Flags flying over a business are whipped by wind from Hurricane Irene August 27, 2011 in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

People shield themselves from blowing sand and rain as they look over the beach during Hurricane Irene August 27, 2011 in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Alex Askew (R) takes a photo of Kris Bush while they look over the beach during Hurricane Irene August 27, 2011 in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Faith Ann Mazik, 8, shields herself from the storm as she checks out Kitty Hawk Bay in Albemarle Sound during Hurricane Irene August 27, 2011 in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Storm surge from Hurrican Irene spills over Kitty Hawk Bay in Albemarle Sound on August 27, 2011 in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Storm surge from Hurrican Irene spills over Kitty Hawk Bay in Albemarle Sound on August 27, 2011 in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Waves are seen crashing around homes as Hurricane Irene arrives on August 28, 2011 in Hampton Bays, New York. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Scott Richheimer, Kitchen Manager of the Allegria hotel, stands outside the flooded lobby when Hurricane Irene swept through on August 28, 2011 in Long Beach, New York. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)

People watch the heavy surf pound the beach created when Hurricane Irene swept through on August 28, 2011 in Long Beach, New York. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)

Boats lay tossed into the woods by Hurricane Irene on August 28, 2011 in Lowland, North Carolina. Water rose over six feet on the island unexpectedly flooding residents out of their homes. It is estimated only 10 of 500 residents on Goose Creek Island did not lose everything. (Photo by Sara D. Davis/Getty Images)

Buckets warn motorists where the road has washed out on August 28, 2011 in Mesic, North Carolina. Hurricane Irene made landfall in North Carolina creating a storm surge of up to eight feet in some areas of the Pamilco Sound. (Photo by Sara D. Davis/Getty Images)

Billy Stinson (C), his wife Sandra Stinson and daughter Erin Stinson (R) comfort each other as they sit on the steps where their cottage once stood before it was destroyed by Hurricane Irene August 28, 2011 in Nags Head, North Carolina. The cottage, built in 1903 and destroyed by Hurricane Irene, was one of the first vacation cottages built on Albemarle Sound in Nags Head. Stinson has owned the home, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, since 1963. “We were pretending, just for a moment, that the cottage was still behind us and we were just sitting there watching the sunset”, said Erin afterward. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Billy Stinson searches for his belonging in a pile of debris that was once his cottage August 28, 2011 in Nags Head, North Carolina. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

A National Guard vehicle patrols the sand covered boardwalk on August 28, 2011 in Ocean City, Maryland. During the night Hurricane Irene past by the small resort town causing power outages, with minimal flood and wind damage. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Large waves from Hurricane Irene pound the Ocean City pier on August 28, 2011 in Ocean City, Maryland. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Passerby and neighbors look at a scene where a large tree crushed a car on August 28, 2011 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

The Hudson River churns under the early effects of Hurricane Irene August 28, 2011 in New York City. Hurricane Irene made a second landfall near Atlantic City, New Jersey early Sunday morning, battering the northeast with high winds and rain. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

High winds from Hurricane Irene knocked down five large trees in front of the East River Cooperative Village apartment buildings along Grand Street August 28, 2011 in New York City. The hurricane hit New York as a Category 1 storm before being downgraded to a tropical storm. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

David Lutz and Lee Connors wade through water over two feet deep as they inspect parts of their Red Hook neighborhood in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene on August 28, 2011 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images)

A local resident of Red Hook, Betty Walsh, crosses a flooded street in Red Hook August 28, 2011 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. While Hurricane Irene has been downgraded to a tropical storm, it has knocked out power to more than 3 million people and is attributed to 15 deaths as it travels up the Eastern seaboard. (Photo by Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images)

A local resident of Red Hook, Franklin Mount, crosses a flooded street on his bicycle in Red Hook August 28, 2011 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images)

A cab stops to pick up a passenger in the midst of heavy rain and strong winds in downtown Brooklyn as Hurricane Irene reaches the New York City area on August 28, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images)

Local residents of Red Hook watch French journalists from the France 24 television station record a report August 28, 2011 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images)

A young boy leans into powerful wind gusts near the Whitehall Terminal in Lower Manhattan just hours after Hurricane Irene blew through the city August 28, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)