Hurricane Irene's Death Toll Is Now at 40 People

Though New York City seems to be pretty much back on track, A-O.K., after our rendezvous with Hurricane Irene (have we gotten over our regret yet? I hope so), it bears reminding that other towns have not been so lucky. Many on the East Coast and upstate New York, as well as Vermont, are without power. Homes in the Catskills have been ripped up and blown down. People are rebuilding lives -- and, as of Monday afternoon, according to the AP, 40 people had been killed, 8 in New York. One of them was an 82-year-old Brooklyn woman who had been vacationing in Fleischmanns, New York, who drowned after a creek flooded her cottage.

The New York Times has some pretty devastating photos of the impact in the Catskills that should remind us that we were pretty lucky in all this, and that there are lives and troubles beyond our fair city -- even in our own state. As Governor Cuomo said, "We were very lucky in the city, not quite as lucky on Long Island, but we were lucky on Long Island. But Catskills, mid-Hudson, this is a different story and we paid a terrible price here, and many of these communities are communities that could least afford to pay this kind of price. So the state has its hands full."

New Jersey and Connecticut are also dealing with major flooding and storm damage.

If you want to help, you can get in touch with the Red Cross, which has been sheltering victims and assessing the disaster. We also hear that the New York Blood Center is looking for donors, having lost 2,000 donations during the storm.

[JDoll / @thisisjendoll]

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