Irene leads to record flooding, worse might follow

The monstrous Hurricane Irene vented the last of its fury on the garden state on Sunday.

Reports of floods, fallen trees, closed roads, power outages kept pouring in as Irene moved towards the northeast.

The aftermath is probably going to be even worse. Rivers and creeks were flooded and more than 4 million homes along the East coast were without power.

NJ at further risk
New Jersey is at a risk of major flooding. Larry Ragonese, a spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, said that almost all the state’s rivers and streams were expected to reach record or near record levels on account of the combination of the storm and the heavy August rains.

“This is one of those cases where the storm is over, but there’s still a lot of water coming,” said Larry Ragonese.

New Jersey Governer, Chris Christie asked residents to “stay inside”. State and local authorities asked people to be careful, warning them of more to come.

Ordeal to continue
Many areas have already witnessed life-threatening floods. Flood waters were rising across the state, closing side streets and major highways, including the NJ Turnpike and Interstate 295.

Authorities in Essex County had to ferry residents away from their homes using a five-ton truck, as the Passaic River neared its expected crest on Sunday night.

Hoboken was also widely submerged. The extent of the flooding came as a shock to many.

Governer Christie said, “Some rivers have not crested yet.”The residents in the low- lying areas near rivers and streams faced ominous threats in the coming days from serious inland flooding conditions, particularly along the three major rivers, Passaic, Delaware and Ramapo."

Record flooding in other states as well
While the NJ governer warned of record flooding, Vermont Governer, Peter Shumlin said that this was the worst flooding the state had witnessed in a century.

There were reports of houses and cars being washed away. This was one of the worst disasters in the history of the state.

Small towns in Catskills have also had major flash floods. Bridges have been blown out, and reports of people stranded have come in.

Regions in Connecticut and Massachusetts are water logged. In Massachusetts, the National Guard had to help evacuate people. Twenty homes in Long Island were destroyed by the churning surf.

Shaun Gordon, the administrator for Greene County said, “This was a flood of historic volume. No one remembers anything like it before…We have bridges that have been blown out. We have people stranded, people who have gone up to the second floor of their homes.”

Schenectady County issued a county wide state of emergency, effective immediately and till further notice. The Mohawk river is expected to crest Early Monday afternoon in the Stockade neighborhood of the county.

People have been advised to take precautions in this area which has witnessed floods before.

Hurricane Irene may well have passed over, but what is going to follow is perhaps going to be even worse.