Neretarol: Sights and Sounds of Irene

A heart throbing picture story of devastating hurricane...

This road in Virginia Beach, Va., flooded on Aug. 27.

A water rescue team maneuvers around a beached boat in the middle of Hwy. 304 in Mesic, N.C., on Aug. 27.

Floodwaters surround homes on Hwy 304 in Mesic, N.C., on Aug. 27.

Jackie Sparnackel has to abandon her van and her belongings after she ventured to check out the storm-damaged pier in Frisco, N.C., on Aug. 27

The hurricane-force winds of Irene rip the siding off of homes in Nags Head, N.C., on Aug. 27.

Jarod Wilton looks at the floodwaters rising to his doorstep on Aug. 27, in Alliance, N.C., as Hurricane Irene hits the coast.

Kelly Harvey, who evacuated her St. Leonard, Md., home, plays with her daughter on Aug. 27 at a hurricane shelter set up at Southern Middle School in Lusby, Md.

Sandbags are stacked outside a Manhattan financial district building on Aug. 27 in New York.

People shield themselves from blowing sand and rain as they look over the beach during Hurricane Irene on Aug. 27 in Kill Devil Hills, N.C.

Vehicles are driven through a flooded area during Hurricane Irene in Surf City, N.C., Aug. 27.

People hurry in the rain on the boardwalk as Hurricane Irene bears down on Cape May, N.J., Aug. 27.

Framed by the Manhattan bridge and lower Manhattan, a U-Haul truck makes it's way north on the FDR Drive in the torrential rain, Aug. 27, in New York.

Turnstiles are barricaded with caution tape shortly before the New York City Subway system suspended service for the first time ever, as preparations are made for Hurricane Irene, in New York, Aug. 27.

One of two people rescued from a sailboat uses a line to make their way onto the beach on Willoughby Spit in Norfolk, Va., on Aug. 27. The two were rescued from the boat that foundered in the waters of the Chesapeake Bay. A rescuer, left, waits for s second person to exit the boat.

Arseni Flax, center, and his mother Nelly wait for their subway train to leave as they bring along their parakeets while evacuating the Coney Island section of New York, Aug. 27.

Defying mandatory evacuation orders and a curfew, summer residents Pam Cooke, left, and Jody Bowers share a laugh as strong winds puff up Jody's jacket as they venture out to the beach in Kill Devil Hills, N.C., Aug. 27.

People shop at a Hurricane Irene fashion sale in the town of Amagansett, N.Y. on the east end of Long Island, Aug. 27

Lifeguard Steve Thompson patrols the beach on Aug. 27, in Montauk, N.Y., as Hurricane Irene approaches.

The sun breaks through as surfers hit the ocean Saturday morning, Aug. 27, off of Pawleys Island, S.C. after Hurricane Irene moved through the area and north along the eastern Atlantic coast.

Personnel at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, including NHC director Bill Read, center bottom, conduct a conference call to coordinate the 11 a.m. ET forecast for Hurricane Irene, Saturday, Aug. 27.

Abandoned beachfront houses are surrounded by rising water from Hurricane Irene in Nags Head, N.C., Aug. 27

Roman Alvarez, left, and Bob Alvarez use plywood to secure a business against the winds of Hurricane Irene on Aug. 27, in Southhampton, N.Y

Rhiannon Shaw, 9, tries to stay warm while checking out the beach with friends as Hurricane Irene passes through Wrightsville Beach, N.C., Aug. 27.

Waves crash into Avalon Pier as Hurricane Irene strikes the Outer Banks in Kill Devil Hills, N.C., Aug. 27.

Pawleys Island police closed the North Causeway to Pawleys Island as the marshes filled with water at high tide, forming white caps and began crossing the road, Friday, Aug. 26 in Pawleys Island, S.C.

Milk refrigerators sit almost empty at a Target store as New Yorkers stock up on supplies in preparation for Hurricane Irene in Queens, New York on Friday night.

Traffic backs up at The Washout at Folly Beach as people come out to watch the waves created by Hurricane Irene and cheer on the few surfers that came out on Friday in Folly Beach, S.C.

Boaters brave the waves and wind caused by Hurricane Irene at the Morris Island light house Friday in Folly Beach, S.C.

Heading out before Hurricane Irene arrives, people line up on Friday, Aug. 26, for a ferry leaving the island of Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts.

This satellite-based image shows Irene off the Carolinas on Aug. 26.

Cars pack the westbound lanes of the Atlantic City Expressway on Friday, Aug. 26, as thousands of people evacuate the barrier islands along the southern New Jersey coastline ahead of Hurricane Irene.

Beachgoers walk against the wind as Hurricane Irene begins to pound Atlantic Beach, N.C., on Friday, Aug. 26.

Nursing home residents are evacuated in Barco, N.C., on Aug. 26.

A shopper passes by empty shelves while looking for bottled water at a store at Rockaway Beach in New York on Aug. 26.

Ambulances wait to transfer patients out of Coney Island Hospital as evacuations began in low-lying parts of New York on Aug. 26.

A message is left for Hurricane Irene on one house, as a resident boards up another on Aug. 25 in Nags Head, N.C.

A high hazard warning flag for dangerous rip currents is raised on Aug. 25 at Tybee Island, Ga.

Cory Ritz braces himself as a wave bursts onto a pie on, Aug. 25 in Boynton Beach, Fla. Irene caused high surf along the Florida coast.

Workers at Alligator River Growers harvest corn in Engelhard, N.C., Aug. 25, in advance of Hurricane Irene as it threatens to make landfall in North Carolina. The storm's winds and torrential rains could mean devastating losses for those who grow corn, cotton, soybeans, tobacco and timber.