Posted on Mon, Aug. 29, 2011
By Troy Graham, Amy S. Rosenberg, James Osborne, and David O'Reilly
The workweek is arriving Monday with life in the Philadelphia region mostly returning to normal, after Hurricane Irene's romp up the East Coast mercifully failed to live up to the worst expectations.
Residents evacuated ahead of the storm are back home, major roads and bridges are open, buses and subways are running, and even the skies are supposed to be sunny for the next two days.
Irene, feared late last week to be so devastating that much of the Jersey Shore was evacuated and boarded up, weakened to a Category 1 hurricane after striking a patch of dry air along the coast.
Even diminished, Irene dumped between five and 13 inches of rain throughout the region and, with top winds exceeding 70 m.p.h., took down enough trees and power lines to leave more than a million people without electricity Sunday.
Flooding also remained a problem Sunday, especially for the usual high-water suspects - Main Street in Manayunk, Darby Creek in Darby Borough, the Admiral Wilson Boulevard in Camden, and along the Rancocas Creek in Burlington County.
Although officials in Pennsylvania and New Jersey still were assessing the damage and cost, they generally were relieved that the storm had not caused more widespread destruction.
In Philadelphia, Mayor Nutter credited the city's "incredible preparation" and the cooperation of residents who "heeded the warnings" to evacuate if necessary and stay indoors during the storm.
"Our general view is, better to be overprepared and have more resources than you need," he said. "You just actually never know."
One death in the region was attributed directly to the storm - a 20-year-old woman who drove her car into standing water in Salem County and became stranded, according to New Jersey state police.
Irene seemed to behave erratically, hitting inland areas, including the Pennsylvania suburbs, harder than coastal areas. That meant some people who had evacuated from the Shore moved into the teeth of the storm.
The overnight frenzy intensified amid reports of tornadoes throughout the area.
Bob Lampson, 45, refused to leave Atlantic City and waited out the weather in his second-floor apartment.
"Better safe than sorry, I guess," he said. "But I think they over-dramatized it."
The Shore's mass exodus forced Atlantic City's casinos to shut down for only the third time in their history, costing the resort millions.
The casinos never lost power during the storm, and they hoped to be back in business Monday.
Gov. Christie, who told people last week to "get the hell off the beach," said he would be equally vigorous in encouraging people - and business - to return to the Shore ahead of the important Labor Day weekend.
Boardwalks in several towns were damaged, including a 11/2-mile section of the Spring Lake boardwalk that was destroyed.
But officials in Ocean City, home to one of New Jersey's most popular beaches, and other tourist towns were wiping their brows Sunday. "It looks like we dodged a bullet," said Avalon Mayor Martin Pagliughi. "It could have been a lot worse."
Christie defended the evacuation, saying on Sunday, "Second-guessers will not be tolerated. The fact is, by moving a million people off the Jersey Shore, we saved lives, and there can't really be any debate about that."
The rain and wind were tapering off by Sunday morning, and the cleanup began. Officials in both states ended their emergency declarations.
SEPTA, which shut down its entire system for the first time in its history, restarted subway and trolley lines at 10 a.m. Sunday. Buses returned soon after.
Regional Rail service remained suspended Sunday night, but SEPTA planned to offer an airport bus service from 16th Street and JFK Boulevard.
Half the rail system depends for electricity on Amtrak, which had suspended service Sunday. For Monday, Amtrak will run service from Philadelphia to Washington, but not northbound because of flooding, debris, and power problems.
PATCO resumed service, but NJ Transit was planning a "modified schedule" Monday, with "extremely limited" rail service.
Philadelphia International Airport reopened at 4 p.m. Sunday with limited arrivals, but departures were not expected to resume until Monday. US Airways, the biggest carrier there, didn't expect flights to leave until Monday afternoon.
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