Hurricane Irene Impacts East Coast of the United States

This past weekend, Hurricane Irene swept up the East Coast of the U.S. The Category 1 hurricane first touched land in North Carolina. People living in Virginia to New York experienced flooding and downed trees. By the time it reached New York City and New England, Irene was downgraded to a tropical storm.

Hurricanes get weaker after they pass over land. Irene did slow down, but it remained large and destructive much longer than most hurricanes as it moved north through Vermont.

See more pictures of Hurricane Irene’s destruction on National Geographic News.

Learn more about why Hurricane Irene lasted so long on National Geographic news.

What is a hurricane? Get the scoop on this type of storm in this video on National Geographic Kids.

Photograph by Hyunsoo Leo Kim, The Virginian-Pilot/AP

Comments

hannahgrace123098
September 1, 2011, 10:35 am

wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
Bo214
September 1, 2011, 11:31 am

is everbody okay? how much water is in there? did u get all the water out already?
dessydo24
September 1, 2011, 11:38 am

THAT IS NOT GOOD!!!! IM SRRY 2 THE 1NS THAT HAD 2 GO THROUGH THAT!!!!!
SENDING LOV AND HOPE AND FATH!!!!!!!
DESSYDO IS AWESOME!!!!!!!
Owen tigger 21
September 1, 2011, 11:42 am

wow thats realy cool even though it flooded
MelanieHms!
September 1, 2011, 12:36 pm

Wow! Irene sure did destroy alot of places! Hopefully everyone is okay. Hopefully they get all their damaged stuff back. I wonder if it hit super bad!?
courtney22
September 1, 2011, 12:37 pm

how bad did it hit . i hope not very hard. an i hope noone got hurt badly.
lexirocks123
September 1, 2011, 12:39 pm

that must of been very hard for every body there.my dad was a a book show and where the evacuation center was so he almost had to move all his books
CHASBELLA
September 2, 2011, 2:13 pm

Wow.
flower2
September 3, 2011, 12:02 pm

Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow! I hope those citys recover!
St.Louis
September 8, 2011, 5:09 pm

Owen Tiger how would you have felt if you were in hurricane Irene? Would you still think it would be cool?Hope everyone recovers soon enough to go back to work and the cities to.
mym3lody
September 9, 2011, 3:26 pm

What a mild but sad disater!!!
girlpower2
March 28, 2012, 2:34 pm

i was in hurricane irene in North Carolina it was so horrible!!!!!!!!
girlpower1
March 28, 2012, 2:40 pm

it was horrible i esperience it it was the first time i been in a hurricane .A big tree fell in front of my house ,good thing it did not fell on my house. Hope everything is ok and i really wish everyone is ok…… i go to church and my church helped some people but i hope everyone will help too…..and owen tigger u woulnt like it if was u. HOPE EVRYTHING IS OK !!!