Extreme Flooding in New England from Hurricane Irene
The big story today is the flooding in New England from Hurricane Irene, parts of which received over a foot of rain when Irene was done dropping 20 inches on North Carolina. Official rain gauge reports indicated 8 states getting over 10 inches!
Above is an estimated precip map for the storm. The top amounts over 1 foot, by state (additional stats can be found in our news story):
Virginia Beach, VA: 20.40"
Jacksonville, NC: 20.00"
East Durham, NY: 13.30"
Sewell, NCJ: 13.20"
Plum Point, MD: 12.96"
Below is a photo of flooding in Grafton, Vermont.
CNN says it is the worst flooding in 80 years and that over 200 roads in Vermont have been submerged. Sixteen AHPS gauges are over "major stage" flooding. The most impressive flood gauge I saw was Otter Creek at Center Rutland.
The previous record, set in 1938, has been bested by nearly 4 feet! A nearby runner-up was Schoharie Creek at Burtonsville in New York, which broke its record from 1996 by more than two feet. Many, many homes are under water in this area. Eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey also experienced extreme flooding. Below is a photo of flooding in Norristown, PA.
