Irene death toll in 10 states hits 35
NEW YORK, Aug. 29 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama said federal agencies will work with states cleaning up after Irene, which killed at least 35 and left flooding and power outages in its wake.
"It's going to take time to recover from a storm of this magnitude," Obama said Monday during a unrelated announcement. "The effects are still being felt across much of this country."
Obama signed an emergency declaration for Vermont, which was slammed by Irene before it pushed northward into Canada.
The declaration signed for Vermont and other states affected by Irene -- which at one point had been a Category 3 hurricane before it marched up the U.S. East Coast as a weaker hurricane and then a tropical storm -- authorizes the Homeland Security Department's Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief efforts.
"So our response continues, but I'm going to make sure that FEMA and other agencies are doing everything in their power to help people on the ground," Obama said.
Unofficially, at least 35 people died in 10 states, including a 55-year-old surfer and a 55-year-old tourist who was wading in rough surf in Florida, the St. Petersburg Times reported.
At one point, media outlets reported, about 4 million customers were without power. Several media outlets reported damage could be anywhere from $7 billion to $10 billion.
Remnants of Irene moved through eastern Quebec, the National Hurricane Center said in its final advisory at 11 a.m. EDT Monday. Irene, which had deteriorated to a post-tropical depression, was about 191 miles north-northeast of Frenchville, Maine, with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph and moving northeast at 25 mph.
Strong winds battered parts of Quebec and the Atlantic provinces as the storm moved over eastern Canada, soaking cities, grounding flights and leaving more than 200,000 people without power, Postmedia News reported.
Quebec provincial police said one person was missing in Yamaska, northeast of Montreal, after two cars fell into a crevice created when a road washed out Monday.
"It looks like eastern townships and areas of Quebec got the most rainfall," Chris Fogarty, manager of the Canadian Hurricane Center, said. "There were a number of stations that had [nearly 4 inches] of rain or more overnight. It's pretty significant, especially when you see the scary degree of flooding" in the United States.
Air Canada warned of possible flight delays to Quebec City and other airports in Atlantic provinces and the United States.
Wind warnings were in effect for mainland Nova Scotia, most of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and portions of southern Quebec, and rainfall warnings were posted for most of southern and eastern Quebec, Postmedia News said.
Public Security Minister Robert Dutil said it could be several days before officials know the actual extent of damage from the storm, The (Montreal) Gazette reported.
In the United States, worst-case scenarios didn't materialize as Irene -- hundreds of miles in diameter -- made landfall in North Carolina then lost its strength as it lumbered north. While the wind wasn't strong, the huge, plodding storm inundated states with rain and brought with it a huge storm surge.
Airports along the East Coast reopened Monday, but thousands of passengers scrambled to rebook travel after an estimated 11,238 flights were canceled, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Cleanup and damage assessment has begun along the East Coast with some estimates putting a $7 billion price tag on the storm, Jose Miranda of Eqecat Inc., a catastrophic risk management firm in Oakland, Calif., told the Times. CNN reported the damage could reach $10 billion.
Warnings for flooding and high winds were in effect for parts of the northern mid-Atlantic states into New England, the center said. What remains of the storm was forecast to exit the United States Monday and rainfall was to subside.
In New York, the mood shifted from worry to relief Sunday as joggers worked out along the East River, restaurants and other businesses reopened, and officials at the U.S. Open announced the tennis tournament would start Monday as scheduled, The New York Times reported.
"All in all, we are in pretty good shape because of the exhaustive steps I think we took to prepare for whatever came our way," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said during a news conference Sunday. Mandatory evacuations ordered for low-lying areas were lifted and the city's transit system was operating full tilt by Monday.
Mexican police arrest 5 in casino torching
MEXICO CITY, Aug. 29 (UPI) -- Mexican police have arrested five alleged members of the Zetas drug cartel accused of setting fire to a casino that killed 52 people last week, officials said.
Nuevo Leon state Gov. Rodrigo Medina said the suspects, ages 18 to 37, admitted to participating in Thursday's arson attack at the Casino Royale in the capital city of the northeastern Mexican state, Monterrey, Milenio reported Monday.
Medina said fingerprints that were left behind and surveillance cameras that show two men filling large jugs with gasoline at a nearby gas station helped capture the men.
Police are investigating whether the attack could have been in retaliation for the casino's failure to pay extortion money to the gang. Two other suspects are still wanted.
Mexican gangs are responsible for extorting thousands of business owners who pay fees to fund the drug organizations.
Los Zetas is one of the largest drug smuggling and crime gangs in Mexico, founded by former Mexican special forces soldiers.
Nigeria, Ethiopia: Support NTC in Libya
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, Aug. 29 (UPI) -- Nigeria and Ethiopia urged other African countries to follow their lead in supporting the National Transitional Council as the official government of Libya.
Nigeria called the move an effort to prevent the loss of more civilian lives in Libya, The (Lagos) Guardian reported Monday.
"In the interest of peace and stability and the well-being of the people of Libya, the governments of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia have decided to jointly recognize the National Transitional Council as the interim legitimate authority in Libya," the two countries said in a statement.
"We call upon all peace-loving countries in general, African countries and the African Union, in particular, to contribute to peace and stability in Libya by recognizing the authority and legitimacy of the NTC."
Nigeria said the recent events in Libya, where rebels are in the process of overthrowing strongman Moammar Gadhafi, showed the NTC is in control of most of that country.
In the statement, Ethiopia and Nigeria said they "are on the side of the NTC at this important juncture of the history of Libya."
The two countries pledged to support the NTC in "the difficult tasks of establishing an inclusive transitional government, reconstruction, national reconciliation and peace-building in order to meet the yearnings and legitimate aspirations of the Libyan people for human rights, democracy, the rule of law and good governance."
Report: Land deals helped make Perry rich
FORT WORTH, Texas, Aug. 29 (UPI) -- Critics say Texas Gov. Rick Perry has become a millionaire while in office largely through a handful of real estate deals owing to political connections.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports the Republican presidential candidate's bank account belies his continual emphasis on his roots as a rural farmer.
Among the land transactions, the Star-Telegram reported:
-- Perry purchased about 29 acres of raw land near Lake Travis in 1991 for $55,288 through a Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. liquidation auction and sold it three years later for $125,000, tax records show. He has said he bought properties in Travis County in the 1990s in hopes of building a home but his wife deemed them too remote.
-- Texas Democrats have long criticized the sale of 10 acres of undeveloped land Perry bought in 1993, then sold to computer executive Michael Dell, who needed the land to connect his home to municipal sewer lines, records show. Dell paid Perry $465,000, more than triple what Perry had bought it for two years earlier. Critics pointed out Mike Toomey, a lobbyist and later Perry's chief of staff, closed the deal while Perry was out of town, and Perry has said he was unaware the land would be so valuable to Dell.
-- In 2001, the Star-Telegram said, Perry bought land in the resort community of Horseshoe Bay from state Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, for $314,770 and sold it six years later for $1.1 million. Critics, including a watchdog group, noted the man Fraser had bought the land from and the man Perry sold it to were business partners.
"We bought a piece of property, the property appreciated and we sold it," Perry said of the deal last year.
