25 Frightening Photos Of Hurricane Irene’s Destruction

[RKP5637]

I haven't seen this posted, maybe they have been, if so, sorry. These were incredible IMO. I've been through hurricanes before, but these really showed some of the inland destruction.

"25 Frightening Photos Of Hurricane Irene’s Destruction"

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/frightening-hurricane-irene-destruction-photos

[hlthe2b]

1. Where are the "just so much hype" crowd now?

Yes, just a "mere thunderstorm", surely....:eyes:


Thanks for posting these. They are a potent reminder.

[saras]

39. They're advocating for an end to the Cat 1-6 system for rating hurricanes - it failed

...and it will continue to fail worse and worse as storms get larger.

This may be the most damaging storm to America ever, yet by the time it made New York, it had already been degraded BELOW Cat 1, to a "mere" tropical storm.

So it wasn't even a hurricane that did all that damage. Let's keep THAT straight too. And again, none of this in any way minimizes the damage caused by flooding, in particular. New England is not well prepared for tropical storms. No surprise there - they're pretty damn far from the tropics.

The better job the media do of telling people what is REALLY happening, the better choices people make to prepare themselves. We clearly need labels for storms like this that indicate how damaging they can be irrespective of wind speed.

[nadinbrzezinski]

58. They were talking of revision already

I mean at the core (eye) it was a cat 3...

I think they wil have to, at the very least

[KittyWampus]

70. Just got phones, cable and electricity back up. My garden was devastated (we depend on it for food).

It's still a long hard slog back to normal.

[RegieRocker]

73. You beat me to the question. Thanks

[Dawgs]

78. Right here.

This storm is an inconvenience compared to people from Haiti still living in tent cities.

Or, to those tens of thousands who mourn the loss of dead and affected from Japanese earthquake.

Sorry, this storm sucked, but a few washed out roads is nothing but a nuisance for a month or so.

[villager]

2. What's astonishing is to think this is the "petered out" version of Irene

...that so many here are quick to dismiss.

Imagine if it had remained in any of the "Cats" while blowing through...

[Kerrytravelers]

3. Wow. Those are just heartbreaking.

[TwilightGardener]

4. Out of all the sad destruction in those pics, I'm weirdly saddest about the old elm.

[GreenPartyVoter]

5. A tree dies in Brooklyn. :^(

[stuntcat]

51. yes, old trees..

I love old trees.. it is quite a loss

[TwilightGardener]

56. Especially in a city. Sanctuary for so many critters.

[OneGrassRoot]

6. Wow, I live near the last pic....

I'm out of town and had no idea that happened.

These images are stunning. It's amazing how something may seem "tame" compared to expectations, but it takes hours to days to really absorb the impact, especially when flooding is involved.

[Auggie]

7. I think this will be the iconic photo of Irene

[TwilightGardener]

8. I hope not. They lost a VACATION home. They were lucky, and then they were less lucky.

Some people died, or had their one and only home flooded.

[hlthe2b]

20. Of course those are the priorities....

But it is sad to lose history, too and apparently their cottage was historically relevant. One can say the loss of the American Elm in Brooklyn is just a loss of a tree that pales in comparison to loss of life or livelihood for a family. But it is that irreplaceable aspect that does make the loss more meaningful than face value. At least to me. :shrug:

[kick-ass-bob]

35. You know what - fuck off. That was a registered national historic place.

Built in 1903.

Here's the fucking link.
http://www.hpo.ncdcr.gov/nr/DR0605.pdf

[TwilightGardener]

44. Yeah. And my response is, it's a vacation home. One that's been around a long time,

benefiting ONE lucky-sperm-club family for decades. I guess they'll have to take a vacation in a rental like the rest of us. Boo fucking hoo.

[nolabear]

62. Wow. So if you had the opportunity to have a nice vacation home you'd turn it down?

If you were offered a comfortable life for yourself and your family and custody of a beloved piece of property you'd burn it to the ground and insist on you and your family remaining in a poorer state?

