Hurricane Irene News

Robert Kopman stared his nightmare in the face for nearly two years until a demolition crew came and tore it down.

On Wednesday, the Oklahoma Insurance Department estimated that insured losses incurred in the deadly tornado that tore through Moore, Oklahoma, could exceed two billion dollars .

UPDATE: Red Cross volunteer and Bastrop native Rick van Loon has arrived in Moore, Oklahoma to assist victims of Monday's tornado.

File - The turbulent surf off the Isle of Palms drew spectators as Hurricane Irene moved north off the coast of South Carolina on Friday August 26, 2011.

New York State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr. is encouraging coastal fishing businesses harmed by Hurricane Sandy last fall to apply for available funding through New York State's recently approved coastal fishing industry grant program.

Heaps of destroyed audio and visual equipment sit in the parking lot outside Thunderball Marketing, an audio and electronics company in Avenel that is still struggling to recover after Sandy caused millions of dollars in property damages.

The June 1 start of the Atlantic hurricane season is just around the corner. Early predictions indicate an active year and the Insurance Information Institute urges the public to prepare for the heightened flood risks that come with hurricanes and tropical storms.

In April, Morristown's newly created Shade Tree Commission met for the first time, just before Arbor Day.

NASA astronaut Mike Fossum, Expedition 29 commander, uses a still camera to photograph the topography of a point on Earth from a window in the Cupola of the International Space Station in 2011.

This 2011 file photo shows a flooded road on Hatteras Island, N.C., after Hurricane Irene swept through the area the previous day cutting the roadway in five locations.

LITTLE FALLS - The township has renewed nearly $3.7 million in existing debt and will be issuing estimated tax bills.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has approved $49 million for the New York State Canal Corporation to repair damage related to Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee.

The Travelers Companies, Inc. is the sixth largest property and casualty insurer in the U.S. with a market share of 4.5% in terms of premiums earned.

Williamstown will accept a $6.1 million grant from FEMA to relocate residents at a mobile home park damaged by Hurricane Irene.

THERE'S A FEELING you get, walking toward the Wildwood Boardwalk at night; an anticipation that hits you all at once when that wide, eclectic, electric expanse unfolds before you.

A plan to eliminate landline phone service in western Fire Island is scheduled to be voted on by the state Public Service Commission Thursday amid concern it could leave people on the barrier island unable to make calls if a storm knocks out electrical power.

When I saw that Google and Time had partnered to create a 30-year satellite time-lapse of Earth , my first question was: "How can this illustrate weather?" My first answer was: Devil's Lake, North Dakota.

Hurricane Irene was downgraded to a Tropical Storm by the time it hit NJ but it still did the following damage: Eleven rivers reached record levels, and a week after the storm all rivers in the state remained at "moderate flooding level". The Heavy Duty DC backup system that we install pumps up to 35 Gallons Per Minute with a full charged battery.

When Hurricane Sandy slammed into the Northeast in October, local New Age pianist Matthew C. Shuman emerged on the other side with greater exposure and music sales.

The township is changing its agreement with the NJDEP Blue Acres Program for the purchase and demolition of two homes on Old York Road along the Raritan River Floodway-because only one is now being accepted into the program.