Nightly News   |  August 26, 2011

Thousands flee ahead of Irene

From Virginia, to Maryland, to Delaware, beaches along the Atlantic are usually packed with tourists in late August. But with a mandatory evacuation order now in effect, hundreds of thousands have clogged the highways to move to higher ground. NBC’s Tom Costello reports from Ocean City, Md.

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>> north to ocean city , maryland where the storm is washing out a lot of plans, but of course mump more serious than that, nbc's tom costello is there.

>> reporter: ocean city sits on the northern barrier island , they are expecting irene will come over the top of us from south to in order, from virginia to delaware, it's packed with tourists this year. this time however, this year with a mandatory evacuation order now in effect, hundreds of thousands have clogged the highways to move inland, they have left behind virtual ghost towns of empty streets and boardwalks and strehotels. the last time ocean city ordered this time of an evacuation was in 1985 for hurricane gloria , but emergency managers fear this time it could be different.

>> we're going to get a lot of rain, we're going to get a lot of wind and we're going to get a lot of surge and it's going to come at in a short period of time for a long prt.

>> reporter: in washington, they're also stockpiling sandbags and preparing for localized flooding especially along the potomac river , and in alexandria, virginia, old town always floods so they're watching that and stockpiling sandbags. but right now we have a vacant beach and the calm before the storm .

>> the ocean behind you getting a little sporty there. tom costello, ocean city , maryland. now