Vermont recovers as roads reopen

Eastern states took slow but steady steps toward normalcy on Wednesday, coping with rescue and cleanup efforts from Hurricane Irene, which turned parts of the rural Northeast into flooded disaster areas.

Vermont officials continued to airlift supplies – including food, water, medicine and baby diapers – to people who were cut off by flooded streams and rivers. But roads across the state were open to emergency vehicles, a step up from Tuesday when at least 13 communities were cut off, according to the Vermont Emergency Operations Center.

Vermont’s situation was perhaps the most complicated of the cleanup efforts in the wake of Irene, which reached the United States on Saturday as a Category 1 hurricane and moved up the East Coast into New England as a tropical storm. During its northern trek, Irene dumped about a foot of rain on some areas, setting river flooding records in at least 10 states, including New York, New Jersey and Vermont.

At least 45 deaths have been reported in 13 states and more than 1.5 million people remained without electrical power Wednesday.

Extensive flooding also caused major damage in upstate New York and in New Jersey, visited by federal emergency officials Wednesday.

“We’re not here for the short run, we’re here for the long haul,” said Craig Fugate, Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator, speaking in upstate New York, where he, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano thanked first-responders.

“It is important you are here,” Cuomo told the Cabinet officials.

New York state sustained $1 billion in damage with 600 homes destroyed, six towns flooded, portions of 150 major highways broken and 140,000 acres of farmland damaged, Cuomo said. “Sometimes the bottom line is the bottom line. We need help on the economics,” Cuomo told the Cabinet officials.

Electricity has been restored to about 80 percent of the New York areas that were hit by Irene, leaving an estimated 287,000 people without power, the governor’s office said. Most utilities were hoping to have full restoration by midnight on Friday.

Early Wednesday, President Barack Obama declared a major disaster in New York, freeing up federal recovery funds for people in eight counties. Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses and other programs, according to the White House. Obama also declared a major disaster in North Carolina.

Obama is scheduled to tour hard-hit Paterson, N.J., on Sunday. In preparation, Obama on Wednesday declared a major disaster for New Jersey’s Bergen, Essex, Morris, Passaic, and Somerset counties.