Hurricane Irene claims six lives

NEW YORK - Hurricane Irene on Saturday claimed the first six lives in North Carolina and Virginia. One million people in the eastern states are without electricity.

More than 1.3 million people have been evacuated.

A man was killed when he went to feed his animals out and blown a tree branch fell on him. Another man died of a heart attack as he nailed shut windows of his house.

A third man drove his car during thunderstorms into a tree. A 11-year-old boy in Virginia was killed when a tree fell on the house where he lived.

Brunswick County was a man killed when a tree fell on his car. New Smyma Beach a 55-year old surfer died after an accident while surfing.

Rain

The Internet has failed in many places. It is reported damage to buildings and many streets and squares is flooded.

There was more than 12 inches of rain per hour in the eastern state of North Carolina, as was seen on radar. Irene on the route were in many places, generators, batteries and flashlights sold out Friday.

Life Threatening

The American metropolis New York, 7000 Saturday evacuating patients from hospitals and nursing homes in low lying areas because of the approaching hurricane.

Irene does expected Sunday, according to New York and Mayor Michael Bloomberg a''life-threatening storm''for New Yorkers. There were already patients of clinics in the most risky areas evacuated.

The authorities had previously been approximately 370,000 residents of low-lying areas in the Big Apple ordered to evacuate. They should look Saturday at 17.00 hours (local time) left.

Boris Dittrich

Among them is the Dutch politician Boris Dittrich (D66). Dittrich has decided to ignore the call and in his apartment on the East River in New York awaiting the arrival of Irene off.

''I am one of the opinionated New Yorkers and is waiting at home off the hurricane despite evacuation orders from Mayor Bloomberg,''he reports. The Dutchman, in New York for Human Rights Watch works, lives in a complex in the borough of Queens. His street is designated as "Zone A", ie the area which in principle should be evacuated.

''The expectation is that the water is rising two meters,''said Dietrich. ''But I live in one of the top floors of the building, so much, I am not really sure.''''Suggests the D66 celebrity would rather sleep in my own bed. "

Waves

The fierce winds of Irene, according to the U.S. Hurricane Irene Center (NHC) gusts to 180 kilometers per hour, create towering waves. Some states have already declared a state of emergency to any emergency in earnest to bring.

The hurricane is expected to pick North Carolina toward the states of Maryland and Virginia and further north, possibly to New York.

Irene is about 1600 km wide, which is approximately equal to the distance between Amsterdam and Barcelona. On the expected route of Irene living in the U.S. approximately 65 million people.