Packing vicious winds and torrential rain, Tropical Storm Irene unleashed its full fury today on a dark and desolate New York City — causing flooding, downed trees and power outages.
Water from New York Harbor submerged the tip of Manhattan during high tide, temporarily forcing the closure of one of two tubes of the Holland Tunnel and a portion of the FDR Drive as the brunt of the storm slammed the city in the early morning hours.
“The good news is that the worst is over,” Mayor Bloomberg told reporters during a news conference this afternoon.
Despite some flooding and power outages, Manhattan escaped the worst-case scenarios that had been predicted on the eve of the storm.
Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and large swaths of Long Island reported widespread flooding and damage.
COMPLETE HURRICANE IRENE COVERAGE
TRANSIT LIKELY DOWN MON. MORNING
VIDEO: IRENE SLAMS LONG ISLAND
Irene was a Category 1 hurricane as it approached the city and made landfall on Coney Island at about 9 a.m. as a tropical storm. Irene weakened to winds of 60 mph — below the 74 mph line that makes it a hurricane — once the eye of the storm roared into the city.
The downgraded hurricane forced New Yorkers to hunker down in their homes and apartments for much of the night, although the rain had stopped by mid-morning.