The exodus from the North Carolina coast has begun and tonight it is a slow motion, bumper to bumper march inland as tens of thousands heed warnings to get out of the way of Hurricane Irene. 
 
 Gas stations are running out, ATM's are out of cash and one woman was out of a very special night. 
 
 Melissa Cook was supposed to get married this weekend. 
 
 "The TV showed the mandatory evacuation and I burst into tears," Cook said. "Everything I had planned and dreamed about." 
 
 Hurricane Irene's wave of disappointment also affected beach goers in South Carolina. Police closed the beaches to swimming after six swimmers were rescued from rip currents caused by the massive storm. 
 
 As Irene -- a Category 3 hurricane with 115 mph winds -- blasted through the Bahamas, the U.S. began bracing for the storm's worst. 
 
 To See Irene's Expected Path Over East Coast, Click Here 
 
 Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, under President Obama's direction, contacted East Coast mayors and governors potentially in Irene's path. Later, she and FEMA director Craig Fugate later held a conference call with state, local, and tribal officials on planning for the storm. 
 
 "Given the unpredictability of these storms, we are currently planning for several scenarios, including potential impacts to major metro areas and critical infrastructure," Napolitano said in a Department of Homeland Security news release. 
 
 Evacuation orders were issued along the coast of North Carolina today in Dare, Currituck and Cateret counties. There are 180,000 people just in Dare County and another 150,000 people were told to get out of Ocean City, Md. 
 
 "This is a very, very serious situation," said Dorothy Toolan, public information officer for Dare County, N.C. "We have not seen anything like this in the lifetimes of most our residents...Once the storm hits it will be very difficult to respond to distress calls." 
 
 Not everyone was heading out of town. The parking lot of a Wal-Mart in Moorehead City in Cateret County was filled with people stocking up on supplies to ride out the storm. 
 
 "I've lived through hurricanes all my life, and I've only run from one," said a man who identified himself simply as George. "Unless it's a (category) 4 or 5 coming straight at me, I'm not leaving." 
 
 "I'm going to sit at home, watch television and play on my computer. I'm not worried about this thing," George said. 
 
 In Florida, at least 8 people were hurt after a wave knocked them over on the jerry they were on off Boynton Beach Inlet, The Associated Press reported. 
 
 Others were taking no chances. A state of emergency was declared in Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. 
 
 New York City's Mayor Michael Bloomberg said police are deploying more than 80 boats around the city as well as several helicopters to prepare for emergencies. City hospitals have tested their emergency generators, and the city's airports are stockpiling diapers, cots, blankets, pillow and bottles of water. 
 
 Fearing Irene's wrath, Amtrak announced it is canceling all train service south of Washington D.C. for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 
 
 Irene is traveling at 12 mph, making it a slow moving storm which will allow it to hover over an area and area to dump rain and batter it with ferocious winds for an expended period. ||||| Separately, several cities, including Stamford, Conn., and Islip, N.Y., also ordered residents out of flood-prone areas. 
 
 “As conditions continue to deteriorate we’re seeing more people," with rain and increasing winds, she told NBC News. 
 
 Five shelters were open in Atlantic County for those five affected municipalities that are home to some 66,000 people, according to census data, said Linda Gilmore, a county spokeswoman. One of the shelters was already full. 
 
 Delaware Gov. Jack Markell ordered a mandatory evacuation of an estimated 50,000 people in coastal communities. In New Jersey, mandatory evacuations were ordered for Sandy Hook south to Cape May, an area that includes the casinos in Atlantic City and popular beach resorts. 
 
 The city opened 65 shelters in public schools on Sunday morning and said more could be opened. Last year, the mayor called for an evacuation in anticipation of Tropical Storm Irene, which officials called unprecedented. 
 
 “This evacuation is mandatory. It is for your own safety,” Bloomberg said. 
 
 New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered mandatory evacuations (.PDF) of 375,000 people from low-lying areas in New York City, signifying officials' growing concern about the severity of the storm and its impact on the five boroughs. About 45,000 of those were people living in public housing, where the heat, hot water and elevator services will be turned off, Bloomberg said, according to NBCNewYork.com . 
 
