This storm threatened approx. 11 states and millions of people. I've been reading lots of news stories and weather pages and have compiled some facts I found interesting and wanted to share. Mind you the storm is not over so the contents of this thread are likely to grow and change. I do not claim that these are factual facts....I have no way to prove or disprove them. I am only relaying what the news and weatherpeople are reporting.
1. Irene had an enormous wingspan — 500 miles (805 kilometers) wide — and threatened 65 million people on the U.S. East Coast, estimated at largest number of Americans ever affected by a single storm.
2. In New York the entire transit system was shut down because of weather for the first time in history.
3. All the city's airports were closed, with over 9,000 flights canceled.
4. Cape Lookout, North Carolina two piers were destroyed and at least one hospital was forced to run on generator power.
5. Eastern North Carolina got up to 14 inches (35 centimeters) of rain, according to the National Weather Service
6. Virginia's Hampton Roads area was drenched with at least nine inches (23 centimeters), and up to 16 inches (40 centimeters) in some places.
7. Irene was the first hurricane to make landfall in the continental United States since 2008, and came almost six years to the day after Katrina ravaged New Orleans.
8. So far: The deaths blamed on Irene included two children, an 11-year-old boy in Virginia killed when a tree crashed through his roof and a North Carolina child who died in a crash at an intersection where traffic lights were out. Four other people were killed by falling trees or tree limbs — two in separate Virginia incidents, one in North Carolina and one in Maryland. A surfer and another beachgoer in Florida were killed in heavy waves.
9. Up to 50 million people from the Carolinas to New England could be affected by Irene.
10. Tornadoes were reported in Maryland and Delaware, and several warnings were issued elsewhere, including New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia
11. Across the Eastern Seaboard, at least 2.3 million people were under orders to move to somewhere safer, though it was unclear how many obeyed.
12. Nuclear plants have shut down, transit authorities suspended subway and commuter rail service's, flights cancelled and airports and bus terminals are like ghost towns.
13. States of emergency have been declared in North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey and New York, Maine and possibly more.
14. The U.S. Navy ordered ships in its biggest East Coast hub to head out to safer waters on Thursday to protect them from approaching Hurricane Irene.
15. Maine Lobstermen moved traps to deeper waters and boats at mariners were being pulled in record numbers.
16. WC likes living on the edge but has a smart wife. ^_^
17. Long Island's surge took a life guard stand and pushed it into the boardwalk. Engineers will be called in to assess the boardwalk.
This message was edited Aug 28, 2011 8:05 AM
Amazing facts about Irene
Anybody who has one they want to add, feel free!
I personally vouch for #16.
- That's true Pixie! She's saved by 'behind' lots of times! (lol!)
I had a feeling WC, had a feeling. ;)
Presently in the NY Tri-State area:
NYC; 72,000 w/o electrical power
NJ; 403,000
Long island; 119,000 in Nassau County, 136,000 in Suffolk County
Connecticut; 140,000
* Total so far in Tri-State area = 870,000 without electrical power.
(and the numbers are still growing..)
Just heard over 4 million with out power!
I think we fared pretty well. A few days ago they were talking about it hitting our area as a much stronger storm.
1 fatality in NJ http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=8331638
just crazy
My nephew is on one of the ships from Norfolk.
That fataliy is about 6 miles from us.
The CT fatalities were very stupid....several people TUBING in the Pomperaug River, the current was so strong I wouldn't go in there with a motorboat, & a man canoeing on a flooded street ...canoe overturned & he was swept into the nearby river......
One of my favorite sayings - there will never be an a**hole shortage.
you are so right!!!
I agree Victor, never!
CARRABASSETT VALLEY, Maine -- Two small bridges on Route 27 washed out in Carrabassett Valley on Sunday afternoon.
I was reading that we also lost a covered bridge on the Maine/NH border area...it was built in the 1800's.
:(
Saw a video of a covered bridge in VT wash out. Horrible.
too bad
:(
Why do people think they can do silly things on a river. People near rivers & large bodies of water need boat safety courses.
Michelle Bachman apparently made a joke about east coast hurricanes because people spending too much? She was trying to be funny, but doesn't see know how many people are suffering? Brainless woman.
Agreed!
You can add Vermont for state of emergency, and FEMA is now here.
They're calling it the worst disaster since the 1927 flood, which was real bad (9in of rain in 36 hrs!!!)
http://www.vermonthistory.org/freedom_and_unity/1800s/natural_disaster.html
And there are several towns that are cut off from the rest of the world due to damaged roads. Sorry, can't find numbers on how many.
http://www.wcax.com/story/15356637/400-trapped-at-killington-ski-resort-after-floods
But you can check out the # of closed roads here, and FYI there aren't many ways to get around those roads esp in the middle (mountains and all)
http://www.511vt.com/default.asp?area=VT_statewide
Here's a great video that includes some videos around the state and a lot of footage in Winooski along the Winooski river. Winooski is the next town over from me, so I'm quite familiar with the area in the video. The river there is normally rapids, but shallow rapids, not like this. And it was hit hard in 1927 so everyone knows about it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeIWLCsSphI&feature=player_embedded
[And being from a small state, I know Steve McQueen (yes, that's his name) and I've actually met the person who does these Stuck in Vermont weekly videos for the alt weekly newspaper, Seven Days. ha!]
I've been reading a watching videos of upstate New York and VT. It's terrible! I'll be praying this next storm gives the Northeast a break!!!
Upstate VT. is having to have helicopters fly in food and supplies, place in New York are not doing much better.