So since you have enough money to afford a computer you will sell it and give the money to the homeless?

EVERYBODY hurts, man. Where's your heart?

[TwilightGardener]

64. My heart isn't really for people who lose oceanfront weekend homes.

They'll most likely be handsomely reimbursed, and will probably build another. In an era when so many are losing their jobs and their ONLY homes and will not be "bailed out" by insurance money or anything else, this sort of "loss" just makes me shrug and say, well, sucks for them.

[uppityperson]

66. I thought you were envious of their money but turns out it was of their inheritance

So sad to be so bitter towards one lucky family. So sad to see how joyful them being taken down makes you happy.

[LanternWaste]

81. I imagine that for better or for worse...

I imagine that for better or for worse, when presented with a loss not of our own, we often advertise our strength of character (or lack of it) rather aptly by illustrating either our compassion or our indifference.

In the end, it appears our proscriptions on strangers speaks more about ourselves than our would-be target.

[Beaverhausen]

48. It's possible to feel sadness for all the victims of this storm

Calling these people lucky is beyond insensitive.

[TwilightGardener]

54. You know, I don't begrudge the Haves for the luxuries they have--weekend homes,

boats, etc. I also don't weep for them when they lose such things (and wait for the insurance check). YMMV.

[a la izquierda]

61. Ah, nevermind.

I'm too tired to deal with blanket disgust toward the rich.

[Auggie]

50. It's a very good photo

[TwilightGardener]

53. Staged and manipulative.

[Auggie]

75. Right... they tore down the house just to get that photo

Sheesh!

[Neurotica]

52. That photo captures the sense of loss

It can be interpreted in a much broader way. It's symbolic.

[hlthe2b]

17. Lost cottage built in 1903 listed on National Historic Registry...

I'd be crying too... But as posted earlier, the loss of one of the last remaining American Elms is pretty hard to take too. As with loss of human and animal life, these can not be replaced/repaired.

[Cassandra]

23. Actually Central Park has several stands...

of American Elm that are treated very carefully.

[Hissyspit]

9. One word: Camille

Anyone who knows the history of hurricanes and knows about Camille in 1969 knows better than to predict a storm is a "dud" before it is over:

http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Hurricane_Camille_August_1969

Hurricane Camille arrived in Virginia on the night of August 19, 1969, one of only three category five storms ever to make landfall in the United States since record-keeping began. One of the worst natural disasters in Virginia's history, the storm produced what meteorologists at the time guessed might be the most rainfall "theoretically possible." As it swept through Virginia overnight, it seemed to catch authorities by surprise. Communication networks were not in place or were knocked out, leaving floods and landslides to trap residents as they slept. Hurricane Camille cost Virginia 113 lives lost and $116 million in damages. It also served as a lesson that inland flooding could be as great a danger as coastal flooding during a hurricane.

I did not realize that Cary lost its water tower. The photo of the woman escaping the beach was on the front page of our newspaper here.

[hlthe2b]

22. I was very young when Camille hit....

but I remember visiting the Gulf Region in its aftermath and the tears one constantly encountered. Every since then, I cringe when I meet someone named Camille (though granted it is apparently not a very popular name to this day).

[marions ghost]

49. and what about Fran

that one was predicted to be not so bad. But it came on the heels of previous heavy rains and spawned 200 or so tornadoes, turning NC into "the attack of the trees."

[Hissyspit]

65. Yes, it was at night and I kept opening the front door during the storm...

and saying "wow, listen to those branches that keep falling." I stayed up all night, and in the morning went outside and realized it wasn't branches falling that I kept hearing, it was whole trees.

[Cassandra]

10. The Princeton train station pic.

That's the underpass to walk to the other side of the tracks.

[tawadi]

11. Sad to see the destruction to historic homes like the one in Nags Head, North Carolina

Built in 1903, but couldn't outlast Irene. :-(

[Lance_Boyle]

18. The Outer Banks were no place to build then, and they are no place to build now.

I wonder how people are able to get buildings there insured at all. Every hurricane that hits NC creates new inlets out of the "solid ground" of the outer banks. I'm even more baffled by the people there who refused the mandatory evac. Nutso.