 Mandatory evacuations Forecasters said Sandy could make U.S. landfall anywhere between Maryland and southern New England. Some computer models show a likely landfall between Delaware and the New York/New Jersey area, where the storm surge could reach from 6 feet to 11 feet. 
 
 "The combination of an extremely dangerous storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters," the National Hurricane Center said in its advisory. 
 
 A late Sunday advisory from the National Hurricane Center said Sandy was about 290 miles east of Cape Hatteras, N.C., and 470 miles south-southeast of New York City. It was moving northeast at 14 mph. 
 
 “Sandy is a large hurricane and large systems pose multiple hazards for more people than … smaller systems of comparable intensity,” National Hurricane Center Director Rick Knabb said Sunday. “The large size of the system is why it is so capable of producing a life threatening storm surge, with that threat being applicable to many areas.” 
 
 In anticipation of widespread damage and vast power outages, states of emergency were declared in nine states from North Carolina to Maine, as well as in Washington, D.C., as Sandy made its way north after killing at least 65 people in the Caribbean. 
 
 Workers on Sunday night began shutting down New York City's subway, bus and commuter railroads , as ordered by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. In New Jersey, bus, rail and light rail services were gradually shut down starting Sunday afternoon. 
 
 "The size of this alone, affecting a heavily populated area, is going to be history making," said Jeff Masters, a hurricane specialist who writes a blog posted on the Weather Underground . 
 
 Sandy could be the largest storm ever to hit the United States, according to NOAA's website . 
 
 "We're looking at impact of greater than 50 to 60 million people," said Louis Uccellini, head of environmental prediction for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). 
 
 Forecasters said Sandy has the ingredients to transform into a "super storm" as it merges with an Arctic jet stream, which could make the storm unlike anything seen over the eastern United States in decades. The storm is projected to make landfall late Monday . 
 
 Meanwhile, U.S. stock exchanges said they would not be trading on Monday and possibly Tuesday. In Washington, D.C., federal offices will remain closed Monday, and federal courts in affected areas sent out releases saying they, too, would be shuttered in anticipation of the historic storm. 
 
 A day before the storm was scheduled to make landfall, state and local officials issued mandatory evacuation orders for hundreds of thousands of residents in low-lying areas and began the slow, grinding process of shutting down New York City’s massive transit system. 
 
 Hurricane Sandy lumbered toward the East Coast early Monday, leaving potentially tens of millions of residents with only hours to prepare for its onslaught of punishing wind, torrential rains and, at higher elevations, heavy snow. 
 
 Tips on preparing for Sandy 
 
 Not everyone was heeding the evacuation orders. Peter Mercatanti, 26, who lives on Deauville Beach in Mantoloking, N.J., said Sunday afternoon that he had kayaks ready and had packed wet suits, waterproof book bags, flares, glow sticks, flashlights, propane and food to bear out the storm. 
 
 He had stocked sandbags around his home and put up shelter blinds on all of the windows and the doors. But ocean water was hitting his fence and winds that he estimated to be about 25 to 30 miles an hour could be heard screaming on the beach. 
 
 “I just wanted to be here for it, see it, experience it, and try to take care of my house as much as possible,” Mercatanti, a chief of operations for a gym chain, told NBC News by telephone. 
 
 Though he is "extremely worried," he won't leave the island but will head to a friend's house nearby if need be. 
 
 Peter Mercatanti won't leave his house on Deauville Beach in Mantoloking, N.J., saying he wants to home to experience the storm and try to take care of his house. "I can be sustainable and floating," he said. He took this image around 6 p.m. ET on Sunday. 
 
 "I’ve pretty much kind of prepared for every possible situation," he said. "I can be sustainable and floating." 
 
 The Coast Guard also rescued a surfer near Sea Bright, N.J., where authorities have issued mandatory evacuations. 
 
