Hurricane Irene

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Sandy Likely to Cost More Than Hurricane Irene

Damage estimates suggest $20B

(Newser) - It looks like superstorm Sandy is going to trump last year's Hurricane Irene in terms of damage costs, reports Reuters . The upper end of estimates is about $20 billion, while Irene came in under $16 billion, notes the Christian Science Monitor . "Sandy event is much more severe,"...

NYC Shuts Transit Ahead of Sandy

MTA closing down at 7pm tonight as storm approaches

(Newser) - New York City will indeed shut its bus, subway, and commuter rail services in advance of Hurricane Sandy, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said today. Subways and trains will be suspended starting at 7pm today, with the last buses running at 9pm. He said the decision to shut down the area's...

Climate Change's Next Victim: NYC?

Critics say city isn't doing enough to prepare for rising oceans, bigger storms

(Newser) - Rising oceans and increasingly violent storms are worrying officials in New York City, as scientists warn that if action isn't taken soon, flood waters could prompt thousands to lose their homes or paralyze the city's transportation system, reports the New York Times . The city is considering a number...

Irene's Belated Cruel Blow: Pumpkin Shortage

Farmers in the Northeast watched their crops wash away

(Newser) - Hurricane Irene destroyed plenty of things—and one of them could be Halloween. There's a serious pumpkin shortage in the Northeast, the gloomy result of the destruction Irene inflicted on the region's pumpkin patches. The AP talked to one farmer in upstate New York who watched his entire...

Tropical Storms Nate, Maria Form

Nate expected to hit Mexico, while Maria churns in Caribbean

(Newser) - Irene, Katia, and Lee all made not-so-nice headlines, and unfortunately there’s more where they came from: Tropical Storms Nate and Maria are currently taking shape in the Caribbean and Atlantic. Nate, formed in the southern Gulf of Mexico, is expected to drop anywhere from 2 to 8 inches of...

Obama Tours Flood Zones in New Jersey

Says 'Washington politics' won't stop federal aid

(Newser) - President Obama visited flood-ravaged communities in New Jersey today and vowed that "Washington politics" won't obstruct federal aid for people along the Atlantic Coast, the New Jersey Star-Ledger and the AP report. Dressed in rolled-up shirt sleeves and khaki-style pants, Obama landed in Newark just after noon and...

Mr. Cantor, 'Have You Left No Sense of Decency?'

He is typical of the GOP's dangerous new style: Paul Krugman

(Newser) - Paul Krugman opens up on Eric Cantor in a scathing column today, accusing the House majority leader of taking victims of Hurricane Irene "hostage" by demanding that federal relief be offset with spending cuts . Cantor used the same kind of tactic in the debt ceiling talks, and Krugman sees...

Hurricane Irene Aftermath: Power Still Out for 895K
 Power Still Out for 895K 
Irene Aftermath

Power Still Out for 895K

East Coasters left with cold water, refrigerators full of rotting food

(Newser) - A whole lot of East Coast dwellers are getting just a wee bit annoyed with their utility companies. It's been almost a week since Hurricane Irene, but an estimated 895,000 homes and businesses still don't have power, the AP reports. "It's like Little House on ...

Road-Rage Driver Attacked Guy With Live Power Line

He threw it at another driver, say Maryland cops

(Newser) - There's no better time to be handling live power lines than when you're drunk and incensed: A Maryland man has been charged with assault and accused of hurling a live power line at another driver, reports NBC Washington . Neither person was injured, but police say 32-year-old Richard Bialczak...

Katia Strengthens Into Hurricane

But no prediction of where she'll make landfall

(Newser) - Adding insult to the East Coast's injury, there's a new hurricane in town: Tropical Storm Katia (ahem, another of those infamous K-hurricanes) has strengthened overnight into a Category 1 hurricane, reports the LA Times . “Additional strengthening is forecast during the next 48 hours and Katia could become...

