Hurricane Irene not as bad as expected

Hurricane Irene not as bad as expected

Hurricane Irene never became the big-city nightmare forecasters and public officials had warned about, but it still had the ability to surprise.

New Yorkers fear a commuting nightmare as their transit system, shut down ahead of the storm, was slowly restored.

The storm left millions without power across much of the Eastern Seaboard, left more than 20 dead and forced airlines to cancel about 9,000 flights.

Residents of Pennsylvania and New Jersey nervously watched waters rise as hours' worth of rain funneled into rivers and creeks.

Normally narrow ribbons of water turned into raging torrents in Vermont and upstate New York late Sunday, tumbling with tree limbs, cars and parts of bridges.

"This is not over," President Barack Obama said from the Rose Garden.

Nearly 5 million homes and businesses lost power at some point during the storm.

At least 21 people died in the U.S., most of them when trees crashed through roofs or onto cars.

Officials worked to repair hundreds of damaged roads, and power companies picked through uprooted trees and reconnected lines.

One private estimate put damage along the coast at $7 billion (RM21bil), far from any record for a natural disaster.

Source: AP
Images: AP
Published Aug 29 2011