 "We can't stress enough to stay clear of beaches," said Chief Petty Officer Rodger Krass, the command duty officer in the New York sector, said in a statement. "Now is not the time to head out onto the water to go surfing as sea conditions are extremely dangerous and are continuing to worsen as Hurricane Sandy approaches shore." 
 
 President Barack Obama on Sunday visited the National Response Coordination Center at FEMA Headquarters, where the deployment of federal resources and teams to states up and down the East Coast will be coordinated, the White House said. 
 
 Calling it a "very serious storm event," he said: "This is going to affect a big swath of the country and because it's slow moving, it could be a number of days until people get power back." 
 
 FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate said earlier Sunday that the "time for preparing and talking is about over." 
 
 "People need to be acting now particularly as this storm … is becoming a rather substantial risk to storm surge," he added. The hurricane is "going to produce very high potential life threatening storm surge … that may require additional evacuations today." 
 
 Coastal flooding posed a major threat, particularly in low-lying areas like New York City, the global financial nerve center, and Alexandria, Va., across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. Flooding also could occur in parts of North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New York, the National Hurricane Center said. 
 
 But Fugate warned that "this is not a coastal threat alone" and that the impact will be felt "well inland." 
 
 Share your images of Hurricane Sandy preparations 
 
 Some areas could experience up to a foot of rain, while others, such as West Virginia, Virginia and the area around the North Carolina-Tennessee border, could get from 1 to 3 feet of snow. 
 
 Sandy's winds were not overwhelming for a hurricane -- sustained near 75 mph Sunday afternoon with higher gusts. But its width is exceptional. Hurricane force winds extended up to 175 miles from its center while its lesser tropical storm-force winds reached across 520 miles. 
 
 Officials urged residents to stock up on emergency supplies, but items like lanterns, generators, propane, rain boots and batteries were hard to find at stores throughout the region. Grocery stores also reported runs on bread, bottled water and canned foods. 
 
 Long lines also were reported at gas stations that remained open. 
 
 Sandy also was disrupting travel in the region. More than 6,800 flights have been canceled so far, according to FlightAware.com, a flight tracking website. Rail traffic also was impacted, with Amtrak canceling all of its northeast corridor service in addition to some other lines it operates in the region. 
 
 Some local governments, including New York City and Washington, D.C., announced schools would be closed on Monday and Tuesday. Federal government offices in Washington, D.C., will also be closed Monday and non-emergency employees there as well as in Connecticut and Massachusetts have been told not to come to work. 
 
 The Broadway League said it was calling off all Broadway performances on Sunday and Monday evenings. 
 
 Workers also halted construction on Saturday at the World Trade Center, where efforts to secure the site were ongoing, Cuomo said in a statement. All construction materials have been tied down and nailed to concrete floors, or secured with heavy chains, and more than 1,000 sandbags had been placed around low-lying areas next to Battery Park and the Hudson River. 
 
 "I've directed the Port Authority to ensure that the World Trade Center site and the Memorial are protected from flooding and high winds due to Hurricane Sandy," Cuomo said. "The World Trade Center is being built well above and beyond normal flood protection standards; however we must take every precaution to ensure the site is protected from a potentially historic storm." 
 
 Election issues 
 
 Coming in the hectic run-up to the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 6, the storm presented a challenge to the campaigns of Obama and his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney. 
 
 Obama canceled campaign stops in Virginia and Colorado early next week because of the hurricane and was planning to remain at the White House, his spokesman said Saturday. 
 
 Romney rescheduled his campaign events for Virginia on Sunday and headed to Ohio instead. 
 
 Obama said officials did not expect the storm to impact voting, "but we're obviously going to have a look." Meantime, Maryland’s governor also announced that early voting in the state would be canceled Monday, so as not to jeopardize the safety of voters, NBC Washington reported. 
 
 Sandy is set to deliver potential election surprise 
 
 Power outages caused by the storm, expected to affect millions or residents and businesses, could continue through the election, NBC meteorologist Bill Karins warned. Some 3,000 people were without power in Virginia, where it was raining Sunday and up to 200 people were going to be evacuated, said Gov. Robert McDonnell. 
 
