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Many people think too much of a big deal was made about Irene considering the fact that the storm hit the Eastern Seaboard as a low level hurricane and was downgraded to a tropical storm by the time it hit NY, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

But when you look at the damage it left behind, you realize quickly that Irene was no joke.

At least 20 deaths across eight states were blamed on Irene, which fizzled to a post-tropical cyclone and headed over eastern Canada on Monday morning.

And more than 3 million people were still without power across the Northeast early Monday.

But much of the trouble left behind centered on flooding from North Carolina through New England, with homes inundated and roads torn apart by raging floodwater.

Some of the worst flooding in generations ravaged Vermont’s normally tranquil countryside early Monday, turning babbling brooks into turbulent rivers, knocking homes from their foundations and washing away at least one person.

In North Carolina, as many as 200 residents were isolated and without power Monday on Ocracoke Island, near where Irene first made landfall as a hurricane on Saturday. Supply transport to Ocracoke is hampered as large chunks of a key roadway were taken out by violent ocean waves.

Sand dunes at the north end of Ocracoke “have apparently been spread across the road, so no one yet knows how badly the pavement is damaged,” said Clayton Gaskill, manager of Ocracoke’s tiny FM radio station WOVV.

And in Plattsville, New York, seven families who thought they had escaped the wrath of Irene in Brooklyn were stranded in the Catskill Mountains Monday after bridges crumbled all around them.

“We’re sitting in one room, and it’s a horrible situation and there is no way out,” said Irina Noveck, who was stuck along with 22 other adults and children. “Kids are getting scared, food is getting spoiled.”

But parts of the East Coast will return to normal Monday, as some subway services will resume in New York City and the three major airports in the area will open.

The U.S. government estimated that the cost from wind damage alone is expected to top $1 billion. Downed power lines left more than 4 million people without electricity during Irene’s weekend journey up the East Coast.

“The impacts of this storm will be felt for some time, and the recovery effort will last for weeks or longer,” President Barack Obama said Sunday evening from Washington.

Now imagine how bad this could have been if people wouldn’t have been overly cautious? Check out some photos of the flooding alone below.

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