As Irene Lifts From New York, The Worst Appears Over - Part 4 | WPN World People News

As of 9 a.m., the National Hurricane Center has downgraded Irene to a tropical storm. The Hurricane Center said it had flown a plane into the storm and found maximum sustained winds at 65 mph.

Large waves pound a pier Sunday morning in Ocean City, Md.

The AP now estimates that four million people along the east coast are without power.

Residents on the Outer Banks of North Carolina were flooded with waist-high water as the storm moved through. Now, as the storm moves north, the rescues have begun.

Throughout the area, reports The Raleigh News and Observer, officials said rescue crews had made about 200 swiftwater rescues and they warned that there are places yet to be searched:

"There are places we haven't been," said Mark Van Sciver, a spokesman in the North Carolina Joint Information Center, in an interview this morning.

At 6 a.m. today, about 454,000 customers were without power in the state.

A total of 228 roads are closed, including 21 bridges.

In all, 56 shelters are open and are housing 4,655 people, Van Sciver said.

NPR's Joel Rose was near Bryant Park in midtown Manhattan this morning. He told our newscast unit that even for a Sunday morning, New York was eerily quiet.

"I've never seen it so deserted around here," he said. "It's really eerie."

Joel said there's lots of rain coming down but it's still a bit early to tell how much of that could flood lower Manhattan.

In CNN's latest update, the National Hurricane Center reports that despite being over land, Irene is still a category 1 hurricane with 75 mph winds.

But don't focus too much on the wind. The Hurricane Center warns the biggest threat is storm surge.

"An extremely dangerous storm surge will raise water levels by as much as four to eight feet above ground level within the hurricane warning area," it says in its latest advisory. "Near the coast, the surge will be accompanied by large, destructive and life threatening waves."

The New York Times reports that winds of 60 to 70 miles an hour are expected across New York City. Gary Conte, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service said "major storm surge flooding" is expected. The reason for that is that the storm coincides with high tide. The center of the storm is expected to pass through the area at 10:30 a.m.

source: NPR