[TwilightGardener]

21. Yep. It's all shifting sand. I speak as one who has stayed in those rental homes--

it's nice, but can't cry too hard when your house ON THE OCEAN, ON SAND AND PIERS goes bye bye.

[snooper2]

24. It's ridiculous that they build houses there..it should just be a big park

stupid

[kick-ass-bob]

37. They have a big park, just south of Nags Head.

I really wish people who had a fucking clue about the area would post instead of the ignorant ones.

[snooper2]

40. So the purposes of building houses continually on a fucking sand bar

that continue to get destroyed is what exactly?

You want some tourist money, sweet, Buy a few of these..At least you can move them out of the way before the Atlantic slices a new inlet...

[kick-ass-bob]

36. The one in the pic was built in 1903. How many houses around you have been up for 108 years?

It is obvious that you can build houses on the outer banks. Yes, they shift around, but no, they don't all get destroyed every time there's a storm.

You obviously know little about the area.

[Lance_Boyle]

60. I know plenty about the area.

Building on a tiny sand "island" is asking for trouble. It's not a matter of "if" those buildings will be damaged or destroyed by a storm, but "when."

Insurers ought to start refusing to cover them at all.

[taterguy]

71. Nags Head is on a peninsula, not an island

Please demonstrate more of your extensive knowledge of the area.

[reggie the dog]

79. lots of houses where i live are 200 to 400 years old

[tk2kewl]

12. Jackie Sparnackel is a ding-bat

:crazy:

[TwilightGardener]

14. This is true.

[tallahasseedem]

26. I'm glad I'm not the only one...

who thought that. I think that photo should be removed from the list.

[tk2kewl]

29. looks like she is clutching her meds in her left hand...

Maybe should pop another one?

[MilesColtrane]

13. I'm afraid Katia's going to be heading that way too.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at2+shtml/143114.shtml?gm_track#contents

[Throckmorton]

15. At least picture 24 is of a little used section of road.

That road is down the steet from my mothers house, and ironically, is behind a flood control dam.

[hedgehog]

16. The New York State Thruway ( I-90) is closed from Syracuse to Albany.

This section runs down the Mohawk River Valley to the Hudson.

[Lint Head]

19. It was the flooding that killed people during Katrina not the actual hurricane.

[uppityperson]

25. Maybe in New Orleans, but a lot of people died in LA, MS, AL from the hurricane,

from the tornadoes, the storm surge, trees falling down, etc which were all part of the hurricane. Yes, New Orleans drowned when the levees broke, but there was a LOT more than there.

[Uncle Joe]

27. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, RKP.

[RKP5637]

67. Yep!!! n/t

[rocktivity]

28. Rocker Sebastian Bach's NJ House Condemned After Irene Hit

Rocker Sebastian Bach's NJ House Condemned After Irene Hit

Sebastian Bach, frontman for the metal band Skid Row, says he is "numb, in shock, and devastated" following news that his Red Bank, New Jersey home has been condemned due to damage suffered during Hurricane Irene. The storm flooded a nearby reservoir, and reportedly sent portions of a bridge into Bach's garage, which knocked the house off its foundation...(H)e and his family were not home at the time...

Bach took to Facebook to report..."I am not even allowed to start pumping the water out due to fears of electrocution...Gone are irreplaceable items, such as my KISS Gargoyles from the 1979 tour...KISS pinball machine. Skid Row master tapes, video & audio, concerts...a library in the basement with every single magazine that had Skid Row on the cover..."


Pic From MTV.com

On edit: Skid Row played hard rock, not heavy metal, and Bach has not been a member of Skid Row since 1999.

:headbang:
rocktivity (former rock journalist)

[TwilightGardener]

31. NOT THE KISS GARGOYLES AND PINBALL MACHINE!!!

I feel bad for him, but the dude has bad taste.

