Hurricane Irene continues to move up the East Coast with sustained winds of 85 mph. The storm has already claimed the lives of four people since making landfall in the U.S. Saturday morning.

Nearly 1 million people are also without electricity in North Carolina and Virginia, as reported by CNN.

According to the National Hurricane Center, Irene was 95 miles south of Norfolk, Va., as of 2 p.m. EST. It was moving across eastern North Carolina. Though Irene hit the East Coast as a category one storm, FEMA and U.S. officials have warned that the risks are still great and that it can still be devastating. more >>

Four deaths caused by Hurricane Irene’s relentless battering along the shores of North Carolina are the first casualties being reported today; one of the tragic deaths is reportedly a young child.

Paramedics in North Carolina say a man was killed outside his home by a tree limb blown down by hurricane-force winds. A second man died after suffering a heart attack while putting plywood over the windows of his Onslow County, N.C., home, according to the News & Observer.

A falling tree limb killed a third man in Nash County, N.C. An 11-year-old boy died in Newport News, Va., after a tree fell on an apartment complex, reports CBS affiliate WTKR. more >>

Hurricane Irene made landfall in the U.S. Saturday morning, bringing rain and winds at 85 mph to the coast of North Carolina.

The Category 1 storm knocked out power in more than 227,000 homes and businesses, North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue said Saturday, according to CNN. Some counties in the state are expected to see up to nine inches of rain.

According to the National Weather Service Doppler, the eye of Irene made landfall near Cape Lookout, N.C., around 7:30 a.m. EST. Irene is moving toward the north-northeast and is forecast to move over southern New England on Sunday. more >>

The Christian Emergency Network (CEN) has urged people along the East Coast to leave their homes and churches as soon as possible.

“A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it…‘Proverbs 22:3 NIV',” stated the alert released by CEN.

The Christian Post talked to Misti McHatton, communications director of CEN, who said the organization offered Christian responses to natural disasters. more >>

With Hurricane Irene expected to make landfall this weekend, people were taking to Twitter to remember one of America's most destructive hurricanes, Katrina. Ironically, the sixth anniversary of the storm's landfall is just three days away.

Although some users on Twitter were wondering how the term "Katrina" had made it onto the social network site's top 10 Trend list, others were remembering how being unprepared for the 2005 storm wreaked havoc on the nation.

One Twitter user, Kim Bondy (@KimBondy), offered useful advice: "Hurricane Preps: Get lots of cash from the ATM and lots of singles and 5's. ATMS were shut down after #katrina. Cash is power." more >>

Hurricane Irene’s maximum sustained winds have dropped to 105 mph, the National Hurricane Center reported Friday morning.

The U.S. East Coast is bracing itself for the storm’s arrival, but the center now says it does not expect Hurricane Irene to strengthen before it hits the East Coast.

The hurricane is now a Category 2 storm with winds of 96 mph to 110 mph, which does not present as big of a threat of damage as previously touted. Winds of that speed are of course considered very dangerous though, and certainly capable of causing widespread destruction. more >>