Hurricane Irene 2011: Tropical Storm Rages On Across East Coast
UPDATE:
By SAMANTHA GROSS and MITCH WEISS, Associated Press
The National Hurricane Center in Miami says that Irene has lost hurricane strength and made landfall on New York's Coney Island.
Forecasters say Irene's winds have fallen to 65 mph.
They say Irene should move over New England by the afternoon. Officials also warn that isolated tornadoes are possible in the northeast throughout the morning.
PREVIOUSLY:
By WEATHER UNDERGROUND, Associated Press
Irene will continue moving up the East Coast on Sunday, and is expected to decrease to a tropical storm with maximum sustained winds ranging from 74 to 95 mph. The broad and intense system will continue to cause havoc across the Eastern Seaboard, as it moves northward through New England.
Tropical storm force winds were extending outward up to 290 miles from the center. On Sunday, Irene will produce more heavy rainfall with accumulations ranging between 6 to 12 inches from the Mid-Atlantic states, over New England, and into the Northeast, with some areas likley to see up to 18 inches of rain.
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While intense downpours will allow for flooding to persist across the region, the dangerous storm surge will produce much damage and flooding for the coastal areas.
Wave heights along the New Jersey shore are expected to reach 15 to 20 feet and a storm surge of 3 to 6 feet is expected near Atlantic City, New Jersey on Sunday morning during the time of high tide. High waves and storm surge could produce tremendous damage along the coast and low-lying structures.
For New York city, the main concern is storm surge. The latest predictions estimate a 5 to 8 foot storm surge at high tide in New York Harbor, which may flood the walls that protect the south end of Manhattan. Additionally, severe thunderstorms imbedded in Irene have a history of producing strong and damaging tornadoes.
The coastal regions of New England remain under a slight threat of severe thunderstorm development, which may be capable of producing tornadoes. Temperatures in the Lower 48 states ranged Saturday from a morning low of 37 degrees at West Yellowstone, Mont., to a high of 109 degrees at Killeen/Ft Hood, Texas.
AP reports: Southampton Patch posts aerial photos of erosion suffered by Hamptons beaches. The photos can be viewed here. According to Associated Press, 35 deaths have been confirmed in 10 states. Update here. The animation below, taken from 48 hours of images from NASA's GOES-13 satellite between August 27 and August 29, shows Irene passing over New York and New England and entering Canada. Democracy Now! reports: CHESTER, Vt. — Officials say more than a dozen towns in Vermont and at least three in New York are cut off, with roads and bridges washed out by flooding caused by the remnants of Hurricane Irene. Chris Cole of Vermont's Agency of Transportation says Monday that towns in the central and southern part of the state have been isolated by the storm. In New York, the towns of Keene in the Adirondacks, and Windham and Phoenicia in the Catskills are effectively isolated by damage to roads and bridges. Expert forecasters misjudged the severity of Irene as it barreled toward the East Coast of the United States late last week. It weakened considerably by the time it hit New York. Although some have claimed the Mayor, and Governor Cuomo, who ordered the city's subways be shut down Saturday, overreacted to Irene, the resounding general consensus is that the Mayor's 'better safe than sorry' strategy was one that worked for New York. Reisterstown Patch reports: More than 450,000 households in Maryland remained without power 35 hours after peak rain and winds from Hurricane Irene hit the state, and the Baltimore area could experience outages until Friday, officials said Monday. More here. Princeton Patch reports that Princeton EMT Michael Kenwood died early Sunday after braving Hurricane Irene floods during a water rescue. More here. Cranford, New Jersey Patch reports: Cranford officials have asked the state of New Jersey and PSE&G to give Cranford "priority status" as residents begin the daunting task of asessing the damage to their homes and cleaning the mess left in Hurrican Irene's wake. Mayor Dan Aschenbach spent the majority of his time late Sunday and Monday touring the township to assist with cleanup and rescue efforts. In the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, HuffPost