Hurricane Irene: after the Outer Banks, northward

✔✔✔✔✔ This hurricane is unusual. After making landdfall, probably around Wilmington NC on Saturday evening, it will hug the coastline as it goes north. Thus, 65 million people are directly in its path. Unprecedented.

Along its path, the storm is likely to be the worst in two generations -- a "once in fifty years" hurricane. It is rare in that it threatens every state along the seaboard -- with governors in Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Connecticut also declaring emergencies. That's 65 million people.

In Washington, Sunday's dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. statue has been postponed.

NYC Mayor Bloomberg has warned a quarter million people to leave their homes, and says he will order evacuations if necessary. These include residents of traditional areas affected by storm surges, like Coney Island, but also the new and very expensive high-rise towers of Battery Park City, built on landfill at the tip of Manhattan for commuters who want to walk to Wall Street. The New York City subway system is preparing to shut down if need be -- an unheard of precaution.