Millions told to flee as Hurricane Irene hits US

More than two million people have been told to flee from their homes as Hurricane Irene begins to lash the eastern seaboard of the United States.

The category 1 hurricane caused $1.1 billion worth of damage in the Caribbean and could be responsible for losses worth billions more as it passes close to some of the country’s biggest cities, lashing the area with rain and winds of up to 85mph.

The first bands of wind and rain from the 600-mile-wide storm battered the Outer Banks island chain off North Carolina early on Saturday, making making landfall on the coast in the afternoon and heading northeast at 14mph.

The storm claimed its first death after a man was hit by a falling tree limb in high winds in North Carolina. Nearly half a million customers were without power in North Carolina and Virgina.

Hurricane warnings have been issued from North Carolina to New York, with watches posted even further north on the islands of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard off the coast of Massachusetts.

Evacuation orders have been issued in areas where at least 2.3m people live, including 1m in New Jersey, 315,000 in Maryland, 300,000 in North Carolina, 200,000 in Virginia and 100,000 in Delaware.

New York City has ordered its subway system – the biggest underground railway in America, to close amid safety fears.

Other public transport systems were shut along the East Coast as emergencies were declared and hundreds of National Guard troops called up.

US airlines have cancelled more than 2,000 weekend flights.

Irene is expected to hit the Hampton Roads region of southeast Virginia, a jagged network of inlets and rivers which floods easily.

Emergency officials have said the region is more threatened by storm surge, the high waves that accompany a storm, than wind.

Heeding his own advice not to linger at the beach, President Barack Obama cut short his family’s vacation on Martha’s Vineyard and returned to Washington late on Friday.

A White House spokesman said the president felt it prudent to be back in Washington when Irene strikes.