As the remnants of Hurricane Irene blow into Canada, the destruction left behind on the United States’ Eastern Seaboard will continue to be felt for some time to come.  Dangerous flood waters continue to threaten residents from North Carolina to New York, even as Irene was further downgraded to a tropical depression, with sustained winds around 50 mph. 

Some estimates place the dollar value on the damage in the $7 billion neighborhood, and over 5 million people have been left without power.  As of Monday morning, the death toll as a result of the storm stood at 24, mostly people killed by falling trees on their homes or cars.

Irene caused massive flooding in New England and New York, with widespread flood damage in Vermont.  New York City subway services were shut down for the first time in history due to a natural disaster, and Philadelphia Rapid Transit services were also interrupted.

Fortunately, Irene weakened as she approached the mainland, striking with far less strength than the strong Category 3 that was originally predicted.  As a result, much of the damage predicted for New York City never happened, although flood waters and water damage were still considerable.  NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg said “All in all, we’re in pretty good shape.”

New York’s main power company, Consolidated Edison, didn’t have to execute their plan of cutting power to lower Manhattan to protect its equipment from seawater, even though flooding did manage to close side streets and major highways across New York and New Jersey.  More than 137 miles of state highway were washed out.

In Massachusetts, the National Guard had to help people evacuate. The ski resort town of Wilmington, Vt., was flooded, but nobody could get to it because both state roads leading there were underwater.

Chris Fogarty, director of the Canadian Hurricane Centre, warned of flooding and wind damage in eastern Canada and said the heaviest rainfall was expected in Quebec, where about 250,000 homes were without power.

The problems with Irene were compounded by the fact that the Northeast had already received considerable rainfall so far this season, resulting in saturated ground which meant flooding would occur almost instantly. 

And while electricity had been restored to several hundred thousand people by Monday, many people were given the sobering news that they could conceivably be without power until after Labor Day.

Virginia officials had warned of storm surges of up to eight feet, however the end result was less severe, and the damage, while considerable, was far less than what was anticipated.

New York’s airports reopened on Monday; however it will take several days to recover and even out schedules that were disrupted by the more than 11,000 flights that were canceled as a result if Hurricane Irene.

And the threats may not be over just yet.  Forming off the coast of Africa is another tropical depression that computer models estimate could threaten the East Coast again in about ten days.  The National Hurricane Center says this could become a named storm by Wednesday. 

As always, Water Damage Local.com is on top of the problem, available 24/7 and ready to handle even the largest of water and flood damage and storm related problems.   Call today for a free estimate.