Tropical Storm Irene hit the New York City area Sunday morning, failing to pack anywhere near the force that had caused calls for mass evacuations and spurred fears from residents along the East Coast.

But Irene, even after it was downgraded to a tropical storm as it moved up the Eastern Seaboard, toppled trees, flooded some parts of New York City and soaked the region with rain and wind, causing at least 750,000 customers to lose power in New York, according to an article published online by The New York Times on Sunday.

There were no reports of major damage to skyscrapers in New York City, and officials said any flooding appeared to be limited, according to the article.

Syracuse University students, faculty and staff were sent an email Friday afternoon alerting them of then-Hurricane Irene. The email was signed by Eric Spina, vice chancellor and provost, and Thomas Wolfe, senior vice president and dean of student affairs.

‘Weather forecasters indicate that the storm will bring some wind and rain to the Syracuse region on Sunday, but it will not have a strong effect on our campus or city,’ the email read.

The email asked students and families traveling to and from SU this weekend to communicate with the university about storm-related issues. In a Saturday email addressed to South Campus residents, Eric Nestor, assistant director of resident life, told students to expect significant rainfall and sustained winds of 20 to 30 mph, with some higher gusts.

Nestor urged residents to remove any fans in windows; close their windows as much as possible; move personal items inside; and consider moving their vehicle if it is parked near Winding Ridge construction equipment on South Campus in preparation for the storm.

SU officials were not the only ones to take precautions in attempts to get ready for Irene. When the storm was still considered a hurricane, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo convened an emergency session of his cabinet to discuss plans to protect residents from the storm on Friday, a day after he declared a state of emergency in New York.

Cuomo ordered the New York Army and Air National Guard to deploy up to 900 soldiers and airmen to support local authorities.

For the first time in its history, New York City pre-emptively shut down its entire mass transit and subway system starting at noon Saturday and about 250,000 residents of low-lying areas in New York City were ordered to evacuate their homes. The mandatory evacuation was a first, according to Bloomberg.

By Friday, states of emergencies were declared for North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and New England, which put residents on notice to prepare for the worst.

Although the worst did not happen in New York, areas were still affected by the storm.

On Staten Island, firefighters used boats to rescue people from a flooded neighborhood. In Westchester County, National Guard troops, using Hummers and five-ton trucks, planned to convoy to Long Island to help clean up the mess created by the Tropical Storm Irene, according to the article.

The storm, which made landfall Saturday morning in North Carolina, came ashore Sunday at about 5:30 a.m. near Little Egg Inlet, north of Atlantic City in New Jersey. The winds swirled at 65 miles per hour when the storm’s center arrived over New York City at about 9 a.m., the National Hurricane Center said in the article.Flooding also shut down a portion of the New York State Thruway in Orange and Rockland counties as well as the Tappan Zee Bridge, according to the article.

In New York City’s suburbs, at least 750,000 customers were without electricity Sunday, Cuomo said in the article.

Some places in New Jersey sported flooded roadways while other locations had its roadways blocked by debris and downed power lines following Tropical Storm Irene passing through the state, according to the article.

Several house fires caused by candles were reported in Nassau County, along with trees that had fallen on state parkways and traffic lights that had gone dim, county officials said in the article.

But elsewhere, the storm did not live up to expectations. The downgraded storm had caused New York residents to swamp grocery stores in search of bottled water and batteries, while President Obama even cut short his vacation on Martha’s Vineyard.

jdharr04@syr.edu

Published on August 28, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Jon: jdharr04@syr.edu