Hurricane Irene Leaves Trail of Damage Far Inland

Mammoth, Slow-Moving Storm Leaves a Sprawling Trail of Destruction
AUGUST 29, 2011
By BARRY NEWMAN And DOUGLAS A. BLACKMON

Residents along the Eastern seaboard faced a massive clean-up effort Monday after Hurricane Irene pounded tens of millions of Americans with wind, rain and floods.

The huge size and slow journey of the storm along 1,100 miles of U.S. coastline left an extraordinarily broad impact. At least 24 deaths were attributed to Irene as devastation ranged from North Carolina to Vermont. Toppled trees, fallen debris and flooding caused hundreds of roads to be closed over the weekend. Up and down the coast, some 2.4 million people evacuated.

In New Jersey, the ocean surge and rainfall caused severe inland flooding. Gov. Chris Christie said damages there would total at least $1 billion and could reach "tens of billions of dollars." Virginia's governor called the blackout in his state its second-largest ever and warned that electricity might not be restored for a week. the rest
image by Daniel Berg

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