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The U.S. National Hurricane Center has called off warnings for the East Coast and that former Tropical Storm Irene is still packing 50 mph winds as it heads into Canada. The National Hurricane Center said late Sunday that tropical storm warnings are on for the south coast of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Communities along the East Coast were still at risk of flooding Sunday after rain and runoff from the storm filled rivers and creeks as the once-powerful hurricane weakened and headed North.
Hundreds of people were told to leave their homes in Vermont Sunday night as a utility considered flooding the state's capital to save a dam. Green Mountain Power warned that Montpelier could be flooded twice: once from the initial storm and again if the utility decides it must release water from the Marshfield Reservoir. As the storm lost strength, more than 4.5 million East Coast homes and businesses lost power, and at least 21 deaths were blamed on the storm. "I think it's a little strong to say we dodged a bullet. However, it certainly could have turned out worse for the Hampton Roads area" in Virginia, said National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Montefusco. Officials warned that storm runoff was still making its way to rivers and creeks, leading to the possibility of extreme flooding. Irene was still packing winds of 50 mph extending for more than 300, but was expected to continue weakening as it moved through eastern Canada. Public transit in East Coast cities began to resume on Sunday, and New York said that its airports would reopen Monday morning. More than 11,000 flights were canceled because of the storm, and flight tracking services warned that hundreds more would be scrubbed on Monday. Trains and buses up and down the coast were also canceled. Irene menaced other cities as it roared northward, unloading a foot of rain on North Carolina and Virginia. As the eye of the sprawling storm blew through America's largest city and Long Island to the east, it pushed an 8-foot Atlantic storm surge toward New York and sent salty floodwater flowing into lower Manhattan. Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Craig Fugate said flooding, weakened trees and downed power lines are dangerous. He's advising people to stay inside, stay off the roads, and let power crews do their job. Briny water from New York Harbor submerged parts of a promenade at the base of the island. A foot of water rushed over the wall of a marina in front of the New York Mercantile Exchange, where gold and oil are traded. "You could see newspaper stands floating down the street," said Scott Baxter, a hotel doorman in the SoHo neighborhood. As the center of the storm passed over Central Park at midmorning, floodwater reached the wheel wells of some stranded cars in Manhattan, and more streamed into the streets of Queens. In the Broad Channel section of Queens, department rescue workers were riding in boats to search bungalows that were floating down the street to make sure no one was inside. Altogether, the FDNY has rescued 61 adults and three babies from 21 houses. In Times Square, shops boarded up windows and sandbags were stacked outside of stores. Construction at the World Trade Center site came to a standstill. New York has seen only a few hurricanes in the past 200 years. The Northeast is much more accustomed to snowstorms -- including a blizzard last December, when Mayor Michael Bloomberg was criticized for a slow city response. Authorities undertook the Herculean job of bringing the city to a halt Saturday when the subway system began shutting down at noon -- the first time the system was closed because of a natural disaster. Metro North commuter rail reported massive flooding along three lines. Tornadoes were reported in Maryland and Delaware, and several warnings were issued elsewhere, including New York and Philadelphia. Irene made landfall just after dawn Saturday near Cape Lookout, N.C., at the southern end of the Outer Banks. Shorefront hotels and houses were lashed with waves, two piers were destroyed and at least one hospital was forced to run on generator power. More than 1 million homes and businesses lost power in Virginia alone, where four people were killed by falling trees, at least one tornado touched down and about 100 roads were closed. Eastern North Carolina got up to 14 inches of rain, according to the National Weather Service. Virginia's Hampton Roads area was drenched with at least 9 inches, and up to 16 inches in some places. North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue said Irene inflicted significant coastal damage, but some areas were unreachable because of high water or downed power lines. A nuclear reactor at Maryland's Calvert Cliffs went offline automatically when winds knocked off a large piece of aluminum siding late Saturday night. Constellation Energy Nuclear Group spokesman Mark Sullivan said the facility and all employees were safe. 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. Experts say Irene is threatening more people than any other hurricane in U.S. history. In Philadelphia, Mayor Michael Nutter declared a state of emergency, the first for the city since 1986, when racial tensions were running high. "We are trying to save lives and don't have time for silliness," he said. The storm hit Washington just days after an earthquake damaged some of the capital's most famous structures, including the Washington Monument. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett warned that the state will not necessarily be out of danger once the storm has passed. Irene caused flooding from North Carolina to Delaware, both from the 7-foot waves it pushed into the coast and from heavy rain. More than one million of the homes and businesses without power were in Virginia and North Carolina, which bore the brunt of Irene's initial fury. Irene caused flooding from North Carolina to Delaware, both from the 7-foot waves it pushed into the coast and from heavy rain. North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue said Irene inflicted significant coastal damage, but some areas were unreachable because of high water or downed power lines. A nuclear reactor at Maryland's Calvert Cliffs went offline automatically when winds knocked off a large piece of aluminum siding late Saturday night. Constellation Energy Nuclear Group said the facility and all employees were safe. In New Jersey, the Oyster Creek nuclear plant, just a few miles (kilometers) from the coast, shut down as a precaution as Irene closed in. And Boston's transit authority said all bus, subway and commuter rail service were suspended Sunday. "The rivers may not crest until Tuesday or Wednesday. This isn't just a 24-hour event," he said. The 21 deaths attributed to the storm included six in North Carolina, four in Virginia, four in Pennsylvania, two in New York, two in rough surf in Florida and one each in Connecticut, Maryland and New Jersey. |
