Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene's death toll sits at 35; can increase further. - Polidicks

this just has to show that Hurricane Irene did not only affect chairs.. it's a serious thing that nobody seems to get the picture of. our vacation house was flooded. [release]New England towns battled floods of historic proportions, utility crews struggled to restore power to 5 million people along the East Coast, and big-city commuters coped with transit-system disruptions Monday as the rainy remnants of Hurricane Irene finally spun into Canada. The death toll climbed to 35 people in 10 states after a number of bodies were pulled from the floodwaters in the Northeast. The storm never became the big-city nightmare forecasters and public officials had warned about. But it toppled trees and power lines and washed away roads and bridges — some of them well inland from the coastal areas that bore the brunt of Irene's winds. In Vermont and upstate New York, normally placid streams turned into raging torrents tumbling with tree limbs, cars and parts of bridges. Hundreds of Vermonters were told to leave their homes after Irene dumped several inches of rain on the landlocked state. Gov. Peter Shumlin called it the worst flooding in a century, and the state was declared a federal disaster area. Communities were cut off, roads washed out, and at least a dozen bridges lost, including at least three historic covered bridges. "We prepared for the worst and we got the worst in central and southern Vermont," Shumlin said Monday. "We have extraordinary infrastructure damage." Video posted on Facebook showed a 141-year-old covered bridge in Rockingham, Vt., swept away by the roiling, muddy Williams River. In another video, an empty car somersaulted down a river in Bennington. "It's pretty fierce. I've never seen anything like it," said Michelle Guevin, who spoke from a Brattleboro restaurant after leaving her home in nearby Newfane. Officials at one point thought they might have to flood the state capital, Montpelier, to relieve pressure on a dam. But by Monday morning that threat had eased. President Barack Obama, speaking from the Rose Garden, pledged the federal government would be doing everything in its power to ensure people have what they need to get back on their feet, saying it will take time to recover from the storm. Across the Northeast, commuters coped with slowly restarting transit systems as the workweek began. In New York City, the nation's largest mass transit system returned to life early Monday with bus service and all subways up and running by midday. Commuter rail service to Long Island and New Jersey was being partially restored, and trains from the city's northern suburbs were to reopen on a limited basis later Monday. Commuter trains from New Jersey were not running. Riders were warned to expect long lines and long waits, but early commuters reported empty subways and smooth rides. Mentor Vargas, 54, said he made his 40-minute trip on a New York subway train without incident. "It seems people aren't going to work today," he said on his way to work at a repair company in Staten Island. Likewise, Philadelphia's transit system was mostly restarted Monday, though some train lines weren't running because of downed trees and wire damage. Utilities scrambled to restore power across the Eastern Seaboard with help from thousands of out-of-state repair crews, but it could be days before the lights are back on in some homes. Irene smashed power poles, ripped transmission wires and flooded electrical stations over the weekend, blacking out more than 7.4 million homes and businesses from South Carolina to Maine. Nearly 5 million power customers remained in the dark. The New York Stock Exchange was open for business as usual Monday. Airports in New York and around the Northeast reopened to a backlog of hundreds of thousands of passengers whose flights were canceled over the weekend. One private estimate put damage along the coast at $7 billion, far from any record for a natural disaster. Irene had at one time been a major hurricane, with winds higher than 110 mph as it headed toward the U.S. It was a tropical storm with 65 mph winds by the time it hit New York. It had broken up and slowed to 50 mph by the time it reached Canada. Chris Fogarty, director of the Canadian Hurricane Centre, warned of flooding and wind damage in eastern Canada and said the heaviest rainfall was expected in Quebec, where about 250,000 homes were without power. Communities in New Jersey and Pennsylvania along the Delaware River prepared for possible flooding but got a bit of good news Monday when the National Weather Service lowered the expected crest level of the river. In Pennsylvania, the Schuylkill River was steadily dropping. In Pompton Lakes, N.J., a house exploded in an evacuated flood zone early Monday. No injuries were reported. Officials said natural gas service had not been turned off in the neighborhood. In the South, authorities still were not sure how much damage had been done but expressed relief that it wasn't worse. "Thank God it weakened a little bit," said Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, who toured a hard-hit Richmond neighborhood where large, old-growth trees uprooted and crushed houses and automobiles.[/release] [url]http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/Heavy_flooding_reported_in_New_England_as_Irenes_death_toll_hits_35.html[/url]

bless the lord! oh wait that's stupid nevermind. [editline]30th August 2011[/editline] On the upside, it's fortunate that more people didn't die.

Hurricanes are nothing to fuck around with. Everyone acts as if the over-hyping was just silly, but it saved lives. This storm could have been a lot worse, too.

I was hit by the hurricane - in NJ. Lost power for about 30 minutes and the basement was partially flooded (very little - ankles at best), but that's it. Sucks for those who lost power for weeks, even more so for those who died.

the NY flooding varies from location to location. [img]http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/08/27/nyregion/27flood.large.jpg[/img] [img]http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/08/28/article-2031061-0D9B77A100000578-339_964x556.jpg[/img] [img]http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/gty_irene_new_york_battery_wy_ss_110828_ssh.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/data?pid=avimage&iid=iA1Rb5sFOrVM[/img] [img]http://images.publicradio.org/content/2011/08/28/20110828_irene_nyc_boat_33.jpg[/img] [img]http://img.ibtimes.com/www/data/images/full/2011/08/28/151634-irene-in-ny.jpg[/img] [img]http://media.columbiamissourian.com/multimedia/2011/08/28/media/082811_Irene_t_w600_h1200.jpg[/img] [img]http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/PCHNMxd4kkkYRcifLMpWSg--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Y2g9Mjg0MDtjcj0xO2N3PTM4MjA7ZHg9MDtkeT0wO2ZpPXVsY3JvcDtoPTQ2OTtxPTg1O3c9NjMw/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/cc6d44da53652813f70e6a7067006d59.jpg[/img] [img]http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2011/08/29/alg_fallen-tree-albemarle-brooklyn.jpg[/img]

I hope my friend is okay :C

Can anyone recall if the national news stations had all day coverage of hurricane Ike? I honestly can't remember because we had no power for a week. I'm just curious because my mother seems to think that they're only broadcasting this one so much because it was more local to them. I don't think she realizes how bad this thing could have been for the east coast.

This storm knocked down two huge trees. Almost hit my Pepe's(grandfather) house(he's my neighbor) We were extremely lucky

Hmm, makes me wonder about my old house I used to live in back in Maryland. Had a giant willow in the front yard and the roots were already coming up back in 98... Hope the house is still there.

I was surprised that Vermont got so much flooding when we only got a bit of rain here in New Hampshire. I was under the impression the storm would follow the coast.