 "After the storm hits, expect the cleanup and power outage restoration to continue right up through Election Day," Karins said. "Serious and life-threatening weather conditions are expected from Outer Banks to New England." 
 
 Although Sandy is not forecast to be as strong as other recent storms to hit the Northeast -- such as Hurricane Irene in August 2011, which left $4 billion in damage -- it holds the potential to cause significant damage because it will be moving slowly. 
 
 Some experts predict at least $1 billion in damage in the United States. 
 
 Insurers prepare for impact of Hurricane Sandy ||||| Hurricane Sandy bore down on the Eastern Seaboard's largest cities Monday, forcing the shutdown of mass transit, schools and financial markets, sending coastal residents fleeing, and threatening a dangerous mix of high winds, soaking rain and a surging wall of water up to 11 feet tall. 
 
 Sandbags line the entrance of a building as people walk by near the Hudson River water front, Sunday, Oct. 28, 2012, in Hoboken, N.J. Tens of thousands of people were ordered to evacuate coastal areas... (Associated Press) 
 
 Sarah Korman and Michael Cunba, who evacuated their home in Long Beach, N.Y., bring their dogs Jade, left, and Ava to a pet shelter at Mitchell Park's Field House, run by the Nassau County Office of Emergency... (Associated Press) 
 
 People venture out during the strong winds and high surf of the Atlantic Ocean before the arrival of Hurricane Sandy on Sunday, Oct., 28, 2012, in Long Beach, N.Y. (AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek) (Associated Press) 
 
 A maintenance worker named Vitto attaches plywood to a sidewalk grate at the 2 Broadway building of Lower Manhattan in New York, Sunday, Oct. 28, 2012, as a child walks along the temporary structure.... (Associated Press) 
 
 Shoppers pass an empty egg section of a Food Emporium supermarket in the West Village in the wake of the storm, Sunday, Oct. 28, 2012, in New York. Tens of thousands of people were ordered to evacuate... (Associated Press) 
 
 Teresa Perez of Buxton, N.C., runs off a sand dune near Cape Hatteras Lighthouse on Hatteras Island Sunday, Oct. 28, 2012, as Hurricane Sandy works its way north, battering the U.S. East Coast. (AP Photo/The... (Associated Press) 
 
 This NOAA satellite image taken Sunday, Oct. 28, 2012 shows Hurricane Sandy off the Mid Atlantic coastline moving toward the north with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph. Tens of thousands of people were... (Associated Press) 
 
 Michael Bolick works on the roof of his friend Chris Villarreal's house Sunday, Oct. 28, 2012, in Sunset Park, N.C. Forecasters say Hurricane Sandy is a couple of hundred miles off the North Carolina... (Associated Press) 
 
 Mark Palazzolo, owner of a bait and tackle shop on the Manasquan Inlet in Point Pleasant Beach, N.J., sits next to wood he has used to board up his business in previous major storms, Sunday, Oct. 28,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Graphic shows the population density of areas projected to get more than two inches of rain from the superstorm (Associated Press) 
 
 This satellite image from the National Hurricane Center in Miami shows Sandy, at 10:03 a.m., Sunday, Oct. 28, 2012. Hurricane Sandy was headed north from the Caribbean, where it left nearly five dozen... (Associated Press) 
 
 Mayor Michael Bloomberg speaks to the media at Seward Park High School on the lower east side, the site of one of many public shelters set up in preparation of the storm, Sunday, Oct. 28, 2012, in New... (Associated Press) 
 
 Oswaldo Falleres puts tape on the window of a restaurant in preparation for the arrival of superstorm Sandy, Sunday, Oct. 28, 2012, in Hoboken, N.J. Tens of thousands of people were ordered to evacuate... (Associated Press) 
 
 Sandy strengthened before dawn and stayed on a predicted path toward Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York _ putting it on a collision course with two other weather systems that would create a superstorm with the potential for havoc over 800 miles from the East Coast to the Great Lakes. About 2 to 3 feet of snow were even forecast for mountainous parts of West Virginia. 
 
