2 million ordered to leave as Irene takes aim

“I understand,” Domanski replied.

Later as heavy rains drenched Nags Head, Domanski had cooked his favorite dinner of veal parmesan and spaghetti for his wife, Joy.

He planned to watch TV, but knows his satellite dish and power could go out any time. He has plenty of flashlights and candles and plans to go to sleep early.

“So far everything is OK. The rain isn’t bad. I know it could change. But I just don’t think it’s going to be as bad as they say. I’m hopeful,” he said.

After the Outer Banks, the next target for Irene was the Hampton Roads region of southeast Virginia, a jagged network of inlets and rivers that floods easily. Emergency officials have said the region is more threatened by storm surge, the high waves that accompany a storm, than wind. Gas stations there were low on fuel Friday, and grocery stores scrambled to keep water and bread on the shelves.

In Delaware, Gov. Jack Markell ordered an evacuation of coastal areas.

“We could be open tonight for business, but there’s a very fine line between doing the right thing and putting our staff at risk,” said Alex Heidenberger, whose family owns Mango Mike’s restaurant in Bethany Beach. He expects to lose $40,000 to $50,000 in business. “It’s not so much we’re worried about the storm coming tonight, but we want to give them a chance to get out of town and get their affairs in order.”

Officials at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington said they were speeding the transfer of their last remaining patients to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. The transfer had been planned for Sunday.

In Baltimore’s Fells Point neighborhood, one of the city’s oldest waterfront neighborhoods, people filled sandbags and placed them at the entrances to buildings. A few miles away at the Port of Baltimore, vehicles and cranes continued to unload huge cargo ships that were rushing to offload and get away from the storm.

In New York, the Mets postponed games scheduled for Saturday and Sunday with the visiting Atlanta Braves. The Jets and Giants moved their preseason NFL game up to 2 p.m. Saturday from 7 p.m., but then postponed it until Monday.

And in Atlantic City, N.J., all 11 casinos announced plans to shut down Friday, only the third time that has happened in the 33-year history of legalized gambling in that state.

“I like gambling, but you don’t play with this,” Pearson Callender said as he waited for a Greyhound bus out of town. “People are saying this is an act of God. I just need to get home to be with my family.”

Bobby Plough was standing outside his restaurant, the Cypress Creek Grill, in Elizabeth City, N.C., putting sheet metal in front of the picture windows in New that normally offer an unobstructed view of the boat launch.

Plough moved to the harbor town on the Pasquotank River in northeastern North Carolina from Corpus Christi, Texas, 18 years ago. Water has never made it inside his restaurant but he wasn’t taking any chances.

“Hurricanes are just a way of life here,” he said. “You deal with them and move on.”

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