has compiled video footage from the disaster. In the video below, a car floats down the river in Bennington, Vermont: Middleton, Connecticut Patch reports that Illiano's Pizzeria remained open on Sunday, and managed to serve hundreds of pizzas, despite the fact that they had lost power. Read the story here. Follow Hurricane Irene's path along the East Coast with this interactive map. Ossining-Croton Patch's Christopher Michael McHugh reports on a rafting trip during the storm that ended in disaster. From HuffPost's John Celock: The Army Corps of Engineers will be touring the Somerset County, NJ communities of Bound Brook and Manville today. Both communities were hit with flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene. Both towns have a history of flooding, including during after Hurricane Floyd hit New Jersey in 1999. We asked, and you responded. Here's a sample of what Huffington Post readers saw during and after Irene. The New York Times describes the scene in a school gym shelter over the weekend: The sleepover was an international scene. Guests spoke English, Spanish, Mandarin, Russian and Farsi. Lying on a cot next to her mother and her aunt, Kimia Shahandeh, 25, studied for the Test of English as a Foreign Language, or Toefl, and dipped in and out of “Funny in Farsi,” a memoir by an Iranian immigrant to the United States. Azadeh Lassman, Ms. Shahandeh’s aunt, chatted in Farsi with her sister and tore up pieces of paper to make a deck of cards. NEW YORK -- Wireless networks fell quiet Sunday in some coastal areas of North Carolina and southern Virginia, but calls were going through in most areas affected by Tropical Storm Irene, the Federal Communications Commission said. In Lenoir, Greene and Carteret counties of North Carolina, 50 percent to 90 percent of cell towers went offline, said Rear Adm. Jamie Barnett, head of the public safety bureau of the Federal Communications Commission. More here. The Brattleboro Reformer provides a video slideshow of images from around Windham County, Vermont. Boston.com/Boston Globe report: MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) -- The full measure of Hurricane Irene's fury came into focus Monday as the death toll jumped to 38, New England towns battled epic floods and millions faced the dispiriting prospect of several days without electricity.
@ GOOD :
Irene wasn't overhyped: It's already the fourth deadliest storm in the last 30 years. http://t.co/VZvHYc5
@ ErnestScheyder :
Swimming officially banned at all NYC's beaches after #irene as storm swept a lot of #sewage into waterways. #dogdaysofsummer
@ robmarcianoCNN :
Still no power at my folks place in CT. Mom says last night was their first candle light dinner in decades.
@ NYCMayorsOffice :
Most NYC animal shelters resuming services. Adopt a #ShelterPet from @NYCACC or @Bideawee or by searching @ShelterPets. #IrenePets
Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin joins us for an update from Vermont, where nearly every community is surrounded by hills and valleys, with small streams feeding into rivers. Shumlin notes that since he was sworn into office seven months ago, "this is the second major disaster as a result of storms. We had storms this spring that flooded our downtowns and put us through many of the same exercises that we’re going through right now. We didn’t used to get weather patterns like this in Vermont. The point is, we in the colder states are going to see the results of climate change first."
WATCH:
Utility crews scrambled to restore power after Hurricane Irene raked across the Eastern Seaboard. But even with help from thousands of out-of-state repair crews, power companies say it may be days before some people see the lights back on.
@ nickconfessore :
Raw footage of @NYGovCuomo's first aerial survey of #irene damage via @stateofpolitics. More footage later. http://t.co/yxVHleC
@ NYCMayorsOffice :
Hundreds of Con Ed crews are on the streets working to restore service to about 38,000 NYC customers currently without #power.
@ breakingirene :
Vermont State Police confirm second death in Wilmington area following devastating flooding - Burlington Free Press http://t.co/xM7Y9AM
@ BostonUpdate :
Irene's 1st fatality in Mass; public works employee in Southbridge electrocuted by downed power line at home http://t.co/ZLYC7BZ #MAIrene
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First Posted: 08/28/11 09:27 AM ET Updated: 10/28/11 06:12 AM ET