New York City & Surrounding Area Coverage of TS/Hurricane Irene

Hurricane Irene is now Tropical Storm Irene and we have gathered many of the top news headlines, videos, and social media.  Our own Douglas McIntyre reported very high winds last night, especially up high, from the Upper Eastside office area but power was still on.  Elsewhere…

AFP via Dow Jones: Irene Damage Could Be ‘Tens Of Billions’: NJ Governor Christie…”I’ve got to imagine the damage estimates will be in the billions of dollars if not the tens of billions of dollars.”

The Live Time Square Webcam via EarthCam

Twitter “Irene”

NYC DOT Traffic Cam network is down as of 10:20

NEW YORK TIMES Live Blog: Hurricane Irene Arrives in New York City… Things Look Better Than We Anticipated
9:56 A.M. North Tube of Holland Tunnel Closed
9:46 A.M. Knee-Deep Water in Lower Manhattan
9:20 A.M. Hurricane Irene Downgraded to Tropical Storm
8:46 A.M. At Albany Street, Water Still 50 Inches From Top of Wall
7:30 A.M. Storm’s Intensity Weakens, But Flooding Expected

Live video coverage from The Weather Channel
twc_hurricane: RT @CTLightandPower: We’ve surpassed the outage record set by Hurricane Gloria in 1985! 486,000+ customers now without power. [via Twitter]
Jonathan Erdman (Meteorologist): While we have TS Irene and TS Jose….some longer-term guidance suggests it will be “Katia” (yes…the name that replace Katrina in the list) that will be our next concern going into early September.
People walking up and down the boardwalk in Long Beach, NY (10:25)

Weather Channel: More than 4 million people are without power and that number is expected to climb as Tropical Storm Irene continues the trek north into the New England area. Widespread flash flooding is occurring from the Carolinas to New England.  LIVE UPDATES

Battery Park flooding at 8AM video

Wall Street Journal has a state-by-state glance on how Hurricane Irene is affecting states along the Eastern Seaboard. WSJ Live Blog of TS Irene

CNBC Live Coverage
Herb Greenberg via Twitter: @herbgreenberg Herb Greenberg
Personally, I believe this storm will be a blip for the markets (if that!) b4 returning to the reality of Europe, weak US economy, etc

• earlier on CNBC: Irene Cuts Power to 2 Million, Shuts Refineries

NYSE promised to be open on Monday…. No update since Saturday as of 10:00 AM EST from NYSE on trading day status for Monday CNBC reports that NYSE has been unaffected in facilities. NYMEX said to be open Monday as well. The real issue is whether or not people can even get to work.

CNN- Holland Tunnel is reopening (10:30 AM)

Irene Caused Insured Losses Up To $400 Million In Carolinas

7AM CON EDISON: NEW YORK – Con Edison said today that 72,000 customers in New York City and Westchester County have lost electrical service because of severe winds resulting from Hurricane Irene.  As the weather system continues to move toward New York, the number of affected customers is expected to grow.
The hurricane’s high winds also have toppled trees and power lines throughout the company’s service area, most extensively in Queens, where an estimated 25,000 customers are without power.
As of 7 a.m., customer outages on Staten Island have reached more than 16,000; in Brooklyn, 6,000 are out of power; and the Bronx is reporting 4,500. There are minimal outages in Manhattan.  There are more than 16,000 out of power in Westchester County.

10:00 Update: PPL Electric Utilities reports power outages caused by Hurricane Irene damage in nearly every county of its 29-county service territory and more than 200,000 customers affected across its system in central and eastern Pennsylvania.  Also: New Jersey’s PSE&G reports 250,000 customers without power

TS IRENE UPDATE at 11:00 AM EST, good news… Winds are weakening.  11:00 AM EDT Sun Aug 28
Location: 41.4°N 73.7°W
Max sustained: 60 mph
Moving: NNE at 26 mph
Min pressure: 966 mb

Tropical Storm Jose in the Atlantic appears to be no threat to US landfall if the path remains constant.