Irene less than expected, but still a bruiser for many

Hurricane Irene lost much of its bluster by the time it was downgraded to a tropical storm Sunday morning. But as it continued to course up the Eastern Seaboard late Sunday, its destructive wake ? which left at least 21 dead and 4.5 million without electricity ? will be felt for weeks.

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Armageddon, it wasn't. After dire warnings by weather forecasters and anxious local, state and federal officials who ordered massive coastal evacuations and told 65 million people in the storm's path to prepare for the worst, many along the East Coast were left wondering what the hype was all about.

Even so, Irene is proving to be a heartbreaker, claiming victims from Florida to Connecticut, economic losses already estimated at up to $10 billion and ongoing problems from downed power lines, flooding and snarled travel. Nearly 10,000 weekend flights were canceled, promising air-travel delays for much of this week.

• INTERACTIVE: Photos, videos from along the East Coast

• MORE: Complete coverage of Irene

• PHOTOS: Hurricane Irene strikes the U.S.

"I want people to understand that this is not over," President Obama said at a briefing Sunday evening. "The impacts of this storm will be felt for some time, and the recovery effort will last for weeks or longer. ? We're not out of the woods."

Several states and their nervous residents remain on watch for flash flooding, threatening winds and prolonged power outages.

"A recovery from a disaster like this is going to affect parts of the East Coast differently," said Joe Wilson, head of Federal Signal Corp.'s safety and security division. "Depending on the extent of damage to utilities and transportation, you're certainly talking weeks."

Storm winds were lessening to about 50 mph as Irene whipped into northern New England late Sunday. In New York City, which closed its massive mass transit system Saturday because of potential flooding, Wall Street planned to open as scheduled this morning.

However, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg warned of a hectic commute. There was no immediate timetable late Sunday for reopening the subway system.

New Jersey Transit, which carries train passengers into New York across the Hudson River, planned to operate on a modified schedule today after completing checks of tracks and infrastructure.

"The good news is the worst is over, and we will soon move to a restore and return mode," Bloomberg said as he lifted an evacuation order allowing 370,000 residents of low-lying areas to return to their apartments and houses. Bloomberg warned those returning home to remain on guard. "Be careful. We're not back to normal."

Chris Ward, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, similarly expressed relief that the metro area "dodged a bullet." PATH train service linking New York City with Newark and Hoboken, N.J., was scheduled to resume at 4 a.m. today.

The Port Authority and the Federal Aviation Administration said late Sunday that John F. Kennedy Airport and Newark Liberty Airport would reopen at 6 a.m. today, while LaGuardia Airport would open at 7 a.m.

Inland flooding a concern

In New Jersey, officials were shifting attention from the state's battered coastline to inland areas, where record-breaking flooding is expected along the Passaic and Ramapo rivers through Tuesday.

"The inland flooding is the thing that has been almost as much of a concern of mine as the coastal flooding has been," Gov. Chris Christie said.

Evacuations of some communities along both waterways were planned even as residents of the state's coastal communities were cleared to return Sunday.

Atlantic City's 11 casinos, shuttered over the weekend, planned to reopen today.

Parts of Virginia, where the storm hit late Saturday, were drenched with 10 inches or more of rainfall and bracing for more flooding. Gov. Bob McDonnell said 2.5 million Virginians were without power.

In Vermont, where Wilmington and Dover were hit hard, more than 80 main and secondary roads are shut down, including parts of Interstate 91.

Wilmington has become isolated, and Gov. Peter Shumlin said the Vermont National Guard has been activated and high water vehicles are being used to try to gain entry into Wilmington.

"We have roads, bridges, culverts washed out. We have communities isolated by high levels of water," Shumlin said. "We expect more trees to fall, more limbs to fall, more rivers to crest, more flooding to come."

In Rhode Island, where half the state's 1 million residents were without power late Sunday, there were scores of reports of fallen trees, limbs and downed power lines. Providence, which resembled an abandoned ghost town during the height of the storm, started to spring back to life late Sunday afternoon ? to the consternation of city officials worried about blocked roads and fallen power lines.

"A lot of folks are out to sight see," said city spokeswoman Melissa Withers. "We advise against that."

A hit to local economies

The better safe-than-sorry warnings by officials bracing for the hurricane may have saved countless lives and prevented many injuries in big potential disaster zones such as New York.

"Whether we dodged a bullet or you look at it and said, 'God smiled on us,' the bottom line is, I'm happy to report there do not appear to be any deaths (in New York City) attributable to the storm," Bloomberg said.

Overall, damages and losses from the storm could range from $5 billion to $10 billion, according to Kinetic Analysis, a risk assessment firm that specializes in natural disaster impact.

Chuck Watson, director of research for Kinetic Analysis, says he's concerned more about the impact on local and state governments already bruised by the weak economy. Local governments will be hit by revenue losses and expenses related to cleanups. Atlantic City, for example, closed its casinos, and small businesses such as those along North Carolina's coast, will be hurt by fleeing vacationers.

"It's not good timing," Watson says. "The state of the economy makes this a bigger storm that it would have been."

One slice of the economic impact could be seen in movie box office receipts, which were battered by the closure of an estimated 1,000 theaters on the East Coast.

New Jersey Gov. Christie expects property damages, along with business losses at the height's of the summer tourist season, to run into the billions of dollars.

"There's no question that there's going to be significant business losses that are going to be sustained here because you had a great summer going on (at) the Jersey shore," Christie said.

"The first thing is to get them up and running again," he said.

In Virginia Beach, officials noted that Irene actually had one positive impact: The storm broadened and flattened the beach.

Phill Roehrs, the city's coastal engineer, said the force of the waves from Irene didn't damage or erode the beach, as many hurricanes do.

By flattening the beach, the storm gave bathers a longer walk to waist-deep water.

"What I see right now is a very, very wide beach," he said. That's good news for an engineer whose main job is to keep the sand on the beach and the ocean away from buildings.

"We did not get as hard a hit as we had anticipated, and we're certainly grateful for that," Virginia Beach Fire Chief Steve Cover said.

By late Sunday morning, city workers had removed much of the storm's debris and tourists were returning to the beach to enjoy a warm, cloudless afternoon.

"We're remarkably lucky that we didn't suffer any more damage," he said.

"And, it is turning out to be a very nice day."

Contributing: ; Adam Silverman and Mike Donaghue in Burlington, Vt.; Carly Mallenbaum in Arlington, Va.; the Associated Press

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