[rocktivity]

32. You keep stuff like that for its potential resale value, not taste.

He's lost a fortune in future collectibles.

:headbang:
rocktivity

[TwilightGardener]

43. I don't know...it's the sort of thing I'd expect an 80's hair-band guy to have.

[KamaAina]

42. Keep in mind that Red Bank is several miles inland from the Atlantic

though it is on a sizable inlet.

Jon Stewart also has a house there. And his house would probably have stuff worth saving in it!

[RockaFowler]

30. Scary pictures

This storm was really bad. I'm glad that people prepared for the worst. Because it looks like it may have been a lot worse if everyone just said - Oh it's just a Tropical Storm. The Northeast is just not prepared for this kind of weather. Imagine if they didn't prepare - how many more deaths would we be looking at then??

[femrap]

33. Holy Shit!

I had a horrible feeling about flooding hitting beautiful VT. Well, looks like there will be plenty of work for the unemployed.

Thanks for posting.

[kick-ass-bob]

34. Picture 25 is apparently not due to the hurricane, but 15 is...

and here is the link to the picture of it at the National Historic Places Registry:
http://www.hpo.ncdcr.gov/nr/DR0605.pdf

[Botany]

38. Bachmann: I was being 'humorous' with disaster remark

"Of course I was being humorous when I said that. It would be absurd to think it was anything else," Bachmann said Monday about
the disaster comment that attracted much attention.

"I am a person who loves humor, I have a great sense of humor."

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post...

I mean what is not funny w/ those pix?

[Historic NY]

41. This one the Gov. of NY took while going to the scene in Margaretsville in his suv

It got pretty hairy for him too.

[ellie]

45. That is awful!

Prayers to all affected!

[okieinpain]

46. psst. overhype....... n/t.

[malaise]

47. Bare Hype

Get real - I see no damage at all :sarcasm:

[a kennedy]

55. Wow....how sad and how dangerous this storm was.

Those roads......just terrible..... :cry: :cry: :cry:

[Waiting For Everyman]

57. Yup, not much of a storm was it? Sucks that we overprepared due to "hype".

I think that reaction has to be the most idiotic thing I've ever seen on DU. Especially when the disaster isn't even over, much less assessed. And add to the damage, deaths, and injuries, millions are still without power.

K&R. Thanks for the link.

[RKP5637]

68. You're welcome! n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

59. But, but it was HYPE (tm)

:sarcasm:

[MerryBlooms]

63. :*( My heart aches for all those who have been impacted.

I've been through a couple hurricanes and the rebuilding mentally has been much more difficult than the physical.

[goforit]

69. Unbelievable!

Jaw dropping
:wow:

[Pooka Fey]

72. Oh my gosh. Godspeed to everyone affected by this.

:hug:

[onethatcares]

74. looks like the perfect time for Works Progress Administration projects

Jeeez, those are frightening and the aftermath of the storm is going to be worse.

Time to get a bunch of the 25,000,000 unemployed up and about with the rest doing logistics and clerical.

Then we can tackle the mid west floods, the southern tornados and whatever else is coming up.

[Waiting For Everyman]

76. Wouldn't it be great if a lot of electrical lines could be buried at the same time?

It would probably save money in the long run.

Completely agree with your point.

[onethatcares]

77. well, yeah.

I'm here in sunny hurricaneville, Floriduh and looking out my back window we have power lines, cable lines, misc lines running down the alley on poles with round transformers. The lines are covered with vines and branches stick up through them just waiting for a large windstorm to make them sway and knock the lines down.

Come November, Progress Energy soon to be Duke Energy might come by and trim around the lines but never before the season, only after.

Here in St. Petersburg, the city requires underground feed for new construction and major remodeling when the metercan is moved or the panel upgraded.


I would love to travel the country doing carpenter work for the last of my laboring days, I LIKE IT>

[ensho]

80. these pics should be required viewing

I read that the storms costs would be about 6 billion. I think it will be more then that.