A boy stands on a newspaper box in a flooded street in the Soho section of Manhattan after Hurricane Irene passed over the New York City area August 28, 2011. Hurricane Irene battered New York with heavy winds and driving rain on Sunday, knocking out power and flooding some of Lower Manhattan's deserted streets even as it lost some of its strength. Irene was downgraded to a tropical storm on Sunday morning but was still sending waves crashing onto shorelines and flooding coastal suburbs. | (Photo: Reuters/Mike Segar)
Hurricane Irene, now downgraded to a tropical storm, made landfall in New York Sunday morning, with flooding reported in low-lying areas of New York City, including in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Irene touched down in New York City about 9 a.m. with winds of 65mph. The latest death toll update for Irene is 12 people in five states. More than 800,000 homes and businesses in Long Island and New Jersey loss power, and the number is expected to grow as the storm continues to batter New York. In total, at least 3.1 million homes and businesses on the East Coast are experiencing a blackout, according to ABC News.
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“Do not leave your homes … It is still not safe,” New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Sunday morning, according to CNN. “We’ve got flooding everywhere and flash flooding in all different parts of the state.”
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There was flooding reported in all five boroughs of New York City, but wind and flood damage was much less severe than anticipated. The most severe flooding occurred in low-lying areas in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island, where water in some places reached thigh-high, according to The New York Times.
But on Staten Island, the situation was more severe, with dozens of people having to be rescued from their flooded homes, the Times reported.
According to ABC News, workers are trying to prevent water that had breached the seawall in lower Manhattan from spreading into the subway system, where it could damage transformers.
New York’s mass transit system and all its airports will reportedly be shut down on Monday, and hopefully be reopened on Tuesday.
Tornadoes have been reported in Virginia and Delaware, and can form anywhere along Irene’s path.
Another tropical storm, Jose, is forming near Bermuda, according to the National Hurricane Center. But it is expected to lose strength starting tomorrow.
A view of a nearly deserted 7th Avenue near Times Square in Manhattan as Hurricane Irene closed in on the New York City area August 28, 2011. Hurricane Irene battered New York with heavy winds and driving rain on Sunday, shutting down the U.S. financial capital and most populous city, halting mass transit and causing massive power blackouts as it churned slowly northward along the eastern seaboard. | (Photo: Reuters/Mike Segar)Stranded cars are seen in flood waters in lower Manhattan as Hurricane Irene closed in on the New York City area August 28, 2011. Hurricane Irene battered New York with heavy winds and driving rain on Sunday, shutting down the U.S. financial capital and most populous city, halting mass transit and causing massive power blackouts as it churned slowly northward along the eastern seaboard. | (Photo: Reuters/Mike Segar)Police survey a downed tree on Grand Steet on the East Side of Manhattan after Hurricane Irene passed over the New York City area August 28, 2011. Hurricane Irene battered New York with heavy winds and driving rain on Sunday, knocking out power and flooding some of Lower Manhattan's deserted streets even as it lost some of its strength. Irene was downgraded to a tropical storm on Sunday morning but was still sending waves crashing onto shorelines and flooding coastal suburbs. | (Photo: Reuters/Mike Segar)Workers pump out basements in the Soho section of Manhattan after Hurricane Irene passed over the New York City area August 28, 2011. Hurricane Irene battered New York with heavy winds and driving rain on Sunday, knocking out power and flooding some of Lower Manhattan's deserted streets even as it lost some of its strength. Irene was downgraded to a tropical storm on Sunday morning but was still sending waves crashing onto shorelines and flooding coastal suburbs. | (Photo: Reuters/Mike Segar)Sixth Avenue stands virtually deserted in Manhattan as Hurricane Irene closed in on the New York City area August 28, 2011. | (Photo: Reuters/Mike Segar)
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