On Capitol Hill, damage from Hurricane Irene is due to rain, not wind. Mature older trees shade the streets, but many have rotted root systems, so the storm’s two days of heavy rain loosened their foundations, causing the trunks to come crashing down, either in the street or on nearby houses. The photo above shows the results on the 1200 block of C Street SE. Here’s what the roots look like:
Hurricane Irene is now a tropical storm, but the surge caused by its huge vortex of winds has reinforced the incoming tide and caused flooding of the southern tip of Manhattan Island, including Battery Park, the ferry terminal, and the edge of the Financial District. At this time we do not know if Con Edison intends to cut off the area’s electrical power or if the Stuyvesant High School swim team is doing laps outside, on Chambers Street.
The Eastern Seaboard of the United States is currently experiencing the ravages of Hurricane Irene, and local television stations are desperately trying to justify their 21st-century existence by keeping staff meteorologists up ’round the clock and sending hapless reporters to the beach. As far as we’re concerned, reporters assigned to the Delaware Shore when steamed crabs and frozen custard are unavailable deserve hardship pay.
Local TV news coverage of hurricanes chiefly consists of shaky, intermittent video, and lots of wind noise. Live remote broadcasts show reporters invading evacuated coastal resort towns, driving through standing water, walking on the beach, and doing all the things citizens are cautioned against by emergency officials.
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