The Impact of Hurricane Irene on the East Coast

Howling winds, overwhelming destruction, and the sadness of millions has been a result of the nightmarish embodiment of devastation itself: Hurricane Irene. From August 20th to August 29, 2011, a massive Atlantic hurricane nicknamed "Irene" swept through the Caribbean to the United States East Coast, all the way up to Atlantic Canada. The effects on the nation as a whole have been significant, but the effects on just the East Coast have been simply devastating. As of August 31, 2011, millions still are feeling the effects of the disaster. Cities are deep in flood water, and at least 45 deaths have been accounted for. The economic damage caused is that two millions homes and businesses are still without power and the financial costs for the nation are expected to be around 10 billion dollars, stacking onto the amount of money sucked from people around the nation through taxes. Although the flood zone is now shrinking, those affected are still far from recovery. This will cost just some individual families $40,000-50,000 in furniture and housing damage. Many have been left injured, homeless, and jobless. The storm flooded out farms, kept fishermen on shore, canceled flights, and disrupted the East Coast's peak tourist season. Another astounding effect is that for the first time in decades, New York's whole transit system was shut down, leaving the iconic, normally bustling city a desolate ghost town. The damages and the economical, as well as emotional, impact on people up and down the East coast is incalculable. This is, without a doubt, one of the worst disasters to hit the East Coast within the past few years.