Hurricane Irene Thrashes the East Coast

The storm may be over, but the dangers are not. Floodwaters remain high and continue to rise, as the water dumped by Irene has nowhere to go. Parts of Vermont remain cut off from civilization, as are sections of North Carolina. States of emergency exist up and down the East Coast, as governors mobilize National Guard troops to deal with the chaos. Officially, twenty-one are dead in the first hurricane warning to reach New York City in a quarter century. Tens of billions of dollars in damage have already been reported, and the clean-up costs may rise higher still. Government officials warn residents in the hurricane areas to be smart about when to return home, or if already home, whether to travel to work today. For example, most of New Jersey's transit system is shut down or underwater, making travel there extremely difficult. Across the hurricane zone, highways are flooded or covered with downed trees, making travel difficult or impossible.