast to move over Canada later tonight.

Earlier the heavy rain led to high waves which washed away a lifeguard watch tower on Long Island in New York. AP captured this dramatic video:

In New Jersey, governor Chris Christie said on Twitter that “preliminary reports show that the property damage along the Jersey shore isn’t as bad as was expected.”

Earlier…

Updated 2.00pm

THE NATIONAL HURRICANE Centre has reported that Irene has lost hurricane strength as it made landfall over New York’s Coney Island, with winds of 65mph.

The mayor’s office has tweeted a warning to residents of the city:

Earlier…

Updated 1.50pm

THE UNITED STATE’S National Hurricane Centre has warned that the centre of Hurricane Irene is now nearing New York City with winds of 75 miles per hour.

The storm is expected to make landfall in New York City at 9.30am local time  - 2.30pm Irish time. Streets at the city’s edges are flooded as Irene approaches, with flooding worst in outer boroughs.

Ocean water has streamed into the main streets of the Rockaways, a peninsula in Queens that Mayor Michael Bloomberg had ordered evacuated. In Brooklyn, Coney Island streets were also under water, and in Red Hook, also along the harbor, water was coming in about 100 yards.

A storm surge of 4 to 8 feet was expected to rush into the harbor just before the eye crossed land. Wind and rain were expected to diminish by afternoon, but if the storm surge deluges Lower Manhattan, the water could linger for hours or even a day.

Parts of Long Island are also flooded –  a lifeguard tower has been washed away on Long Beach in Long Island after it was pounded by high waves:

Meanwhile Massachusets is also bracing for Irene, with Boston transit suspending all services.

The hurricane made landfall for the second time (the first in North Caroline yesterday) earlier at Little Egg Inlet in New Jersey. Non essestional traffic was banned in the state, according to NewJersey.com, while hundreds of thousands of homes were without power.

According to the Associated Press four million homes are now without power across the eastern sea board.

Earlier…

11.30am

POWER IS NOW reported to be out in parts of New York as Hurricane Irene approaches the city.

The eye of the storm is expected to pass over Long Island in the coming hours, and hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated from low-lying areas.

Forecasters say Irene, still barely a hurricane now with top sustained winds of 75-mph winds, has made landfall on the New Jersey coast.

The National Hurricane Center said the center of the huge storm lumbered ashore near Little Egg Inlet at 5:35 a.m local time.

The center says a hurricane warning remains in effect from coastal Virginia northward to Sagamore Beach, Massachussets. The storm remained a Category 1 hurricane and forecasters expect little change in strength.

The center says Irene was 100 miles  south-southwest of New York City. It was moving north-northeast at 18 mph.

The New York Times reports that hundreds of thousands of people are now without power in New York state, while up to two million are thought to be affected along the eastern sea board.

All Aer Lingus flights in and out of New York have been cancelled today, while airports up and down the east coast of the US remain closed.

Earlier news cameras caught people playing street hockey and soccer games in Times Square as rain and high winds blew through New York City ahead of a direct hit from Hurricane Irene:

Earlier: Water levels rise as New York braces for Irene’s impact

- Additional reporting by AP and Hugh O’Connell

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11 Comments
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    Mute Peter O Donnell
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    Oct 21st 2022, 1:14 PM

    I bet Boris is saying “here we go again, we’re on the road again……”

    347
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    Mute Connor Coady
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    Oct 21st 2022, 2:23 PM

    @Peter O Donnell: you’d have to wonder is this all part of the plan… BJ successor, who supported his every move, runs the economy to the ground knowing she’ll be shown the door quickly, to make way for the second coming of the messiah

    166
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    Mute l
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    Oct 21st 2022, 2:48 PM

    @Connor Coady: it was Sunaks Hawks who helped rallying the markets..

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    Mute Kieran Fogarty
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    Oct 21st 2022, 3:15 PM

    @Peter O Donnell: “we’re on our way to paradise”

    24
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    Mute Peter O Donnell
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    Oct 21st 2022, 3:46 PM

    @Kieran Fogarty: I was waiting for someone to finish it with were on our way to no10!

    11
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    Mute Joe Johnson
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    Oct 21st 2022, 6:39 PM

    @Peter O Donnell: Uh Ah up the

    22
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    Mute Tom Leddy
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    Oct 22nd 2022, 12:46 AM

    @Joe Johnson: R/A??

    1
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    Mute Dr. Emmett Lathrop Brown
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    Oct 22nd 2022, 7:43 AM

    @Peter O Donnell:
    “Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is flying back to the UK this weekend, a journalist at the Daily Telegraph newspaper reported on Thursday.
    The Times newspaper had reported that Johnson, who is on holiday abroad, was expected to stand in the race to replace Liz Truss who resigned as Prime Minister earlier on Thursday.”

    https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/former-pm-johnson-flying-back-britain-this-weekend-telegraph-reports-2022-10-20/

    1
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    Mute John Quinn
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    Oct 21st 2022, 1:45 PM

    It’s simple really, a large amount of Conservative MP’s think Boris can win them the next election. That’s all they are interested in. If the Country implodes in the meantime then they might just start thinking about people other than themselves. Don’t bet on it though.

    294
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    Mute Paul Furey
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    Oct 21st 2022, 2:03 PM

    @John Quinn: he is supposed to be 2nd or 3rd in the running and probably wont get the support of 100 MPs.

    52
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    Mute Joe Johnson
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    Oct 21st 2022, 11:31 PM

    @Paul Furey: hopefully

    22
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    Mute Cian Martin
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    Oct 21st 2022, 1:27 PM

    Based on the performance of the UK govt over the past few years, I fully expect Boris to become PM for the second time. It’s the most stupid and British outcome.

