Bloomberg: NYC evacuees can soon return home
By DAVID B. CARUSO and COLLEEN LONG, Associated Press
Aug 28, 2011 12:46 PM CDT
Trees blow in a gust of wind, early Sunday, Aug. 28, 2011, in New York as Hurricane Irene approaches the region. Irene has the potential to cause billions of dollars in damage along a densely populated arc that includes Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, Boston and beyond. At least 65 million...   (Associated Press)

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg says residents who had been ordered out of their homes in low-lying areas will be allowed to return Sunday afternoon.

Bloomberg says the evacuation order put in place for Hurricane Irene will be lifted as of 3 p.m. He had ordered more than 370,000 people out of those areas. They were mostly in lower Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.

Not everyone waited, and people had already started making their way back to their homes. Some defied the order and didn't evacuate in the first place.

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