Extensive Flood Damage from Hurricane Irene

New flood dangers as East Coast tries to recover from Irene

All along the Eastern Seaboard, communities are coping with the effects of Hurricane Irene and assessing the damage.

President Barack Obama today declared major disasters in New York and North Carolina.

The storm destroyed up to 600 homes and thousands of acres of farmland in upstate New York and more than 1,100 homes in North Carolina, where the governor says it did at
least $70 million in damage.

Authorities in New Jersey have ordered evacuations in Paterson as the Passaic River has crested, causing extensive flooding. Gov. Chris Christie toured sites along the river,
describing them as "just extraordinary despair."

He says the flooding is likely to continue into tomorrow and additional shelters are being opened for evacuees.

The Connecticut River continues to rise, too. As of yesterday afternoon it had reached 23 feet above flood stage and was still rising.

This morning, ground crews have been able to reach 10 Vermont communities that have been cut off since the remnants of Hurricane Irene took out roads and bridges.

Emergency management officials say they're still trying to reach Wardsboro, but many isolated communities have been given food and water.

An estimated 2.5 million people from North Carolina through New England remain without power. So far, Irene has been blamed for at least 44 deaths in 13 states.

President Approves Disaster Declaration For NC

President Obama has signed a disaster declaration for North Carolina as the state recovers from Hurricane Irene.

The White House said Wednesday that Obama had signed the order for seven counties affected when Hurricane Irene hit the state last week.

The order makes federal fund available to help with the recovery in Beaufort, Carteret, Craven, Dare, Hyde, Pamlico and Tyrrell counties.

The declaration authorizes grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-coast loans to cover uninsured property loss and other programs to help people and businesses affected by the storm.

Gov. Beverly Perdue had submitted the request for the declaration on Monday.

FEMA said that residents and business owners who sustained losses in the designated counties can begin applying for assistance tomorrow by registering online by clicking here.

You can also call 1-800-621-FEMA(3362) or 1-800-462-7585 (TTY) for the hearing and speech impaired. The toll-free telephone numbers will operate from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. (local time) seven days a week until further notice. 

White House Tour Irene Damage

White house officials will tour damage left behind by Hurricane Irene on Tuesday. As of Tuesday morning the death toll was 40 people in 11 states. 

Entire towns in Vermont and New York remain cut off by flooding, some communities are still warily watching swollen rivers and over a million people from Virginia to Maine remain without power three days after Hurricane Irene slammed into the Eastern Seaboard.

The government's main disaster aid account is running woefully short of money as the Obama administration confronts damages from Hurricane Irene that could run into billions of dollars.

With less than $800 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster aid coffers, the agency has been forced to freeze rebuilding projects from earlier disasters dating back to Hurricane Katrina to husband money for emergency needs in the wake of Irene.

The shortfalls in FEMA's disaster aid account have been obvious to lawmakers on Capitol Hill for months - and privately acknowledged to them by FEMA - but the White House has declined to ask for more money.

FEMA now admits the disaster aid shortfall could approach $5 billion for the upcoming budget year, and that's before accounting for Irene.