 The tempest could endanger up to 50 million people for days. 
 
 Many workers planned to stay home Monday as subways, buses and trains shut down across the region under the threat of flooding that could inundate tracks and tunnels. Airports also closed, and authorities warned that the time for evacuation was running out or already past. Utilities brought in extra crews, anticipating widespread power failures. 
 
 The center of the storm was positioned to come ashore Monday night in New Jersey, meaning the worst of the surge could be in the northern part of that state and in New York City and on Long Island. Higher tides brought by a full moon compounded the threat to the metropolitan area of about 20 million people. 
 
 "This is the worst-case scenario," said Louis Uccellini, environmental prediction chief for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 
 
 As rain from the leading edges began to fall over the Northeast on Sunday, hundreds of thousands of people from Maryland to Connecticut were ordered to leave low-lying coastal areas, including 375,000 in lower Manhattan and other parts of New York City, 50,000 in Delaware and 30,000 in Atlantic City, N.J., where the city's 12 casinos shut down for only the fourth time ever. 
 
 "I think this one's going to do us in," said Mark Palazzolo, who boarded up his bait-and-tackle shop in Point Pleasant Beach, N.J., with the same wood he used in past storms, crossing out the names of Hurricanes Isaac and Irene and spray-painting "Sandy" next to them. "I got a call from a friend of mine from Florida last night who said, `Mark, get out! If it's not the storm, it'll be the aftermath. People are going to be fighting in the streets over gasoline and food.'" 
 
 President Barack Obama declared emergencies in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, authorizing federal relief work to begin well ahead of time. He promised the government would "respond big and respond fast" after the storm hits. 
 
 "My message to the governors as well as to the mayors is anything they need, we will be there, and we will cut through red tape," Obama said. "We are not going to get bogged down with a lot of rules." 
 
 Authorities warned that New York could get hit with a surge of seawater that could swamp parts of lower Manhattan, flood subway tunnels and cripple the network of electrical and communications lines that are vital to the nation's financial center. 
 
 Major U.S. financial markets, including the New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq and CME Group in Chicago, planned a rare shutdown Monday. The NYSE closed on Sept. 27, 1985, for Hurricane Gloria. The United Nations also shut down and canceled all meetings at its New York headquarters. 
 
 New York called off school Monday for the city's 1.1 million students and announced it would suspend all train, bus and subway service Sunday night. More than 5 million riders a day depend on the transit system. 
 
 "If you don't evacuate, you are not only endangering your life, you are also endangering the lives of the first responders who are going in to rescue you," Mayor Michael Bloomberg warned. "This is a serious and dangerous storm." 
 
 New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was typically blunt: "Don't be stupid. Get out." 
 
 Wary of being seen as putting their political pursuits ahead of public safety, Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney reshuffled campaign plans as the storm approached. 
 
 In Virginia, one of the most competitive states, election officials eased absentee voting requirements for those affected by the storm. Early voting was canceled Monday in Maryland and the District of Columbia. 
 
 Sandy, a Category 1 hurricane with sustained winds of 85 mph early Monday, was blamed for 65 deaths in the Caribbean before it began traveling northward, parallel to the Eastern Seaboard. As of 5 a.m. Monday, it was centered about 385 miles south-southeast of New York City, moving to the north at 15 mph, with hurricane-force winds extending an unusual 175 miles from its center. 
 
 Gale-force winds blew overnight over coastal North Carolina, southeastern Virginia, the Delmarva Peninsula and coastal New Jersey. 
 
 Sandy was expected to hook inland Monday, colliding with a wintry storm moving in from the west and cold air streaming down from the Arctic, and then cut across into Pennsylvania and travel up through New York state. 
 
 Forecasters said the combination could bring close to a foot of rain in places, a potentially lethal storm surge of 4 to 11 feet across much of the region, and punishing winds that could cause widespread power outages that last for days. The storm could also dump up to 2 feet of snow in Kentucky, North Carolina and West Virginia. 
 
