While we got off pretty easy here in central PA, that is not true everywhere. Just read this article about the damage in Vermont. Here’s a taste, but you really need to read the whole thing to understand the damage. And if you can find a photo gallery somewhere, check it out. Amazing. (There is one here, but the captions were messed up after a few photos, so there may be better options.)

A drive Monday down U.S. 7 from Burlington to Rutland was a journey from normalcy to chaos.

In Chittenden County, the storm had peppered the ground with twigs and leaves shucked from trees. Twenty miles south, in New Haven, the storm’s only roadside signature was a double row of wind-bowed sunflowers, leaning southeast with the synchronized precision of the Rockettes.

On the northern borders of Rutland County came the first sign of the damage Tropical Storm Irene wreaked: A detour sign directing traffic off U.S. 7, the state’s major north-south artery along its western border.

The detour swooped drivers on a series of dirt roads around Brandon, where the raging waters of the Neshobe River Sunday shoved the Brandon House of Pizza off its foundations, subtracted half a riverside park, gouged craters in the road and left several historic buildings hanging over partially missing foundations.

Note: the damage was due to flooding, not the wind and rain (directly).

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Find my original post on Hurricane Irene and the predictions of its strength here.