destroyed. this didn t end when the wind died down. this was and continues to be a very big deal and water is the reason why. you are looking at where the town of prattsville, new york used to be. parts of it washed away. everyone got away safely. they don t have much to return to. the correspondent who shot this compared it to joplin, missouri, after the tornado. she was stranded by rising flood waters. she joins us shortly. still stranded there actually tonight. irene dumped as much as a foot of rain on the northeast onto waterlogged ground and full rivers and reservoirs. look at that truck trying to get through the water. the water has to go somewhere. it doesn t care what or who is in the way. this scene in new jersey where big military trucks were even having trouble getting around. from virginia to vermont rivers and streams overflowing. some above record flood levels or soon to be, largely because of flooding damage from hurricane irene could hit $7 billion making it o
pictures, and live pictures now, and he is going to be bringing in a jobs pro to tackle the crisis, and we will have that live from the white house. you are looking at the rose garden there, and we will bring it live when it happens. the president is set to nominate allan krueger to chair the council of economic advisers, and he is a professor at princeton and served as assistant treasury secretary until next year. and stewards of hurricane irene are expected to cleanout to day. it is not what many predicted, but irene did leave a severe scar. the storm took 24 lives and more than 4 million homes lost power, and $10 billion in estimates of cost. talking about hurricane irene, i want the make sure that the folks have the support they need as theys a s.e. s assess a the damages from the storm. that will continue in the days ahead. lit take time it will take time to recover from a storm of this magnitude and the effects are still being felt in the country in new england and
all day heavy rains from tropical storm irene overwhelmed creeks and rivers across new england. quaint main streets became muddy torrens. this is a little village north of new york city in the catskills. just look at the force of this water at woodstock, vermont. those are propane tanks picked up and carried away. nothing can escape the current once it falls in. not even cars. trapped in the raging waters this sedan was batted around like driftwood. fortunately no one was in the vehicle. whoa! get out of here. grab the mic. that s a reporter with wcbs at ashbury park, new jersey. she and the crew thought they were far enough away from the water, but they were wrong. on long island large sand berms to protect the life guard station worked for a while. but in the end the building smashed into the pier. hello. thanks for joining us. i m martin as a savidge. don lemon is off tonight. irene may have lost hurricane status but as a tropical storm it s been just as menacing. it m
we begin this morning, talking about the aftermath of irene, the massive storm that paralyzed and pummeled much of the east coast. today, it s blamed for at least 21 deaths in nine states from florida to vermont. and at last count, about 3 million homes and businesses are still without power. more than a billion dollars in damages is blamed on the storms winds. flooding damage will be much more costly. three navy ships should be positioned in relief efforts from new york to new england. cnn crews are in place, measuring the storm s impact and the struggle for the millions of americans trying to move on now. we ll take you from north carolina to new york to new england and give you the big picture from the cnn weather center, right here in atlanta. let s go ahead and begin in vermont, a state reeling from some of its worst flooding in decades. gary tuchman there in brat tleboro. reporter: they don t deal with hurricanes, at least not until yesterday when tropical storm ire
this is prattsville in the cat skill mountains. officials say the volume of water rushing through the riverbanks is more than what s flowing over niagara falls today. just think about that. it stranded people in their homes and hotels. no way for rescuers to get to them. next, i want to share video from rhode island. 300,000 people there in the dark. no electricity. several of these, you can see them downed trees, just sheer wind power took them down. half the state is affected here. listen now as rhode island s governor is speaking a short time ago. really what we re focusing on is getting the power back. rhode islanders without power getting antsy. they want to that s really where our focus is. we ll assessment damage and the cost and everything else. that s our priority right now. and in vermont, that is where it looks like the flooding is worse today. you know, some towns in the southern part of the state are completely underwater. others being battered by raging ri