New York braced for chaos as hurricane Irene approaches

Heavy rain falls from Hurricane Irene in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Photograph: Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images

3.32pm ET: That fourth death attributed to Irene is of an 11-year-old boy in Newport News, Virginia, caused by a fallen tree hitting an apartment building. NBC has the story, and is also reporting that some 300,000 people in Virginia are affected by power outages already, as Irene edges north into that state. CNN makes that up to a total of 670,000 peoplewithout electricity, adding in North Carolina.

A timely warning from Fema, via the LA Times, that even downgraded to category 1, Irene remains dangerous and capable of causing extensive damage. And Defence Secretary Leon Panetta has put 6,500 troops on notice for possible disaster relief work, reports the Washington Post.

3.16pm ET: While we're waiting for NYC's mayor, a veritable storm of hurricane Irene graphics is blowing through. The New York Times's tracker is elegant. The Washington Post's is more mappy. But as rainfall radar illustrations go, this – from WeatherUnderground – is hard to beat. What that kaleidoscope of colours means, apparently, is that 17 inches of rain have fallen on New Bern in North Carolina today.

More gravely, via the @wunderground Twitter feed, NBC is reporting a fourth death caused by the storm. More detail follows.

2.45pm ET: Matt Seaton here with you now, while Matt Wells takes a well-earned break. A strange atmosphere pervades in New York City today. Literally so, in that the only harbinger of the coming tropical storm so far, other than light rain and the occasional heavier shower, is tropical humidity – around 90% according to Accuweather.com.

But as my colleague Paul Harris just reported, it's very odd indeed to see near-empty streets and all the big stores closed on a summer Saturday. Very few cars, too; mainly just yellow cabs and some emergency services vehicles. But an eerie feeling of calm before the storm, as New York hunkers down.

Next up, though, will be Mayor Michael Bloomberg; we're expecting a 3pm press conference update. I'll be covering that, but you can also watch live on the nyc.gov site.

A store in Manhattan, New York shuts down in preparation for hurricane Irene. Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images

2.26pm ET: My colleague Paul Harris has been on the streets of the East Village in Manhattan. He writes:

Walking around the usually bustling East Village, the signs of preparation for Irene are everywhere: mixed in with the usual scenes of a New York social weekend. Many businesses are shut. Some have even put tape across their window panes in a bid to minimise damage should the storm break them.

It's an arresting sight, familiar from footage of seeing hurricanes hit more tropical climes, but it is weird to see it on a New York shop front. There was a long queue at a supermarket at St Mark's Place and the local cinema, chain stores like Duane Reade and Starbucks and banks are all closed.

But where bars and restaurants are open they are busy with New Yorkers brunching and drinking as usual. There are some joggers and even one or two beauty salons are still open for business with a few customers getting pre-hurricane mani-pedis. After all, you want to look your best for Irene's arrival on Manhattan.

2.18pm ET: CNN just cut off Christie mid flow. He's obviously too windy even for them.

2.14pm ET: And he doesn't disappoint. Christie is not having any of this category one nonsense. This is a big storm for a big guy and he's on it. Particularly the beach.

The best way to preserve life on the Jersey Shore is for there to be no human beings on the Jersey Shore, given what's about to come. The tracking of the storm continues to be very ominous for our state. While there has been some minor weeaking of the storm to a category one strom, decreasing the wind speeds by 10 or 15 mph is not going to make much difference to what's going to cause harm to people here.

2.07pm ET: Watch out, New Jersey governor Big Chris Christie is up on TV. Yesterday he told everyone to "get the hell off the beach". Apparently they have. Great. Let's see what he has to say today.

2.05pm ET: Reader Simon Frank has been in touch – he experienced Irene when he was in Nassau in the Bahamas, where hurricane Irene passed this week. He writes:

I sat through the storm in a beachside apartment in Love Beach, Nassau, Bahamas. It was a category 3 storm as it barrelled through the Bahamas. We lost power for around 18 hours. There were several trees down, but not a lot of buildings damaged anywhere on the island. The apartment block shook throughout the small hours. The strongest winds I have felt since Frances in 2004.

1.44pm ET: More from President Obama's visit to Fema, tape of which has just been broadcast. He said during the visit:

It's going to be a long 72 hours. The biggest concern is the flooding and the power. It sounds like that's going to be an enormous strain on some states.

1.37pm ET: Progress Energy now says that 273,000 residents are without power in North Carolina. Separately, three deaths have now been confirmed in the state.