Receding waters reveal more storm damage

KILLINGTON, Vt. -- Swollen rivers began falling yesterday in much of the Northeast, easing the flooding that paralyzed parts of the region after Hurricane Irene and allowing emergency crews to reach all but one of the Vermont towns that had been cut off by floodwaters.

Receding water revealed more damage to homes, farms and businesses across the flood-scarred landscape. Repair estimates indicated that the storm would almost certainly rank among the nation's costliest natural disasters, despite packing a lighter punch than initially feared.

Of the 11 towns that had been cut off from the outside world, all except tiny Wardsboro had been reached by rescuers, and authorities were hoping to reach it shortly. National Guard helicopters continued to ferry supplies to mountain communities that had no electricity, no telephone service and limited transportation in or out.

Eight helicopters from the Illinois National Guard were expected to arrive with food, blankets, tarps and drinking water.

At Killington Elementary School, residents came for a free hot dog and corn on the cob. Jason and Angela Heaslip picked up a bag filled with peanut butter, cereal and toilet paper for their three children and three others who are visiting from Long Island.

"Right now they're getting little portions because we're trying to make the food last," said Jason Heaslip, who has only a dollar in his bank account because the storm has kept him from being paid by the resort where he works.

If Irene's death toll stands, it would be comparable to 1999's Hurricane Floyd, which also struck North Carolina and charged up the East Coast into New England, causing most of its 57 deaths by inland drowning.

At the time, it was the deadliest U.S. hurricane in nearly 40 years but was dwarfed later by the 1,800 deaths caused by Katrina in 2005.

An estimate released immediately after Irene by the Kinetic Analysis Corp., a consulting firm that uses computer models to estimate storm losses, put the damage at $7.2 billion in eight states and Washington, D.C.

That would eclipse damage from Hurricane Bob, which caused $1 billion in damage in New England in 1991 or the equivalent of about $1.7 billion today, and Hurricane Gloria, which swept through the region in 1985 and left $900 million in damage, or the equivalent of $1.9 billion today, according to the Insurance Information Institute.

Even as rivers finally stopped rising in Vermont, New Jersey and Connecticut, many communities and farm areas remained flooded, and officials said complete damage estimates were nowhere in sight.

Some New Jersey towns resembled large, soggy yard sales as residents dragged flood-damaged belongings out onto lawns and into streets still muddied with floodwaters.