U.S. airline, rail and transit systems in New York and other eastern cities initiated sweeping weekend shutdowns and slowdowns on Saturday as Hurricane Irene bore down on the region.
Tens of millions of air travelers, train passengers and subwayand bus riders scrambled to adjust their routines, work commutes and vacations as transportation networks gradually scale back operations tominimize disruptions.
Coordinated transportation-related closures or slowdowns, often seen during winter storms in the Northeast, were mostlyannounced on Friday to give travelers enough time to adjust and ensure they stay away from Irene's fury.
New York's subway system, which carries 7 million riders daily and operates the largest fleet in the world, had never closed due to weather. The storied Staten Island Ferry wasto suspend service Saturday night.
"You can listen to the noise of the elevated train. That's not going to be here this afternoon, and I think that's the message that people have to start understanding," said New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, urging residents in designated evacuation areas to heed warnings to leave.
Subways were not expected to resume until Monday.
Airlines canceled more than 9,000 flights for the weekend and another 250 on Monday, according to the online flight tracking service Flightaware.com.
The Northeast is the most congested area ofU.S. air space, with John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports in New York and Newark airport in New Jersey handling nearly 100 million domestic and international passengers annually. Disruptions in the regionaffect flights elsewhere.
The New York-area airports closed at noon EDT for arrivals and the last departures were expected during the evening. Those airports would then be fully closed and would reopenas post-storm conditions permitted, officials said.(Reuters)
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