New York City besieged by typhoon "Irene"

After all the speculation, it seems that the typhoon "Irene" did not act as calmly as it could have and keeps causing disaster.

New York, the largest U.S. city, has been hit by the Hurricane "Irene" in the Sunday morning (GMT) in high winds and torrential rains. This phenomenon has caused the deaths of eight people in North Carolina, Virginia and Florida, while 1.5 million citizens have been forced out of their homes by order of the U.S. authorities.

"A man died of heart attack in County Onsloou while placing planks on the windows of his house," said Tom Mather, an official of the emergency services in North Carolina.

"while another one was killed in Friday night to Saturday at Pitt County when his car slid on wet pavement and crashed into a tree," he added.

In addition, ambulance services in New Chanover County reported that a man fellin the river near Cape Fiar Ouilmingkton in Saturday morning.

New York Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, urged residents to stay in their homes no matter what. "Do not go out on the streets, stay in your homes or loggings" insisted at a news conference, adding that it is "too late to leave" for those who did not obey the evacuation orders issued to areas prone to flood.

Public transport has been stopped, airports have been closed and New York, where people were always on the streets on Saturday nights, looks like a dead city. Manhattan bars and restaurants were closed, the shows on Broadway were canceled and the hordes of tourists that fill the Times Square were not there.

Many shops have closed their facades with sheets of plywood to protect windows and millions of New Yorkers have been barricaded in their homes. Around 370,000 people evacuated their homes after the command of Mayor Bloomberg, something that had never been done before in the American metropolis. Many fled the city, others fled to their relatives, in hotels and centers opened by the municipality.

In New Jersey, more than 1 million people evacuated from the coast.

At 20:00 local time the storm was downgraded to category one, the lowest of the five-point scale Safir-Simpson. However, winds are still blowing at a speed of 144 km per hour.

This phenomenon is expected to weaken after making the passage from New England.