USA: Tropical storm Irene floods New York

Rainfall overflowed sewers and seawater lapped at sidewalks at the edges of New York City. Seawater cascaded toward Wall Street which has a labyrinth of cables and pipes beneath it and has been fortified with sandbags.

"Flooding is going to be the biggest problem," New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie told CNN.

The storm that marched up the East Coast pounded the region with torrential rains and fierce winds and has been blamed for at least nine deaths and power outages involving 3 million homes and businesses.

For more: Tropical storm Irene floods New York – USATODAY.com

USA: Hurricane Irene threatens to plunge US east coast into major power blackout - by Suzanne Goldenberg and Dominic Rushi

The sweep of the US east coast from North Carolina to New England is bracing itself for a hurricane of historic magnitude this weekend, with power cuts and public transport shutdowns anticipated that could last for days or even weeks.

As many as 65 million people could be in harm's way as hurricane Irene begins its slow crawl along the entire east coast.

Irene was downgraded to a category two storm early on Friday, with 105 mph winds, but authorities said repeatedly it would be folly for people on its path to think they were in the clear. Meteorologists warned them for people on the east coast, this would be the storm of their lifetimes.

For more: Hurricane Irene threatens to plunge US east coast into major power blackout | World news | guardian.co.uk