Here is a State by State look at the impact Irene has had.
CONNECTICUT
— Two deaths.
— 499,000 customers without power at midday Tuesday, down from a peak of about 770,000 on Sunday.
— Close to 1,000 roads were not passable because of downed tree limbs and power lines.
— "Clearly this could have been worse, but it was pretty bad out there," Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said.
DELAWARE
— Two deaths.
— 3,500 without power as of noon Tuesday.
— A washed-out road in Prime Hook area left residents without their only route into and out of a development.
— "We had certainly prayed that our state would get through Hurricane Irene without the loss of life, Gov. Jack Markell said.
FLORIDA
— One death.
— No power outages due to storm.
— Minimal impact on the state.
MAINE
— Two deaths.
— 68,000 without power as of Tuesday afternoon.
— The 14 municipalities in Androscoggin County put their preliminary damage estimate at $184,000, but the overall costs for the state will likely reach into the millions; two bridges washed out on primary road near entrance to Sugarloaf ski resort.
— "It's been long and laborious," Cumberland County Emergency Management Agency Director Jim Budway said about efforts to restore power and clean up after the storm.
MARYLAND
— Two deaths.
— 250,000 without power as of noon Tuesday.
— Many schools closed.
— "I think none of us are satisfied and won't be satisfied until everybody gets turned back on," Gov. Martin O'Malley said.
MASSACHUSETTS
— One death.
— 190,000 without power as of Tuesday night.
— Flooding in western Massachusetts; about 55 people still in shelters; 1,800 National Guard troops deployed to help.
— "I'm hoping we can save some of it, that's all. We have to start all over again," said Marion Bender of Greenfield, whose apartment was badly flooded.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
— One death.
— More than 26,000 without power as of noon Tuesday.
— Portions of 10 state roads closed because of flooding.
— "Someone asked me if the leaves were affected, but they were not, since it was an early storm with little wind, and the leaves in August are still firmly attached to the trees," said Jayne O'Connor, president of White Mountain Attractions.
NEW JERSEY
— Six deaths.
— 300,000 without power as of noon Tuesday.
— Major flooding even as most floodwaters recede; new evacuations in the city of Paterson; Trenton railroad station closed, halting Amtrak and commuter trains.
— "I lost everything. My pictures. Everything that means something — they're in the garbage. I don't have anything to tell my daughter, 'This belonged to you when you were 2 years old,'" said Olga Rivera of Lodi, N.J., whose apartment was flooded.
NEW YORK
— Nine deaths.
— 528,000 without power as of noon Tuesday.
— Several roads and bridges washed out or damaged in the Hudson Valley, Schoharie Valley, Mohawk Valley and Adirondack Mountains; floodwaters receding, though some rivers, creeks and streams still over their banks.
— "To get back to some semblance of normal, it's just staggering to think about," said Richard Ball, owner of Schoharie Valley Farms.
NORTH CAROLINA
— Six deaths.
— 145,000 without power as of noon Tuesday.
— Channels newly cut through the northern portion of Hatteras Island damaged the only road to the mainland for residents of the 30-mile-long barrier Island that includes Cape Hatteras.
— "It's kind of like a mini-vacation," Hatteras florist Sydnee Slaughter said of the sudden lack of tourists on the vacation village at the end of Hatteras Island. "But an uncomfortable vacation because there's no air conditioning."
PENNSYLVANIA
— Five deaths.
— 154,000 without power as of noon Tuesday.
— Some roads and low-lying areas flooded in eastern Pennsylvania; numerous felled trees being removed.
— "We have to get people back into their homes," said Gov. Tom Corbett.
RHODE ISLAND
— No deaths.
— 100,000 without power as of noon Tuesday.
— Extensive tree damage in places; some damage from coastal flooding.
— "We got spared in a lot of ways," Gov. Lincoln Chafee said. "Now we just have to work hard to get the power back on."
SOUTH CAROLINA
— No deaths.
— Power restored to all customers.
— Damage confined to downed power lines, tree limbs and beaches; beach erosion in the middle of the coast; dune walkovers on Sullivans Island and Folly Beach damaged; Folly Beach County Park southwest of Charleston closed because of damage.
— "Certainly you don't need to flee the coast and panic," said Gov. Nikki Haley who decided Thursday that no evacuations in South Carolina would be necessary.
VERMONT
— Three deaths; one person missing.
— More than 18,000 without power Tuesday.
— Hundreds of road closed; scores of bridges destroyed or damaged.
— "We haven't seen flooding like this, certainly since the early part of the 1900s. The areas that got flooding are in really tough shape," Gov. Peter Shumlin said.
VIRGINIA
— Four deaths.
— More than 400,000 without power as of noon Tuesday.
— Gov. Bob McDonnell said Richmond appeared hardest hit due to the number of toppled trees and power outages; Nansemond and Blackwater rivers in Hampton Roads cresting at moderate flood stage.
— "We really had prepared for the worst, and I think we fared better than expected," McDonnell said.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
— No deaths.
— 3,500 without power as of noon Tuesday.
— 2 million gallons of rain mixed with raw sewage overwhelmed pumping stations, poured into waterways.
Mother Nature is not a happy camper! Just received an email from my cousin who lived in FL when Hugo hit.....he & his wife went to VT to escape this hurricane! What a bad decision! They were up by Lake Champlain, & they made it home OK, although they saw lots of flood damage.....
Oh geez....they should have went out west to escape the hurricane
Or just stayed in CT....their town didn't get much damage!