NEWFANE, Vt. — States along the Eastern Seaboard struggled with the after-effects of Irene, the destructive hurricane-turned-tropical storm, with homes and businesses still threatened by floodwaters and more than 2 million people still without power.
Floodwaters continued to ravage parts of northern New Jersey and Connecticut on Wednesday, although some rivers crested and slowly receded.
The storm took at least five lives in the Caribbean before hitting the United States, where it has has been blamed for at least 44 deaths in 13 states.
Denise Ruzicka, director of inland water resources for Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, said flood control dams and basins that New England states installed after 1955 floods helped prevent a catastrophe in the lower Connecticut River basin.
She said all the rivers in the state will be receding by the end of the day.
“The worst is over,” she said.
Recovery efforts saw people moving out of emergency shelters in western Massachusetts, farmers in New York’s battered Schoharie Valley assessing crop losses and an insurance agent in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, fielding dozens of calls from customers making damage claims.
“The majority of the claims are trees down,” said Melanie Loiselle-Mongeon.