Hurricane Irene

It appears that Irene has passed by the USA and now the clean up can begin. 

Many people in NYC are complaining because the storm didn't hit them as hard as was predicted and they are wondering why they had to evacuate and shut down.  But if you were in Vermont or New Jersey you probably wouldn't be making those statements.

Of course the comments coming out of Vermont after inches of rain turned streets into rushing rivers was that it was the worst flooding the state had EVER seen.  Just one more for the record books.

Also to be noted is that Irene is the the 10th multi-billion-dollar disaster to befall the USA in 2011...and we aren't done with the year yet.  Usually the US may only see on or two in a slow year.

Brattleboro, Vermont (CNN) -- The torment from Irene isn't over as parts of the East Coast grappled Monday with still-dangerous flood waters, widespread power outages and stranded residents.

At least 21 deaths in nine states were blamed on Irene, which fizzled to a post-tropical cyclone and headed over eastern Canada on Monday.

About 3 million customers were without power across the path traveled by Irene.

But much of the remaining trouble centered on flooding from North Carolina through New England, with homes inundated and roads torn apart by floodwaters.

Some of the worst flooding since 1927 ravaged Vermont's normally tranquil countryside, turning babbling brooks into turbulent rivers, knocking homes from their foundations and washing away a young woman who had been standing near the river in Wilmington.

See it here; http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/08/29/irene.aftermath/

One interesting thing about Irene and all the coverage about this "once in a lifetime hurricane" slamming the East Coast....it made us forget about the "once in a lifetime earthquake" that rattled the East Coast earlier in the same week.