Irene is gone

And the damage is not nearly as severe as it could have been. Peak winds around here were probably around 50mph (85kph). Trees are down across some roads,¹ more than 700,000 of us are without power across the state, and power may not be fully restored for a week or more. I'm in my office and I have power here, but according to alert.uconn.edu

Classes are currently scheduled to resume tomorrow, but that may change depending on how much of the campus is without power.

But I and the people I know are merely inconvenienced. The Courant reports a tragic example of what can happen when people don't take warnings seriously.

Witnesses on Sunday urged Shane Seaver, 46, and Raymond Clyman, 39, not to take their canoe into the Hurricane Irene-swollen Pequabuck River in Bristol.

The river was raging and flooded a significant portion of Bristol. A veteran Bristol police officer said the river was the worst he's seen it in 33 years on the job.

One of the men reportedly responded to people photographing the river from the bank that they couldn't pass up the once in a lifetime experience to go canoeing in the swollen river, police said.

That experience ended up costing Seaver his life. As people along the river bank photographed the pair trying to negotiate the raging river, the canoe capsized. Clyman surfaced and made it to shore, police said. Witnesses told police that they never saw Seaver surface.

Related articles

• Hurricane Irene leads to at least 22 deaths in eight states (pennlive.com)
• All Jokes Aside: Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene Responsible For At Least 21 Deaths, A Million Without Power In 8 States (bossip.com)