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    Mute Tom Leddy
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    Oct 22nd 2022, 12:49 AM

    @Cian Martin: That’s one of the best comments I’ve read on this!!

    21
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    Mute Declan Moran
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    Oct 21st 2022, 1:36 PM

    What are they smoking over there ? Absolutely bonkers

    316
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    Mute Adrian O'Donnell
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    Oct 21st 2022, 1:39 PM

    @Declan Moran: maybe that’s why Suella Braverman wanted cannabis upgraded to a class a drug..?

    88
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    Mute james boylan
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    Oct 21st 2022, 1:18 PM

    I thought that they had figured out that Boris and the Tories only got the big majority in the last election because of all their brexit lies/promises!

    164
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    Mute John Moylan
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    Oct 21st 2022, 2:02 PM

    @james boylan: yes, but remember this PM election is a Tory party only thing – it’s not a GE, so they don’t care what the public thinks. They just want to figure out who will allow them to stay in power as long as possible until the next GE which they’re slated to lose.

    122
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    Mute Dylan Cotter
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    Oct 21st 2022, 2:37 PM

    ‘The Cabinet minister said it was important to think about “who could win the next election” for the Conservatives.’ Or perhaps who could steer the country away from spectacular self-destruction? Nah, let’s focus on the election

    104
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    Mute Paul Furey
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    Oct 21st 2022, 2:02 PM

    The markets did not like Truss, they will not like BJ The Disruptor. He won’t get back in.

    Many thanks for the laugh…..and the popcorn shortage here in Ireland

    101
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    Mute Max Power
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    Oct 21st 2022, 6:17 PM

    Bertie Ahern could fancy his chances of becoming the next Taoiseach again if BoJo pulls this off!!

    65
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    Mute ciaran enright
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    Oct 21st 2022, 4:06 PM

    This will invigorate Trump no end

    62
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    Mute Hotirish
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    Oct 21st 2022, 4:54 PM

    If this was a drama series on Netflix youd be watching it going ah no this is too far-fetched im not buying this nonsense! Bo-Jo back are you serious!! Unless it was an extremely dark comedy…..

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    Mute Peter Murphy
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    Oct 21st 2022, 5:20 PM

    The comedy show continues.

    54
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    Mute Maria Clery-Breen
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    Oct 21st 2022, 4:28 PM

    I’m really enjoying this ,,pass the popcorn

    51
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    Mute Watchful Axe
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    Oct 21st 2022, 5:19 PM

    I’d love to know if Charles said “Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, oh dear” during Trusses call. ;-P

    47
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    Mute Stanley Marsh
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    Oct 21st 2022, 4:20 PM

    It says it all about the state of the Tories that when one is mentioned the first thing you have to do is find out which of the many, MANY factions within the conservative party they come from.

    33
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    Mute Dearbhla O Reilly
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    Oct 21st 2022, 6:19 PM

    Any chance that this was the plan along with Boris?

    19
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    Mute Keth Warsaw
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    Oct 21st 2022, 2:07 PM

    Oh how funny had the Prime Ministers house been eight house down.

    18
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    Mute Dylan Cotter
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    Oct 21st 2022, 2:30 PM

    @Keth Warsaw: wha

    61
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    Mute Stephen Walshe
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    Oct 21st 2022, 7:55 PM

    Key in a bowl at number 10 lucky dip

    19
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    Mute Sean O Cathasaigh
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    Oct 21st 2022, 10:18 PM

    First rule of The Journal : Always close the comments on a John Delaney story or he will sue your a**.
    Second rule of The Journal : see first rule.

    24
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    Mute Self Employed Anarchist
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    Oct 21st 2022, 4:44 PM

    Preposterous

    20
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    Mute Johnny Kelly
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    Oct 21st 2022, 11:45 PM

    “The boss” “dudders” fgs

    16
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    Mute Colm O' Shea
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    Oct 22nd 2022, 12:01 AM

    @Johnny Kelly: does nothing to dissuade us of the notion that Torys are just an old boys club of tw@ts

    22
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    Mute vanc
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    Oct 22nd 2022, 1:06 AM

    Hugh Grant for PM

    12
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    Mute Joe_X
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    Oct 21st 2022, 10:48 PM

    All this talk about Truss resigning and new UK PM and the NI protocol has glossed over something much more important that happened over there tonight….. the last ever episode of “Mock The Week”. Now who will take the pi55

    9
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    Mute Chris Gaffney
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    Oct 21st 2022, 9:56 PM

    I would say she hasn’t a prayer!!

    6
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    Mute l
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    Oct 21st 2022, 11:22 PM

    It’s a set up. Sunaks hawks in the markets drive her over edge. Obviously she destroyed herself, but it was driven.

    5
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    Mute Steven C. Schulz
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    Oct 22nd 2022, 8:01 AM

    It’s going to be Sunak. He was runner-up last time, and his helping to bring down Johnson is no longer “recent” politically.

    4
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    Mute Eddie Fenlon
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    Oct 22nd 2022, 9:49 AM

    This is as unbelievable as Bobby Ewing reappearing in the shower

    4
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    Mute Terri McCormick O'Gorman
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    Oct 23rd 2022, 12:28 AM

    Boris back! Trump back! Who’s next Shergar?

    1
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    Mute Gary Kearney
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    Oct 22nd 2022, 8:04 PM

    It is becoming more and more like “The Life of Brian” sketch “Quitters”.
    It is classical British farce and nobody does it better, but this is their government!!

    1
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