Hurricane Irene Leaves Floods Along East Coast [VIDEO]

As she started weakening to a tropical storm, Irene, the first hurricane of the season hit the Eastern seaboard with torrential rains, strong winds and floods.

Hurricane Irene hit land on Saturday in North Carolina, moved northward along the coast and hit Little Egg Inlet, N.J., as a Category 1 storm.  Irene then lost steam as it moved toward New England.

New York City and Washington, DC were spared, but Vermont got “full-blown flooding,” Gov.
Peter Shumlin said. Dangerous floods were reported in New Jersey, and almost all of the state’s
rivers are expected to reach record levels on today. Heavy rainfall also soaked
parts of Connecticut, Maryland, New York, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

So far, at least 22 people in eight states have died, and more than 4.5 million homes and businesses are without power. Utility companies said it could take a few weeks for badly damaged areas to get electricity again. Meanwhile, residents are urged to avoid large pools of water, unstable bridges and roads and downed power lines.

The is less than $1 billion available for disaster relief, so the Federal Emergency Management Agency decided to temporarily suspend payments to the southern states that were damaged during the spring by a series of tornadoes. The cost from Irene’s wind damage is expected to top $1 billion alone, and the Obama administration will likely have to request supplemental funding from Congress. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) has already said that any new money for FEMA must be offset by spending cuts elsewhere.

Irene moved into Canada on Aug. 28, dumping rain on Quebec and the Maritime provinces. Along the East Coast, law enforcement agencies are warning people to be wary of fraudulent charitable donation scams that may pop up in the coming weeks.

[The Daily Mail]