Irene: Wet, deadly and expensive, but no monster
New York: Stripped of hurricane rank, Tropical Storm Irene spent the last of its fury Sunday, leaving treacherous flooding and millions without power - but an unfazed New York and relief that it was nothing like the nightmare authorities feared.
Slowly, the East Coast surveyed the damage - up to 7 billion dollars by one private estimate. The center of Irene crossed into Canada late Sunday, but for many the danger had not passed.
Rivers and creeks turned into raging torrents tumbling with limbs and parts of buildings in northern New England and upstate New York. Flooding was widespread in Vermont, and hundreds of people were told to leave the capital, Montpelier, which could get flooded twice: once by Irene and once by a utility trying to save an overwhelmed dam.
Image: A Fairfield Beach Road home is submerged in Pine Creek in Fairfield, Conn. as treacherous weather caused by Tropical Storm Irene came through the area on August 28, 2011.
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