‘We got it right’ – mayor defends closing New York

THE mayor of New York has defended his decision to urge 370,000 residents to evacuate the city after a diminished Tropical Storm Irene brought ferocious wind and torrential rain – but not the destruction that had been predicted.

Michael Bloomberg, who was heavily criticised for his slow responses to blizzards in December, had been vocal about the threat the hurricane posed as it barrelled up the east coast.

About 2.3 million Americans left their homes in the face of what was then Hurricane Irene, which was 500 miles wide and threatened to affect 65 million people – a fifth of the country’s population.

Nine people had died as a result of the hurricane as it approached New York and that figure had risen to 11 last night.

Mr Bloomberg said he believed the city made the right decision in preparing for Irene after visiting one of the city’s emergency shelters.

He said: “We were unwilling to risk the life of a single New Yorker. The bottom line is that I would make the same decisions again, without hesitation. We can’t just, when a hurricane is coming, get out of the way and hope for the best.”

He praised residents, saying the public co-operated fully.

The city gave a sigh of relief last night after collectively holding its breath in the face of the rushing storm.

New York had been in an unprecedented state of lock-down and eerily quiet as it waited for Irene to hit.

For the first time in its history the entire transit system was shut down and airports were closed, with 9,000 flights cancelled. Broadway shows, baseball games and other events were postponed.

Some 370,000 residents living in “Zone A” districts, those deemed particularly vulnerable, had been urged to flee. Everyone else was ordered to stay in their homes.

However, as the day wore on, White House officials said the worst of Tropical Storm Irene was over for many on the east coast, although they urged communities still in its path to remain vigilant.

President Barack Obama and top administration officials, including vice-president Joe Biden, Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner and homeland security secretary Janet Napolitano, were briefed yesterday morning in the Situation Room.

The White House said Mr Obama asked administration officials to stay in touch with governors and local leaders in areas affected by the storm.

Ms Napolitano said: “We have a way to go, but I think it is safe to say that the worst of the storm, at least up to and including New York and New Jersey, has passed.”

More than four million homes had lost power, including many in New York, as the storm wreaked havoc in Virginia and North Carolina, dropping a foot of rain, then worked its way north. Forecasters said Irene, while diminished in strength, still carried sustained winds of 65mph after its long journey up the east coast.

As the eye of the sprawling storm neared the largest American city, it pushed an 8ft Atlantic storm surge toward the metropolis.

The National Hurricane Centre said that Irene was moving to the north-northeast at 25mph as it pushed towards New England.

Officials warned that isolated tornadoes were possible in the north-east.

In New York, Battery Park City in the south of Manhattan island was virtually deserted as rain and gusty winds pummelled streets and whipped trees. On Wall Street, sandbags were placed around subway grates near the East River because of fear of flooding. In Times Square, shops boarded up windows and sandbags were stacked outside stores. Construction at Ground Zero came to a standstill.

“It may be a mitigated event,” said Lieutenant Colonel Denis Riel, a spokesman for the Rhode Island National Guard.

“Forecasts for rain have been cut and we are clearly postured to weather this well,” he added.

Irene made landfall just after dawn yesterday near Cape Lookout, North Carolina, at the southern end of the Outer Banks. Shorefront hotels and houses were lashed with waves, two piers were destroyed and at least one hospital was forced to run on generator power.

The number of airline passengers affected by the storm could easily be in the millions because so many flights make connections on the east coast.

Irene caused flooding from North Carolina to Delaware, both from the 7ft waves it pushed into the coast and from heavy rain.

Irene was the first hurricane to make landfall in the continental US since 2008, and came almost six years to the day after Katrina ravaged New Orleans.

The deaths blamed on Irene included two children – an 11-year-old boy in Virginia killed when a tree crashed into his home and a North Carolina child who died in a car crash at an intersection where traffic lights were out.

Four other people were killed by falling trees or tree limbs – two in separate Virginia incidents, one in North Carolina and one in Maryland.

A surfer and another person on a beach in Florida were killed in heavy waves.