‘Epic Deluge’ in Vermont, Upstate New York, New Jersey

Tuesday, 30 August 2011 | by Pat's Picks

Upstate New York and Vermont have been hit with epic flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene. How did it happen? The Burlington Free-Press says it was a “perfect and tragic combination” of Irene’s path, the air masses that hung in the way and the topography of the region. Writer Matt Sutkoski paints a great picture of the scene in Vermont, which, from the sound of it, bordered on the surreal: “Big hay bales wrapped in white tarps floated crazily in the aptly named Mad River like marshmallows in a sinister hot-chocolate flood. The scene made me think about the farmers losing their crops, maybe their barns, maybe their animals, maybe their livelihoods.”

Check out some of the crazy photos coming out of the Northeast: