Flooding Reported in Downtown Ocean City Prior to Irene's Arrival

Water is rapidly approaching the protective dune system and bouncing off the boardwalk sea wall in Ocean City. But, these conditions are just the beginning a very long night.

Hurricane Irene isn't quite here yet, but you can certainly feel her coming.

As expected, the entire downtown region of Ocean City is flooded about a foot of water, but town officials say another two feet of water could be added to that total, as high tide and hurricane force winds hit almost simultaneously around 7 p.m.

Reports coming from the city's hurricane headquarters continue to change slightly concerning Irene’s exact path and what that will mean for the resort, but the bottom line is that this is just the beginning, and the worst is yet to come.

Further inland, power outages in Worcester and Wicomico Counties have been reported, and high winds have knocked down trees and picked up large items like backyard trampolines and turned them into flying objects of residential destruction.

Mayor Rick Meehan says when Irene eventually passes by Ocean City around 1 a.m. tonight; she will only be between 15 and 30 miles off the coast.