Phew York! Big Apple gets off lightly but Irene wipes out homes and roads to leave U.S. facing a £27bn repair bill

Hurricane Irene killed 21 people and left a £27billion trail of destruction in it's wake - but there was relief in New York as the city escaped the worst of the storm. Parts of downtown Manhattan were flooded, including several apartment blocks, but the damage was nowhere near as widespread as had been feared. A flood surge of up to 8ft had been predicted, but in the end just 1ft washed over the banks of the surrounding rivers and onto the streets. Within an hour of Irene passing, the sun had come out and New York began to resume normal life - with joggers taking to the streets which minutes before were underwater.Weathermen also downgraded Irene to a Tropical Storm just as she passed above the city. But outside of New York the damage had earlier been far more severe and the hurricane was blamed for at least 21 deaths - including two children - as she rampaged up the East coast of the U.S...read more>>>...

Storm hits a ghost town: New York streets empty as up to 200,000 lose power and city is put on TORNADO watch amid flood fears

New York was this morning in the eye of the storm as hurricane Irene forced an unprecedented shutdown of the city, forcing hundreds of thousands to flee in terror, ripping trees from the ground and leaving millions without power. Manhattan was turned into a ghost town as the streets were deserted after the hurricane smashed its way up the East Coast before descending on the Big Apple. Heavy rains raised fears of severe flooding and 200,000 New Yorkers were left without power, mainly residents on Staten Island, Queens and the outer suburbs as hurricane Irene ripped through the city. Experts said a storm surge on the fringes of Lower Manhattan could send seawater into the maze of underground vaults that hold the city's cables and pipes, knocking out power to thousands and crippling Wall Street, Ground Zero and the luxury high-rise apartments of Battery Park City. Tornadoes were also a possibility. The destructive power of hurricane Irene has so far killed ten people, including two children. An 11-year-old boy in Virginia was killed when a tree fell through the roof of his house and a child died in a car crash at an intersection in North Carolina where traffic lights were out. More than three million people from South Carolina to Maryland were without power as the giant 580-mile-wide storm brought widespread flooding and high winds that knocked down power lines...read more>>>...

Get out of New York: Residents told to flee as Hurricane Irene moves closer

New York is beginning mandatory evacuations for the first time in its history because of Hurricane Irene. Thousands of people living in low-lying areas across all five boroughs – including Battery Park on the tip of Manhattan – will have to leave their homes by 5pm today and seek shelter elsewhere. The order – enforced by Mayor Michael Bloomberg – applies to the lowest-lying areas of the city which are expected to be plunged under water. Mr Bloomberg said emergency services could not guarantee they would be able to help people in those areas. He said yesterday: ‘There are risks that endanger public safety and, I can’t stress it enough, nature is a force more powerful than any of us and it really is better to be safe than sorry. ‘We can’t depend on Mother Nature being kind. This is very serious. Do not be fooled by the sun, that is the calm before the storm. Under a nightmare scenario, most of downtown Manhattan – including Wall Street and the site of the World Trade Center – could be submerged by 7ft of flooding and 110mph winds, experts warned...read more>>>...