Evacuations, Mass Transit Closures Ahead of Irene

With Hurricane Irene expected to cause havoc along the East coast this weekend, mandatory evacuations were put in place for some areas as New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie suggested.

NEW JERSEY:

"Tolls will be suspended on Garden State Parkway south of Raritan River & AC Expressway beginning at 8:00am Friday morning," tweeted Christie. For the latest emergency information from the Garden State go to Ready.NJ.Gov.

On Friday the Gov. told everyone to "get the hell off the beach... You've maximized your tan." He then announce the following MANDATORY evacuations for the Garden State. 

Atlantic Co.
MANDATORY evacuations began as of 6 a.m. Friday for the islands and mainland communities east of Route 9  -- including Absecon (east of Rt 9), Atlantic City, Brigantine, Corbin City, Galloway Township (east Rt 9), Linwood (east of Rt 9), Longport, Margate, Northfield (east of Rt 9), Port Republic (east of Rt 9), Somers Point (east Rt 9), Ventnor, West Atlantic City in Egg Harbor Township (east of Rt 9).

Click here for a list of evacuation plans including the order of possible evacuations.

Cape May Co.
All municipalities and barrier islands (including Avalon, Cape May, Diamond Beach, Lower Township, Middle Township, Ocean City, Sea Island City, Stone Harbor, Strathmere, all Wildwoods and Woodbine) have MANDATORY evacuations in effect. Click here for evacuation routes.

There is a MANDATORY evacuation for the entire county beginning Friday at 8 a.m. With shelters at Rowan and Woodbine at capacity, residents were being asked to go to the Poland Spring Arena in Toms River.

Ocean Co.
The County is "strongly urging" residents and visitors to prepare.

A MANDATORY evacuation is underway for Berkeley and Long Beach Island. Pet-friendly shelters at Manahawkin, Southern Regional, Toms River and Toms River North High Schools opened at 8 a.m. Friday.

DELAWARE:

MANDATORY evacuations were put in effect for everyone along the Del. coast. Everyone must leave the evactuated areas including Bethany Beach, Dewey, Fenwick Island and Rehoboth by 9 a.m. Saturday. All businesses in those areas must close by midnight.

Tolls along Del. Route 1 were suspended to help ease traffic.

People are being ordered not to come to and residents in those areas are urged to leave but no official evacuation order is in place yet. Click here for evacuation routes.

A MANDATORY evacuation was issued for southeast Wilmington. Everyone must be out of their homes by 6 p.m. Saturday because that area of the city is located on a flood plain. Shelters are being set up at William Penn High and Middletown High, city officials said.

The University of Delaware has postponed opening weekend activities until further notice. Students on campus are encouraged to return home and students who have yet to arrive are asked to stay home until further notice. Classes WON'T begin as scheduled on Tuesday.

St. Joe's also canceled move-in day on Saturday. Instead students should plan on moving in on Monday. Classes for Monday are canceled and will instead begin on Tuesday, officials said.

PENSYLVANIA:

A few areas in Chester where flooding is expected were being forced to evacuate. All residents on the 600 Block of Parker Street, 1300 Block of Parker Street and 1300-1400 blocks of Kerlin Street must be out by noon Saturday. A shelter is available at Showalter Middle School.

TRANSIT:

Most AMTRAK trains operating along the Northeast Corridor is set to close at 5 p.m. Saturday and all trains in the Northeast won't operate Sunday.

All SEPTA service will cease at 12:30 a.m. Sunday and continue to be stopped until the storm ends -- hopefully around noon Sunday. Some regional rail lines are set to stop service starting at 5 p.m. Saturday.

PATCO service will be suspended at 12:05 a.m. Sunday the last train will leave Lindewold at 11:30 p.m. Saturday.

All New Jersey Transit bus routes and the River Line are set to close Saturday at 6 p.m. All NJT trains will stop service at noon Saturday.

Megabus has canceled all buses into NYC Saturday and Sunday as well as other Philly routes.

SPORTS:
The Phillies and Union postponed home games on Staurday and Sunday.


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