 Airlines canceled nearly 7,500 flights and Amtrak began suspending train service across the Northeast. New York, Philadelphia, Washington and Baltimore moved to shut down their subways, buses and trains. Those cities shut down their schools, as did Boston. Non-essential government offices closed in the nation's capital. 
 
 Pennsylvania's largest utilities brought in hundreds of line and tree-trimming crews in anticipation of several days of power failures or intentional shutdowns in areas with heavy flooding. 
 
 In New Jersey, where utilities were widely criticized last year for slow responses after the remnants of storms Irene and Lee, authorities promised a better performance. More than 5,000 homes and businesses already were without electricity early Monday, mainly in Ocean and Cumberland counties. 
 
 About 90 miles off the coast of Cape Hatteras, N.C., 17 people abandoned a replica of the tall ship made famous in the film "Mutiny on the Bounty" after the vessel began taking on water, said Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class David Weydert. 
 
 The Coast Guard is trying to determine whether to use cutters or helicopters to rescue the crew, who are in two lifeboats and are wearing survival suits and life jackets, he added. 
 
 On Sunday evening in Rehoboth, Del., only a few cars rolled along Route 1, an artery that is often bumper-to-bumper in summer. 
 
 "We were told to get the heck out. I was going to stay, but it's better to be safe than sorry," said Hugh Phillips, who was one of the first in line when a Red Cross shelter opened Sunday afternoon in neighboring Lewes. 
 
 Despite the dire warnings, some refused to budge. 
 
 Jonas Clark of Manchester Township, N.J. _ right in Sandy's projected path _ stood outside a convenience store, calmly sipping a coffee and wondering why people were working themselves "into a tizzy." 
 
 "I've seen a lot of major storms in my time, and there's nothing you can do but take reasonable precautions and ride out things the best you can," said Clark, 73. 
 
 The storm threatened to drench areas still recovering from last year's deluges. 
 
 In Pompton Lakes, N.J., where record flooding inundated homes a year ago, some residents were already putting belongings out near the curb in advance of the storm. 
 
 "They're figuring, divide and conquer," said resident Kevin Gogots. "They'll take the stuff they want to save and put the rest out. Of course, if the street floods again, we'll just have things floating around." 
 
 ___ 
 
 Breed reported from Raleigh, N.C.; Contributing to this report were AP Science Writer Seth Borenstein in Washington; Katie Zezima in Atlantic City, N.J.; David Porter in Pompton Lakes, N.J.; Wayne Parry in Point Pleasant Beach, N.J.; and David Dishneau in Delaware.
– Frightened North Carolinians fleeing Irene are jamming highways as the East Coast steels for what could be the biggest hurricane in decades. At least seven states have now declared a state of emergency, and hundreds of flights are being canceled. Gas stations are running out of fuel and ATMs have been emptied of cash as Americans hit the road for a bumper-to-bumper trip out of Irene's angry path. The Category 3 storm is expected to hit the Southeast sometime tomorrow, and hundreds of thousands of residents have been ordered out of their homes in three North Carolina counties. Norfolk, Va., is also ordering residents to evacuate, and Washington, DC, has been forced to postpone Sunday's planned MLK Memorial dedication. "This is a very, very serious situation," a spokeswoman for Dare County told ABC News. "We have not seen anything like this in the lifetimes of most our residents. Once the storm hits, it will be very difficult to respond to distress calls." Irene is some 700 miles wide now and moving at a slow 12mph, which means it can wreak extensive damage in a region over a long period of time; it could cause up to $13.9 billion in damage on the East Coast. The storm is expected to barrel into New York City on Sunday, packing winds of up to 90mph. New Jersey communities are already being evacuated, and hundreds of street fairs have been canceled and elder care facilities and hospitals in low-lying area will be evacuated in New York today. NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg says residents in low-lying parts of the city should get out today as the transit system is planned to be shut down tomorrow.