Hurricane Irene arrives on the US east coast

A stranded yacht is beached near the Willoughby Spit area of Norfolk, Virginia Photograph: Steve Helber/AP

Milk refrigerators sit almost empty at a Target supermarket in New York Photograph: Andrew Gombert/EPA

Palm trees are battered by the wind in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina Photograph: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images

A jogger passes sandbags used to defend against possible floods in downtown Manhattan Photograph: Eduardo Munoz/Reuters

A shopper in South Bellmore, New York, pushes a shopping trolley full of sand bags Photograph: Kathy Kmonicek/AP

Workers prepare for the upcoming hurricane in a school turned into a shelter in Brooklyn, New York Photograph: Fan Xia/Corbis

Juliana Beasley takes her dogs on the subway while evacuating them from Jersey City Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

People evacuate their apartments in Battery Park, Manhattan Photograph: Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images

A subway worker prepares to lock the gates at Union Square station Photograph: Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images

Rhiannon Shaw, 9, tries to stay warm on the beach with friends as Irene passes through Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina Photograph: Randall Hill/Reuters

Charlene Tyler picks up sandbags during a distribution in Washington DC Photograph: Win McNamee/Getty Images

A man loads a kayak onto his car as he packs to leave New York Photograph: Andrew Gombert/EPA

Residents of Far Rockaway, New York crowd onto a bus as they evacuate the area Photograph: Mike Segar/Reuters

Waves crash into a pier in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

Nearly empty bread shelves seen in a Manhattan grocery store Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images

Workers board up windows in the South Street Seaport area of New York Photograph: Andrew Gombert/EPA

Boats are trapped between land and a jetty in Morehead City, North Carolina Photograph: Chuck Burton/AP

A man evacuating Coney Island walks up the ramp to the subway to catch the last train Photograph: Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters

Barack Obama and his family walk across the lawn of the White House after curtailing a family vacation on Martha's Vineyard Photograph: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP

A row of houses are lashed by wind, rain, and the rising Atlantic Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

People line up with their luggage as they wait to enter a temporary shelter in New York Photograph: Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images

People run through the rain towards the West 72nd Street subway station entire subway system prepared to close Photograph: Andrew Burton/Getty Images

A subway worker locks the gates at Grand Central Station Photograph: John G. Mabanglo/EPA