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Light Rain County issues mandatory evacuations in Merrick and Bellmore
Bellmore and Merrick Residents south of Merrick Road lie within the evacuation zone issued by nassau County
Merrick and Bellmore residents located south of Merrick Road have been forced to evacuate their homes this weekend in anticipation of Hurricane Irene, as Nassau County has ordered mandatory evacuations of tens of thousands of South Shore homes.
On Friday afternoon, County Executive Ed Mangano announced that all residents living south of Sunrise Highway, between the Queens border and Rockville Centre, and south of Merrick Road, between Rockville Centre and the Suffolk County border, which includes Merrick and Bellmore, must leave their homes by 5 p.m. Saturday.
Nassau County is in line for a direct hit from the hurricane, with rain and heavy winds expected to start late Saturday and continue through Sunday evening. As 11 a.m. Eastern time, according to the NOAA’s National Weather Service, the center of Hurricane Irene was located about 100 miles southwest of Cape Hatteras, N.C. Irene is moving toward the north-northeast near 15 mph and this general motion is expected to continue for the next 24 hours.
Merrick and Bellmore may experience over 4 inches of rain by Saturday night, according to the National Weather Service, and by Sunday, winds could gust as high as 85 mph.
