Irene Now A Tropical Storm, Makes Landfall Over NYC

Eddie Lima, left, and Nancy Zakhary wade through a flooded area near the Brooklyn Bridge in New York to take some pictures, Sunday, Aug. 28, 2011. Hurricane Irene bore down on a dark and quiet New York early Sunday, bringing winds and rapidly rising seawater that threatened parts of the city. The rumble of the subway system was silenced for the first time in years, the city all but shut down for the strongest tropical lashing since the 1980s. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Hurricane Irene lost enough strength to be downgraded to a tropical storm just as it made landfall in New York, but Long Islanders and New Yorkers still experienced power outages, flooding and downed trees.

Tropical Storm Irene made landfall over Coney Island, Brooklyn at around 9 a.m., bringing winds of up to 65 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. Damaging winds, flooding rains and significant coastal flooding are expected to continue into Sunday afternoon, meteorologists said.

FULL HURRICANE IRENE COVERAGE: LIVE RADAR, SOCIAL MEDIA UPDATES AND HURRICANE PREPAREDNESS GUIDE

A tornado warning was briefly in effect overnight and a tornado watch for Nassau and Suffolk counties expired at 5 a.m. Long Island Rail Road, Long Island Bus, Suffolk County Transit, New York City subways and all area airports were closed after flights in the Northeast were canceled Saturday in anticipation of the storm.

Nassau County police said the Long Island Expressway westbound was closed due to flooding between exits 39 and 40 along with North Long Beach Road between Merrick Road and Sunrise Highway. The ocean reportedly breached the dunes in Montauk and some vehicles were submerged across the island.

As of 10:30 LIPA reported 431,361 customers were without power. On Saturday they shut down electric service to Fire Island, Captree Island, Robert Moses, and Oak Island with the mandatory evacuations.

Tens of thousands of Long Islanders evacuated their homes in low-lying coastal areas before the storm hit.

Last night, in anticipation of Irene, Gov. Andrew Cuomo along with local officials including Suffolk County Executive, Steve Levy urged residents to take cover and also added over 1,000 National Guards members to the surrounding area.