NSNBC reporting Irene is now a Tropical Storm.

[Dennis Donovan]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_IRENE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-08-28-09-01-36

NEW YORK (AP) -- The National Hurricane Center in Miami says that Irene has lost hurricane strength and made landfall on New York's Coney Island.

Forecasters say Irene's winds have fallen to 65 mph.

They say Irene should move over New England by the afternoon. Officials also warn that isolated tornadoes are possible in the northeast throughout the morning.

[4dsc]

1. Tropical Storm Hype.

[Dennis Donovan]

5. Things look pretty safe there in Iowa?

:eyes:

[Marrah_G]

7. This is a pretty serious storm for alot of us

[FLPanhandle]

9. It's become entertaining to see news crews trying to find something to broadcast

A tree down here; a flooded river there. Something, anything to keep the viewers interested in this "storm of the century".

[cwydro]

11. Weather Channel reporter out on a boardwalk...

"it's deserted out here! People are taking this seriously!"

Enter stage left...people walking by in shorts, t-shirts...lmao.

[Dennis Donovan]

16. While Al Roker was broadcasting live from Long Beach, someone ran by in a Superman cape!

:rofl:

[cwydro]

20. LOVE it!

Storm of the century!!

[TheCowsCameHome]

14. No shortage of corn this morning.

[Ineeda]

18. Sure. Tell that to

the millions w/o power, flooded or otherwise damaged/destroyed homes, or those who've lost a loved one to a tree falling on them. All hype. Uh, huh.

[vaberella]

2. Agreed. Not even tropical storm status. It's just raining around my way. Lame! n/t

[Atman]

3. It's not hype. It's pretty bad here in CT, and hasn't fully hit yet.

We've lost a couple of huge trees, can barely see out driveway beneath all the debris, and the wind is howling. I don't care what they call it, it's not lame.

[Marrah_G]

6. Its not even fully hit here in Southern Mass and its nasty outside my windows.

[Dennis Donovan]

4. Because you're in the eye...

[cwydro]

12. There is no eye any longer. nt

[Dennis Donovan]

13. It's there, it's just very poorly defined...

[cali]

8. It's "just raining" here too. but we're supposed to get 6+ inches and where I live

that means lots of flash flooding. 4 million people are now without power. That number will increase by quite a bit. It's not as bad as it could have been but it's not just hype.

[Raven]

10. I'd like to say to all the folks scoffing at Irene: count your blesssings!

It's pretty scary here in SW NH in the path of the eye of this thing...and it's still hours away. :-(

[lynne]

15. She's come and gone here - just south of DC -

- and she was well-behaved and polite during her visit, thank goodness. Minimal wind, good bit of rain, some trees down and some water on roads but more like an extended summer thunder storm (without the thunder) than a hurricane. And I've experienced all Virginia hurricanes since before Agnes so I do have numerous points of comparison.

Seems you had to be right on the coast to experience the worst of Irene. Glad she's taming down and I know that water will be an issue for those up north as well as tree damage. Even thunder storms can do damage and cause injury so everyone continue to stay safe!

[TBF]

17. I will refer you to my journal entry re Allison yesterday -

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/TBF/55

I'm thrilled that this hurricane has weakened and is now down to Tropical Storm category. After Tropical Storm Allison, however, I'd still advise to keep on your toes (particularly those in low-lying areas or near coasts).

I know some seem disappointed that this is not a worse storm, but it's not over yet and I'd stay alert.

[davsand]

19. Maybe we need to celebrate that downgrade--it sounds bad enough as is.

I've seen a couple of reports of the Hudson and East River being outside their banks with flooding in Manhattan. If it is that bad with the downgraded storm, it doesn't take too much imagination to see how bad it easily could have been had Irene stayed at the same strength as she was originally. As it is, 65 MPH winds are nothing to ignore, nor is the volume of rainfall that comes along with that high wind.

NY got lucky this time (thankfully!) but there were no guarantees that was gonna be the case. We could just as easily have been sitting here with the conversation being along the lines of "Dear God! How awful! What a horrible loss of life!" While I, personally, was hoping we were all gonna be able to look at this in retrospect as a disaster dodged, seems to me there are a hell of a lot out there that somehow are gonna be unhappy unless the worst case scenario comes to pass.



Laura