2 million evacuate as Irene bears down on US

HURRICANE Irene caused extraordinary disruption Friday as it zeroed in for a catastrophic run up the Eastern Seaboard. More than two million people were ordered to move to safer places, and New York announced plans to shut down its entire network of subways for the first time because of a natural disaster.

A lot of New York’s subways and other infrastructure are underground and subject to flooding in the event of an unusually strong storm surge or heavy rains.

As the storm’s outermost bands of wind and rain began to lash North Carolina, authorities in points farther north begged people to get out of harm’s way. Officials feared it could wreak devastation in a region not used to tropical weather.