@colonialdudeJohn Hosier
RT @getmeoutnews: #NY > Shutting down ENTIRE #Transportation system on Saturday! nydn.us/nJlSLD -#Hurricane #Irene
Astronaut Ron Garan tweeted this picture of Hurricane Irene from the International Space Station (NASA)"We recommend people start going to less vulnerable areas," Bloomberg said at a news conference Thursday.
He said a decision will be made by Saturday morning on whether to call for a mandatory evacuation of all low-lying areas in what he referred to as "Zone A," which includes Coney Island, the Rockaways and Battery Park City.
He said about 250,000 New Yorkers live in Zone A, which also includes South Beach andMidland Beach in Staten Island. Bloomberg said five hospitals in Zone A are also required to evacuate, including Coney Island Hospital. "Tonight, Coney Island Hospital ... will begin placing patients in vacant beds in other hospitals in other parts of the city," Bloomberg said Thursday.
"We are also notifying the other hospitals in the other Zone A areas as well as nursing homes and senior centers that they must - I repeat, must - evacuate beginning tomorrow and complete the process by 9 p.m. tomorrow night." MTA chairman Jay Walder said that as far as he knows this is the first time transit officials have planned to shut down the entire transportation system because of the weather.
