Hurricane Irene Leaves Flooding, Power Outages in Northeast

WASHINGTON, Aug. 28, 2011— -- New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said his state is facing record flooding and power outages after Hurricane Irene barreled across the Northeast this morning, but successful evacuations and federal coordination have reduced potential loss of life in the storm.

"Early reports are very difficult," Christie told ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Jake Tapper, after the storm came ashore in New Jersey after 6 a.m. "We have over half-a-million people that are now without power. We have 15,000 people in 45 shelters across the state; 250 roads are closed; and we are going to look at a record flooding situation here, both at the shore and inland."

According to reports Saturday, some 500 seniors refused to evacuate from high rises in Atlantic City, but Christie said efforts will soon be made to ensure they have safely weathered the hurricane.

"The good news is that we evacuated over a million people from the Jersey shore in 24 hours without incident," Christie said. "And if those people had stayed at the Jersey shore, I think we'd be talking about significant loss of life. And now, hopefully, we're not going to be talking about that."

Christie urged residents to stay in their homes until the storm had passed over the state, warning that one woman in New Jersey had been swept away in flood waters after getting out of her car in high waters.

Related Stories

Man dies after setting himself on fire near court

• Apr 20, 9:00 AM

Could popular vote decide presidential elections?

• Apr 21, 6:23 AM

OJ Simpson dies at 76

• Apr 11, 6:32 PM

"We are far from out of the woods on the storm itself," Christie warned. "So, please, stay in your homes until the storm has completely left New Jersey. Then we'll be able to get through this together in the aftermath, but I need people to stay at home."

Christie said that continued flooding is his greatest concern, after an already rainy August in the state has saturated the ground.

"In the short term, in the next couple of days, my big concern is the inland flooding and the shore flooding and how we're going to deal with folks who maybe have to be evacuated from their homes and need to be sheltered," Christie said.