Hurricane Irene begins lashing Carolinas

>>> up and down the east coast , officials in 11 states have now declared emergencies, officially and whether they have ordered people to get out or begged people to get out, they must leave, get out of harm's way before this storm arrives. we want to now begin our coverage down south, mark potter is in nags head , north carolina , along the outer banks , where as you can see, hurricane irene 's outer bands have already taken effect. hey, mark, good evening.

>> reporter: and good evening to you, brian. we are now feeling the first heavy rains from this hurricane and the wind and the waves are also starting to kick up here. that storm was out there on the horizon all day today and moving north, and that had everyone here moving fast to try to get ready. with little time left before it's too late, outer banks residents are making their final preparations.

>> who know what is the storm will be like, whether it's going to be big or not, but it's not worth a chance, so -- chris hall and a friend spent the day packing up his house before leaving town.

>> reporter: i am getting out. this is a 100-year-old house and it's kind of tired. so this isn't the place to weather a storm like this out.

>> but even with a mandatory evacuation order, many locals say they won't leave. 81-year-old moon tillot has been an outer banks fisherman his whole life and he's not about to run from this storm . his grandson ryan says riding out hurricanes is a way of life .

>> reporter: we have done it before and we'll probably end up doing it a lot more. we have got a bull's-eye on us here.

>> but emergency managers warn wind and water from this storm could be very destructive.

>> reporter: the roads are going to be overwashed with sand and water and debris. the houses will come off of their pilings or the foundations will be undermined.

>> forecasters say the worst-case scenario is for the eye of the hurricane to pass just west of the outer banks . first the leading winds will push water on to the eastern shore , then as the storm moves north, it will move water into the sound. when the water passes, the tailing northwest winds will push all of that water back on to the western shore of the outer banks , a potentially double hit. officials are urging people to get out now before the storm traps them and they can't leave. those officials also say that after this storm passes the outer banks will likely be closed off to returning traffic because of damage or flooded roads and that's why some residents still on the island today say they are not leaving, brian.

>> reporter: well, mark, hard to believe some folks down there, all on up the coast are being told to remain in place, three, five, seven days, if need be if they get cut off. mark potter starting us off on the

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