Hurricane Irene 2011 -howling winds,falling trees,aftermath:flooding; state of emergency in 11 states & DC, 4 million lost power

Hurricane Irene - Nassau, Bahamas

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Irene’s Damage: Deaths, Flooding, Power Losses State-by-State

Hurricane Irene killed at least 15 people from Puerto Rico to New York, caused an estimated $3 billion in damage and cut electric power to more than 4 million homes and businesses across the eastern U.S.

The deaths were concentrated in Virginia and North Carolina, where at least 10 people were killed. Virginia also sustained the second-largest power outage in state history.

The storm’s cost to insurers may have fallen to $3 billion in the U.S. as the storm weakened on its path toward New England, according to Kinetic Analysis Corp., a firm that predicts the effects of disasters. An earlier estimate was for insured losses of as much as $14 billion.

President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency for 11 states and the District of Columbia. A federal declaration of emergency allows states to get federal money and support responding to damage, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s website. Puerto Rico was the only area declared a “major disaster” by the agency, a level above an emergency declaration.

The following is a state-by-state assessment of the storm’s impact:

Connecticut

One fatality has been reported, after an unidentified senior citizen died in a house fire caused by a falling tree limb in the town of Prospect, according to Lieutenant P.J. Conway, a fire department spokesman. Connecticut Light & Power, the electrical utility serving most of the state, reported that 486,000 customers had lost power, surpassing the outage record set during Hurricane Gloria in 1985.

Delaware

A tornado touched down Aug. 27 near Lewes, at the mouth of the Delaware Bay, Cathy Rossi, a spokeswoman for Governor Jack Markell, said in an interview today. The twister tore the roof off a house, but no one was injured, Rossi said. Other damage came from wind gusts of up to 70 miles per hour, which sent trees crashing onto cars and homes in the Wilmington suburb of Arden. Across the state, 39,000 people lost electricity, with the majority concentrated in New Castle County”

District of Columbia

In Washington, the damage was limited to downed trees, strewn debris and power outages that affected about 28,000 district residents, said Doxie McCoy, a spokeswoman for Mayor Vincent Gray. A total of 183,000 customers were without power in northern Virginia, southern Maryland and the District of Columbia at mid-day today, according to the website of Pepco, the utility servicing the area.

Maine

The bulk of the storm had yet to hit the northern-most state on the U.S. East Coast as of 12:30 p.m. local time, Lynette Miller, a spokeswoman for the Maine Emergency Management Agency, said in a telephone interview. She said about 15,000 residents were without power.

Maryland

A woman was killed in Queen Anne’s County after a tree fell on a house, collapsing the chimney, said Quentin Banks, a spokesman for the state emergency management agency. At least 822,000 people were without power, Banks said in a phone interview.

Governor Martin O’Malley said St. Mary’s County on the Chesapeake Bay was hard hit by downed trees and power lines, and about 200 roads were closed. There was little damage in Ocean City, a vacation spot where tens of thousands were evacuated before the storm. “The beach looks good in Ocean City,” O’Malley said in a video earlier today. “There has not been much damage to the boardwalk to speak of.”

Massachusetts

In Massachusetts, 74,000 of the utility NSTAR’s 1.1 million customers have lost power in the eastern part of the state and the island of Martha’s Vineyard, according to a recorded statement on the utility’s phone line.

New Jersey

The body of a 20-year-old woman was recovered from a gray Honda Accord in floodwaters in Pilesgrove, 35 miles (56 kilometers) southeast of Philadelphia, said Sergeant Brian Polite, a spokesman for the state police. A diver found the woman in the submerged car about 150 feet off of Route 40 at 9:30 a.m. local time, eight hours after she had phoned her boyfriend and police to report she was "up to her neck" in water, Polite said at a news conference. Emergency crews who were looking for that woman rescued another stranded motorist, Polite said.

A half-million people were without power and 15,000 were in 45 shelters, Rick Fuentes, superintendent of the state police, said at a news conference in West Trenton. Governor Chris Christie, appearing on morning news programs, said widespread flooding along the Atlantic coast and inland was expected to worsen.

New York

New York City was spared severe damage, and the worst of the storm had passed as of about 10 a.m. local time Sunday. Across the state, 370,000 people were without power as of 10:30 a.m., Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office said. In Manhattan, there was flooding in Battery Park and elsewhere.

