in VOA Special English.Emergency crewsin the eastern United Statesare still workingto help people affectedby Hurricane Irene.The hurricane struckthe coast of North Carolinawith winds of up toone hundred twenty kilometersan hour last Saturday.The storm weakenedas it moved north.But Irene brought heavy rainsand destructive windsto the densely populated east coast.Hundreds of thousands of peoplewere told to leave areaslikely to suffer flooding.That included partsof New York Citywhere Mayor Michael Bloombergordered over two hundred fiftythousand people to evacuate.Irene is blamed for more thanforty deaths in the United States.Five deaths were reportedin the Caribbean.New York Governor Andrew Cuomoestimated his state sufferedone billion dollars in damage.Estimates place the total damagefrom the storm at aboutseven billion dollars.Insurance companiesare expected to pay fortyto fifty percent of these costs.But costs of lost tradefor the travel industry,especially in North Carolina,will be high at a timewhen the nation's economyis struggling.The government reported Fridaythat the national unemployment rateheld at nine point one percentin August.High winds and floodingfrom Irene brought downelectrical lines, causingabout four million peopleto lose power.Days after the storm,hundreds of thousandswere still without electricity.Many states in the path of Irenedeclared disasters.Governors in several statesactivated over four thousandNational Guard members to helpin rescue and relief efforts.In North Carolina,some communities near the oceanwere flooded and cut offfrom the mainland.And the small northeastern stateof Vermont was especially hard hit.Emergency workers have had to airlift food and suppliesto thousands of people trappedby flood waters.Officials said it was the worstflooding in Vermontin almost one hundred years.This man describes what he sawin the community of Woodstock.MICHAEL RICCI: "The waterin the yard was almostup to the house,which is another ten feetabove this level,which is probably fifteenor twenty feet abovethe normal river level.So the water was really,really up very high.And the force of it wasbeyond our comprehension."President Obama has mademajor disaster declarationsfor North Carolina, New York,New Jersey, Vermont and Puerto Rico.Emergency declarationswere made for all coastal statesfrom North Carolina to Maine.These declarations releasefederal aid through FEMA-- the Federal EmergencyManagement Agency.Roger Pielke is a professorin environmental studiesat the University of Colorado.He says the economic costsof hurricanes have grownmany times over the years.This is because millions of peoplein the United Stateshave crowded coastal areasthat are often affected by storms.ROGER PIELKE: "Along the entire coastfrom Texas all the way upthrough Maine in the United States,there are today very few locationswhere a hurricane canmake landfall without causingan enormous amount of damage."Still, Roger Pielke creditsstronger building rulesand better weather predictionsfor saving lives and limiting costs.Irene is unlikely to bethe only major hurricane this year.Two powerful storms are threateningthe coastal United States.One is nearing the Gulf of Mexico,the other is in the Atlantic Ocean.September is normallythe most active monthof the hurricane season.Experts predictedeight to ten hurricanesin two thousand eleven.That is higher than normal.And that's IN THE NEWSin VOA Special English.For transcriptsand mp3 of our programs,go to 51voa.com.And follow us on Facebookand Twitterat VOA Learning English.