[codespokerbonus]

CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/08/28/tro...her/?hpt=hp_t1


Dangerous, damaging flood waters emerged Sunday night as one of the biggest threats from Irene, which impacted millions with its strong winds and drenching rains over its three-day run up the East Coast.

The storm, which was a hurricane for days before weakening to tropical storm status earlier Sunday, was blamed for at least 18 deaths across seven states. The U.S. government estimated that the cost from wind damage alone is expected to top $1 billion, with downed power lines leaving more than 4 million people without electricity.

"I want people to understand that this is not over," President Barack Obama said Sunday evening from Washington. "The impacts of this storm will be felt for some time, and the recovery effort will last for weeks or longer."

Some of the biggest, continuing headaches related to flooding, as tidal storm surges and overflowing, fast-moving rivers left homes in North Carolina and points northward awash. Flood warnings and watches were in effect Sunday night for much of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, eastern New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.

[mArVHDO6]

Al Gore said that with all the global warming all these hurricanes were going to just keep getting stronger and stronger and more numerous. We're going to have them every day. Big ones, like Katrina. And he said that years ago when the earth was much "cooler" than it is now.

Anyhoo, to those affected by the storm, God bless. To all the media and experts over-hyping and predicting global-warming induced armageddon from Irene---maybe next storm. Not.


http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/to...hat-never-was/

Perfect Storm of Hype:

Politicians, the media and the Hurricane Irene apocalypse that never was

For the television reporter, clad in his red cagoule emblazoned with the CNN logo, it was a dramatic on-air moment, broadcasting live from Long Island, New York during a hurricane that also threatened Manhattan.

“We are in, right, now…the right eye wall, no doubt about that…there you see the surf,” he said breathlessly. “That tells a story right there.”

Stumbling and apparently buffeted by ferocious gusts, he took shelter next to a building. “This is our protection from the wind,” he explained. “It’s been truly remarkable to watch the power of the ocean here.”

The surf may have told a story but so too did the sight behind the reporter of people chatting and ambling along the sea front and just goofing around. There was a man in a t-shirt, a woman waving her arms and then walking backwards. Then someone on a bicycle glided past.

Across the screen, the “Breaking News: Irene Batters Long Island” caption was replaced by stern advice from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA): “Stay inside, stay safe.”

[stastony]

Sunday night, the realization of true damage in the south and continuing storm activity in the north.

-- Hatteras island in NC broken into five pieces, 2500 stranded as sole highway to mainland destroyed.

-- Flood waters in Vermont surge to 20 feet in some areas. Hundreds of roads washed out, 140-year-old bridge swept away.

It's so sad that some people like Brad are all too eager to minimize the scope of the catastrophe to make political noise. People have died, people are in trouble right now, it'll take days and weeks for some of these areas to get back to some semblance of normalcy.

[Jerwittdergut]

Brad is one those people who will stand under a tree in a lightning storm because he doesn't believe he'll be struck. Why not? Because no meteorologist can tell him exactly when a lightning bolt will hit that particular tree at the exact moment he decides to stand underneath it.

[zithromaxlinks]

The reality here in the East is that our leaders learned the lessons of Katrina very well. Mandatory evacuations of low-lying areas minimized the loss of life, but it's going to take billions of dollars to restore the infrastructure and replace lost properties. Flood waters are still rising in some areas, and there are whole towns underwater already.

For a Cat 1 hurricane, Irene packed quite a punch.

[Foucceedo]

The last count I saw was 35 people dead. I'm unsure of a count by state. Vermont seems to have gotten the worst of it, mainly because it seems everyone was so concerned about the coast that there was apparently not so much worry inland.

I saw pictures on the Gothamist (I think that's the name of the site) of the preparations and damage the storm did surrounding the subways and other branches of the MTA. Bloomberg did right to close the system down. NY did everything right it seems, even if some in or commenting on the city's preparations feel the storm didn't live up to they hype. Even if the flooding wasn't so bad at Battery Park City, there still were places where the rivers and harbor did seep onto Manhattan. it shows they had it nailed perfectly. Not enough for serious damage, thanks to the precaustions.

A former LDer (someone Claire knows) stayed in her Long Island house because her parents refused to leave. They lost power and had a flooded basement. They pumped itwith a portable generator, but then the tide came back and left another foot. Overall not too bad, and everyone was okay in her case, although they need a new water heater.Some people in her area still are without power.