Hurricane Sandy is moving closer to the East Coast and New York City is preparing for it with evacuations, school and subway shutdowns.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Sunday ordered the evacuation of 375,000 people from low-lying areas in New York City. Residents of the city's "Zone A" area are ordered to leave by 7 p.m. Sunday. This area includes Coney Island, Manhattan Beach, Red Hook and other areas along the East River in Brooklyn; all of the Rockaways, Hamilton Beach and Broad Channel in Queens; nearly all of the coastal areas of Staten Island; some patches of the South Bronx; and Battery Park City and portions of Lower Manhattan.
"This evacuation is mandatory - it is for your own safety," Mr. Bloomberg said during a news conference at the city's Office of Emergency Management in Brooklyn. "This is a serious and dangerous storm."
People who refuse to evacuate will not be arrested, the mayor said. "But they are being, I would argue, very selfish. They are not only endangering their own lives, they're endangering the lives of others because in an emergency we aren't going to leave them to die. We're going to come in and save them."
Google has set up set up a crisis map for people on the East Coast preparing for Hurricane Sandy which includes live updates and coverage on the Hurricane.
Meanwhile, the MTA will shut down the nation's largest transit system at 7 p.m. Sunday, with no transit service expected at least through the early hours of Tuesday, when the effects of the storm should be felt throughout New York City.
"We want people staying in their homes," New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said, in announcing the suspension.
It takes eight to 10 hours to fully shut down the New York subway system, which ordinarily operates 24 hours per day. The system will be fully closed by 3 a.m. Monday, the governor said.
