Mayor Nutter says the city is very concerned about the storm surge, and could see a 4 to 8 foot rise when paired with heavy rain that could bring near record flooding on the Delaware and severely impact streams and creeks.
"Let me emphasize one more time. We are asking the citizens of Philadelphia - if you live in a low lying area or a flood prone area, you need to relocate right now," said Mayor Nutter.
He announced that City government will be closed Monday, SEPTA will start shutting down service at midnight and people should only call 911 in the case of an emergency. In the case of non-emergencies, residents are asked to call 311.
In Philadelphia, the American Red Cross has set up emergency shelters Saturday at three schools that are expected to be opened Sunday beginning at 4:00 p.m.
Philadelphia:
West Philadelphia High School
4901 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA
Roxborough High School
6498 Ridge Avenue
Philadelphia, PA
Samuel Fels High School
5500 Langdon Street
Philadelphia, PA
(All open at 4pm Sunday)
Other Pennsylvania shelters include:
Montgomery County:
Pottstown High Schooll
750 North Washington Street
Pottstown, PA 19464
(Opens Sunday 7pm)
Cheltenham High School
500 Rices Mill Road
Wyncote, PA 19095
(Opens Sunday 7pm)
Norristown High School
1900 Eagle Drive
Norristown, PA 19403
(Opens Sunday 7pm)
Chester County:
Avon Grove High School
257 E. State Road
West Grove, PA 19390
(Opens Sunday 7pm)
Lionville Middle School
550 W. Uwchlan Avenue
Exton, PA 19341
(Opens Sunday 7pm)
Delaware County:
Showalter Science and Discovery School
1100 West 10th Street
Chester, PA 19013
(Opens Sunday 7pm)
Mayor Nutter says people are heeding evacuation warnings.
"Philadelphians are a pretty smart bunch, they get the message they understand the seriousness of these circumstances. They have heeded these calls in the past," said Nutter.
In flood prone areas like Manayunk, work was still being done to protect businesses on Main Street.
The owner of dyeing company, G.J. Littlewood and Son, says flood doors have been put in place to hold back flood water but he's not taking any chances.
"We have to empty out our warehouses which are the lower areas and that's about 200,000 pounds of fiber, a lot of that was trucked out yesterday," said David Littlewood.
Meanwhile Hurricane Sandy has already started to impact transportation services in and out of the city.
Early Monday evening, US Airways announced that all flights in and out of Philadelphia have been cancelled for Monday.
At 30th Street Station, trains were still moving but on Monday there will be no service in the entire Northeast Corridor including the Acela Express, Northeast Regional, Keystone trains.
At Philadelphia International Airport on Sunday afternoon, travelers were able to make it on to flights without any problems.
However as the evening goes on, the airport expects dozens of cancellations across the broad from numerous airlines.