North Carolina

At least six people were killed in the state, including one man who suffered a heart attack putting up plywood before the storm, Ernie Seneca, a spokesman for the state’s Department of Crime Control and Public Safety, said in a telephone interview from Raleigh.

Interstate 95, the main north-south highway along the East Coast, was closed in at least one location. North Carolina Highway 12 was washed out in several places. The road is the main artery to the Outer Banks, the thin barrier islands that are home to vacation communities like Duck and Nags Head.
Pennsylvania

At least one death has been attributed to the storm. A 58-year-old man was killed in East Hanover Township by a falling tree that crushed him in his tent, the Associated Press reported, citing state police.

In Philadelphia, seven buildings collapsed overnight and a roof was torn off a six-story apartment building in the Center City neighborhood, Mark McDonald, a spokesman for Mayor Michael Nutter, said in a phone interview. Trees were down across the city, and the Schuylkill River was overflowing its banks and was expected to crest at 15 feet above normal level at 2 p.m. local time. The highest recorded level for the river was 17.5 feet in 1869, McDonald said in a phone interview. "Between flooding and trees down, there is what you might call a mess," McDonald said.

Power losses were widespread across the southeastern part of the state, with 400,000 people without electricity as of 9 a.m. PECO Energy, the electric utility for the region, has brought in 4,000 workers from as far as Florida to handle repairs from downed trees, Karen Muldoon Geus, a spokeswoman for PECO Energy, said in a telephone interview.

Puerto Rico

A 62-year-old woman was killed as she tried to cross a river in her car and was swept away, Melina Simeonides, a spokeswoman for the commonwealth’s emergency management agency, said in a phone interview. As of 9:45 a.m. local time, 21,800 people had lost power, about 2 percent of the total households, she said.

Virginia

The storm caused the second-largest power outage in state history as 2.5 million people were without electricity at one point, said Laura Southard, a spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Emergency Management. Along with the outages, four people were killed by falling trees, said Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell.

Dominion Resources Inc., which provides electricity to residents of Virginia and North Carolina, said in a statement today that it won’t be able to offer repair-time estimates until noon local time tomorrow for the 1.2 million customers who lost power in that region. It will take up to several days to restore power, McDonald told reporters on a conference call.

Bahamas

Cat Island, a narrow strip about 300 miles southeast of Miami, took the brunt of the storm, the Associated Press said in a report. With communications down across the islands, officials were still compiling information about the damage there, according to the AP.

Hurricane Irene 2011 Photos: Pictures Of Storm Battering East Coast: Hurricane Irene slammed into the East Coast on Saturday, killing at least six people, cutting off power to nearly one million and leaving a trail of destruction as it continued its path north.

The storm made landfall early Saturday morning on North Carolina's Outer Banks, according to Jeff Masters at Weather Underground, where winds as high as 110 mph ripped shingles and siding off houses. In Virginia, falling trees -- one on a house and another one a car -- killed two people, the Associated Press reports.

UPDATE BELOW
In anticipation of Irene's arrival, Michael R. Bloomberg, the mayor of New York City, ordered the evacuation of nearly 300,000 people from low-lying areas. In an unprecedented move, the city's public transportation system was shut down. By Saturday afternoon, parts of New York looked like a ghost town.

Hurricane warnings have been lifted south of Cape Fear, N.C., according to the National Weather Service, but much of the East Coast -- from as far south as Surf City, N.C. to as far north as Sagamore Beach, M.A. -- remains on high alert.

UPDATE: August 28, 2011 at 11:43 a.m. EDT:
With winds of approximately 65 mph and downgraded to a tropical storm, Irene made landfall on New York City's Coney Island at approximately 9:00 a.m. EDT on Sunday morning.

As of Sunday morning, the storm had claimed 11 lives in five states, according to the Associated Press.

Irene continues her way up the East Coast, and should be over New England by Sunday afternoon. Flood warnings remain in effect for New York City until noon on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.

Hurricane Irene in pictures: Hurricane Irene has brought havoc to the U.S. East Coast as four million people lost power, hundreds of thousands were evacuated and more than 15 lives were taken.

Hurricane Irene Tracking Map

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Images courtesy of AP and Reuters