Hurricane Irene and the aftermath
Irene is likely to rank among the 10 costliest catastrophes in U.S. history.
What happened
Irene, the most powerful hurricane to reach the East Coast in two decades, lashed some of the country’s most densely populated areas with 85-mph winds and torrential rains, killing at least 40 people and causing more than $10 billion in property damage. Anticipating the storm, state and local officials had ordered massive coastal evacuations from North Carolina to Connecticut. The cities of Washington, Philadelphia, and New York were brought to a standstill; the region’s airports were closed; and more than 10,000 flights were canceled. Forecasters and news teams obsessively tracked the course of the “monster storm of the century.”
Recalling the lessons of Katrina, President Obama cut short his vacation and returned to Washington before Irene blew ashore. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg took to the airwaves, warning of worst-case scenarios and shutting down Broadway theaters and the subways. “Get the hell off the beach,” thundered New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who evacuated Atlantic City and other towns on the Jersey Shore. As Irene swept into New York and New England, it was downgraded to a tropical storm, sparing well-prepared cities but causing extensive flooding in suburbs and inland rural areas. “Vermont has a full-blown flooding catastrophe on its hands,” said Gov. Peter Shumlin. The Federal Emergency Management Agency halted rebuilding projects dating back to Katrina in order to rush emergency aid to victims of Irene, which is likely to rank among the 10 costliest catastrophes in U.S. history.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What the editorials said
“It appears that the emergency preparedness paid off,” said The Boston Globe. Public-safety workers performed courageously, power companies did triple shifts, and even TV news crews helped convince people to move to shelters. Lives were spared because forecasters delivered timely, actionable information. It’s wise to remember these successes at a time when the National Weather Service is “being demeaned as a bureaucratic frill.” Still, there are “legitimate questions” about the scaremongering media coverage, said The Philadelphia Inquirer. Could we have avoided the inconvenience of mass evacuations or the cost of shutting down businesses? Perhaps, but “there are no reports of anyone actually being harmed by hurricane hype.”
Besides, it’s not hype if it’s your house that’s flooded, said the Newark, N.J., Star-Ledger. Thousands are still homeless and more than 4 million people still had no power days after the storm hit. But we’ve taken the worst of what Irene threw at us and we’re still standing. “The fact that everyone took this threat seriously is a big reason.”
What the columnists said
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
“Big government finally got one right,” said Dana Milbank in The Washington Post. It was the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s satellites and tracking software that predicted the path of the storm to within 10 miles. Federal emergency teams deployed from Florida to Maine assisted local governments with food, water, and generators. Like the taking out of Osama bin Laden, this is a reminder that “government can still do great things.”
Actually, it was local government that came through here, said Jim Lacey in NationalReview.com. “From governors on down to town mayors and county councilmen, government officials were doing what they are paid to do.” There was no civil breakdown, no need for the military, as there was with Katrina in 2005. To local officials, all I can say is: “Great job all around. For this I don’t mind paying taxes.”
Plenty of conservatives are balking, though, at spending money on federal disaster relief, said Brad Plumer in WashingtonPost.com. This week Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia said that Congress would have to cut other programs to offset the cost of relief for Irene, setting the tone for acrimonious debates. With FEMA’s coffers already depleted by this year’s spate of tornadoes and floods, a divided Congress will now have to either pass supplemental spending bills or start choosing among disaster victims. Costs for natural disasters are sure to rise, with more of us living in coastal areas and a warmer planet producing more “extreme precipitation events.” We ought to come up with a way to keep disaster relief funding from being such “a haphazard affair.”
-
'Solitude has become a notable, and worrisome, trend of our times'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, The Week US Published
-
Blake Lively accuses rom-com costar of smear job
Speed Read The actor accused Justin Baldoni, her director and costar on "It Ends With Us," of sexual harassment and a revenge campaign
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Germany arrests anti-Islam Saudi in SUV attack
Speed Read The attack on a Christmas market in Magdeburg left five people dead and more than 200 wounded
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Climate report offers a grim forecast
feature A United Nations panel of the world’s leading environmental scientists issued its most dire warnings yet on the dangers posed by climate change.
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
A muted battering from Hurricane Isaac
feature The slow-moving Category 1 hurricane was downgraded to a tropical storm and came ashore with 80-mile-an-hour winds.
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
A growing environmental disaster
feature Engineers launched another dramatic bid to cap the gushing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, as the slick extended across 150 miles of water in what may become the nation’s worst spill, surpassing the Exxon Valdez disaster.
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Nations seek a climate deal in Copenhagen
feature Delegates from nearly 200 nations convened at the U.N. conference on climate change in Copenhagen, hoping to forge a new treaty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
A historic shift on CO2
feature The Environmental Protection Agency declared that carbon dioxide endangers human health, opening the door to sweeping climate-change rules that could cost businesses and consumers billions.
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Hurricane Ike clobbers Texas
feature Authorities said the financial losses from Hurricane Ike could be as high as $18 billion.
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Floods devastate the Midwest
feature Storm-driven floodwaters surged over large portions of the Midwest this week, inundating communities along the region
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
An urgent warning on climate change
feature Global warming is
By The Week Staff Last updated