Hurricane Irene's death toll climbs to 38; Vermont towns battle floods

[nadinbrzezinski]

MONTPELIER, Vt. — 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.


From North Carolina to Maine, communities cleaned up and took stock of the uneven and hard-to-predict costs of a storm that spared the nation's biggest city a nightmare scenario, only to deliver a historic wallop to towns well inland.

In New York City, where people had braced for a disaster-movie scene of water swirling around skyscrapers, the subways and buses were up and running again in time for the Monday morning commute. And to the surprise of many New Yorkers, things went pretty smoothly.

But in New England, landlocked Vermont contended with what its governor called the worst flooding in a century. Streams also raged out of control in upstate New York.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20110829/WIRE/110829501/1350?Title=Hurricane-Irene-s-death-toll-climbs-to-38-Vermont-towns-battle-floods

I am sorry for more hype (tm)

[taterguy]

1. It's Vermont. I'll put something besides syrup on my pancakes

Do I even need this? :sarcasm:

[Strelnikov_]

2. The NBC talkin head asked Jim Cantore "did this flooding take meteorologists by surprise"

after noting it took the talkin head class by surprise.

I can answer for Jim, no it did not. Jeff Masters at Weather Underground, as I am sure most professional meteorologists, were warning all along inland flooding was one of the greatest threats from this storm due to it's size.

My personal conclusion is that a hurricane is too complex for the talkin head class. Their limited brains, as demonstrated daily, only allow them to focus on the simplest of story lines.

My recommendation, ignore the talkin heads.

Seek out the professionals.

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. and FEMA, they warned about this

as early as Wednesday... of this danger ... of course they were relying on the hypsters at the NWS... do I need this? :sarcasm: