Until pretty recently, my family had a place in Bernardston, Mass. right on the Vermont border so I go way back in a town like Brattleboro. To give it some context, I have a vivid memory of buying the Beatles White Album there when it first came out.
Anyway, Irene really put a hurt on Brattleboro and it made me sad. They're also a victim of expectations - the feeling is, "Oh, Irene wasn't that bad after all."

The second frustrating thing is the complaints that we overreacted to Irene as it approached. I'd say anytime the pictures of the storm have the curvature of the earth in the background,...well, I can't blame anyone for preparing for big trouble. I mean the damn thing was 1,000 miles wide - bigger than Texas. Relax with the second-guessing.

Although the storm was a bit hyped, the flooding was bad. There are quite a few people in the New York metro area that lost everything. Basement apartments didn't do too well.

After Katrina, you can't blame the government folks for erring on the side of caution. This storm looked pretty dang bad roaring up the coast.

The only downside is that the next time an emergency is declared, some folks are going to say, "They were wrong last time -- I'm sticking it out." That could be a fatal decision.

The other problem is our increased vulnerability because of finances. Throwing trillions away so Wall Street could play casino is bad enough, but what if one of these natural disasters calls for a huge spending bill? What do we do now that we're 14 trillion and change down, and going further in debt by 3 million dollars a minute?

Plus there's the politics of natural disasters. See "New Orleans" for more. Imagine if Portland had been hit by an earthquake during the Bush administration. What did 41 used to call us? West Beirut?

Vermont is screwed. My peeps in New Hampshire were on the windward side of the storm, so they got off easy since the winds weren't as bad as feared. However, if they had been flooded, at least, that state is positioned better during an election year - for a while anyway.

But liberal Vermont? Howard Dean's state? John Boehner weeps when the wind dies, but I can't see him shedding any tears over this.

His toupee remained staticky-dry.

A friend sent me some photos today of what the flooding of the Conn. River in Mass. looks like. Power poles well within the current confines of the water. Houses which are normally set back quite a bit, very flooded.

I have other friends who summer in RI who will be without power until at least Saturday (current estimate from their provider) and there is no city water so they need the electricity for their pump. They have a generator but it's starting to be flaky. And there are downed trees over every road in their area, as well as on their property.

The winds with this storm may not have been as bad as predicted but the rains and water in New England have been devastating on a historical scale.

Vermont is going to end up a lot like New Orleans after Katrina.

Flooded, with no flood insurance and massive infrastructure damage.

Check out this pictures

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/incredible-pictures-of-irenes-destruction-in-verm

Soon to be bailed out by your federal tax dollars.

Obama doesn't want a Karina on his watch