Washington Monument Springs a Leak

Hurricane Irene flooded quake-damaged landmark

(Newser) - The East Coast earthquake and Hurricane Irene have left the Washington Monument flooded. Engineers plugged cracks in the monument caused by last week's quake before the storm hit, but pools of water were found inside during a post-hurricane inspection, indicating that some cracks are still undiscovered.

'El Bloombito's' Spanish Mocked on Twitter

'Remain in la casa para much rain y lighningo,' warns Bloombito

(Newser) - New York City Mayor Miguel Bloombito is trying really hard, but his lumpy, clunky Spanish just doesn't cut it. The spunky mayor took to repeating some of Hurricane Irene's danger and evacuation warnings in Spanish at his press conferences, but they came out sounding like "El stormo...

FEMA Chief to Cantor: Whatever
 FEMA Chief to 
 Cantor: Whatever 
PLUS, RON PAUL'S AN 'IDIOT'

FEMA Chief to Cantor: Whatever

Plus, Conn. guv to Ron Paul: You're an 'idiot'

(Newser) - Eric Cantor may want budget cuts to offset any federal aid for Hurricane Irene, but FEMA director Craig Fugate says “psssh” to that. “In this country, Americans have always come to the aid of other Americans in a crisis and disaster,” Fugate said on NBC’s Today....

Irene to Make List of Top 10 Priciest US Disasters

And a lot of it won't be covered by insurance

(Newser) - Think Hurricane Irene was overhyped ? Well, it looks like it’ll wind up being one of the 10 costliest disasters in US history, analysts tell the New York Times —and a lot of the damage won’t be covered by insurance. Industry estimates peg the storm’s costs...

National Guard Airlifts Supplies to Vermont Towns

12 communities blocked by floodwaters

(Newser) - Supply-laden National Guard helicopters today sped to 12 Vermont towns blocked by floodwaters and damage following Hurricane Irene. Vermont was hit with up to 11 inches of rain in what the governor called the worst flooding in a century. Thirty trucks’ worth of FEMA relief supplies arrived at the state’...

Hurricane Irene Claims Holocaust Survivor

Rozalia Stern-Gluck, 82, dies in the Catskills

(Newser) - One of Hurricane Irene’s victims: an 82-year-old Brooklyn woman who survived the Holocaust. Rozalia Stern-Gluck, a Russian-born grandmother, was vacationing in the Catskills when her cottage at the Valkyrian Motel flooded and she was trapped inside Sunday. A nearby creek had overflowed, and police said more than six feet...

After Katrina, Governors Ace Hurricane Politics

Across East Coast, governors stay active responding to Irene

(Newser) - With the specter of Hurricane Katrina still looming large, East Coast governors stepped up their emergency responses to Irene, issuing loud warnings, mass evacuations, and continued caution. “No amount of spin, money, or ‘strategery’ can replace the gut reaction to a leader from a scared populace,” said...

Sopping Northeast Grapples With Irene Devastation

Washouts, floods threaten lives across 13 states

(Newser) - With the remnants of Hurricane Irene leaving Canada, Vermont and much of the northeast is still reeling from the storm's devastation, reports the New York Times . Despite facing a much-weakened Irene, the region was hit hard by rains, closing 250 roads and several bridges in southern Vermont alone. “...

As States Take Stock, Irene's Toll Hits 44

Upstate New York, Vermont still wrestling with flooding

(Newser) - The full measure of Hurricane Irene's fury came into focus today as the death toll passed 44, while Vermont contended with what its governor called the worst flooding in a century, and streams also raged out of control in rural, upstate New York. At the same time, nearly 5...

Limbaugh: Obama Wanted Irene 'Disaster'

Says prez wanted 'excuse for his failing economy'

(Newser) - Rush Limbaugh not only says the media oversold Hurricane Irene —he argues that Obama was "hoping" it would be a widespread "disaster" to justify the nation's economic woes, the Huffington Post reports. "I'll guarantee you Obama was hoping this was going to be a...

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