WILMINGTON: The Hurricane Irene following Historical floods claimed atleast 29 lives as the United states limped back to normal. The state of Vermont on Monday battled historic flooding that swamped town centers.
Major cities including New York took unprecedented evacuation measures and were largely spared the full wrath of Hurricane Irene, which was downgraded on Sunday to a tropical storm as it drenched a vast stretch of the US East Coast.
But the storm whose trail of destruction started a week ago in the Caribbean refused to go out with a whimper, ravaging virtually the entire state of Vermont before crossing into Canada where it also caused damage.
Vermont authorities said the flooding may be the worst in the mountainous state since 1927. Offices were closed including in the capital Montpelier, where water levels began to recede Monday morning.
Local media reported at least 29 deaths in nine eastern US states, with six deaths each in New York state, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
The youngest fatalities were a boy killed by a falling tree in his apartment in Newport News, a city on a coastal peninsula in Virginia, and a girl who died in North Carolina.
New York newspapers linked six deaths to Irene, including a man who was electrocuted as he tried to save a child who had gone into a flooded street with downed wires. The child was in serious condition.
In Canada, a man was swept away in Yamaska, about 105 kilometers (65 miles) northeast of Montreal, after two cars plunged into a chasm created when a road washed out, Quebec police spokesman Eric Benoit said.
The hurricane earlier last week killed at least five people in the Caribbean, two each in the Dominican Republic and Haiti and one in the US territory of Puerto Rico.
But the hurricane was not as severe as some people had prepared for. Wall Street rallied Monday in part on relief of limited damage to the infrastructure of the world’s largest economy.
New York’s subway, which was closed down Saturday in an unprecedented act of caution, reopened Monday morning, although suburban trains connecting suburbs in New Jersey, Connecticut and New York’s Westchester County were suspended.
National rail operator Amtrak also experienced major disruptions, with major lines shut down north of Philadelphia as crews cleared up debris and inspected the tracks. New York’s airports reopened, but with delays.
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