Hurricane Irene threatened to wallop the entire east coast and completely shut down New York City. But fortunately, it lost strength in the 11th hour and was downgraded to a tropical storm before creating too much damage to urban areas which saved the day.
Irene’s torrential rains and fierce winds up and down the eastern seaboard were responsible for at least 9 deaths and power outages involving 3 million homes and businesses.
In preparation for the storm, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg shut down the entire subway and bus system on Saturday afternoon, which was an historical first. Although New York City seemed to have been spared the brunt of the storm, parts of lower Manhattan were underwater today and the Holland Tunnel connecting New York to New Jersey was closed due to flooding. Planners of the 10 year anniversary commemoration of 9/11 next month were grateful that flooding did not wreak expected havoc at the memorial construction site.
Air traffic in the New York and Washington, D.C. areas promised to be snarled for several days, as more than 9,000 weekend flights were cancelled. All 5 New York City area airports were closed.
Analysts predicted Irene could cost billions in storm surge flooding, estimating that Virginia Beach, Atlantic City, Philadelphia, Washington Boston, Providence, New York City and Long Island could see $56.7 billion in combined residential storm surge damage.
<span><span>Where does one began with the media, YET AGAIN, hyping the threat of a natural disaster??? Not to diminish in ANY way the tragic loss of at least 18 lives related to Hurricane Irene. Their lives were Precious and no doubt their loved ones will bare the burden of remembering just how deadly Irene turned out to be. And not to diminsh in ANY way the billions of dollars worth of damage caused by this powerful storm. But the truth is, by the time the so-called "Hurricane of the Century" took aim at North Carolina it was well on its way to losing its strength, reducing it to a very powerful Tropical Storm. And there's more than scant evidence indicating that the news media (and politicians) probably knew they were peddling pure HYPE going back as early as last Friday. FRIDAY Aug, 26, 2011: Dr. Simons Atkins (CEO of Advanced Forcasting Corporation): "The hype over Hurricane Irene is overblown. Air Force Reserve aircraft have… Read more »