Weakened Irene hits land
A weakened but still dangerous Hurricane Irene slammed into the New Jersey shore with 75mph winds today after dumping a foot of rain on North Carolina and Virginia, killing eight people and knocking out power to at least two million homes.
Irene had an enormous wingspan – 500 miles wide – and threatened 65 million people on the US East Coast, estimated as the largest number of Americans ever affected by a single storm.
