Philadelphia braces for Irene

As hurricane Irene heads towards the east coast, Philadelphia is preparing for a major storm to blow into town over the weekend.

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter says the city could receive seven inches or more of rain over the weekend. With August already the wettest on record, he says the ground won’t be able to absorb the extra water.

“What seven inches of water would look like if this were a snow event…this would be seven feet of snow, so it’s just a different kind of thing, this is like a massive snow event in the middle of the summer,” he imagined.

Nutter is advising residents near creeks and rivers that tend to overflow their banks to make evacuation plans, although he is not calling for residents to leave yet.