york's catskill mountains was virtually washed away by the powerful storm. take a look at these pictures. the fire chief in windham says the downtown was wiped out by the raging waters. they got more than 10 inches of rain, which sent 3 to 4 feet of water rushing through the streets. floodwaters reached the second floor in some houses. amazing pictures. new england took the final swipe from irene before it moved on to canada. by then the storm was packing even less of a punch. for many tourists and residents in places like cape cod, it could have been much worse. abc's david kerley is in marion, massachusetts. >> reporter: until the early

evenings winds were creating a bit of a chop on what is normally a calm bay. they were worried about high tide and a surge that might come with this storm. it didn't materialize. that was the good news. they didn't see anything like they saw from hurricane bob 20 years ago. all up and down the coast, that was the worry, a surge. in fact, my colleague ashleigh babaield was in stamford, connecticut earlier in the day. >> reporter: we're at the peak of the wind velocity now as the storm is hitting coastal connecticut. while it's not necessarily a rain story anymore, the wind story is making it a water story. huge volumes of water are crashing inland. >> reporter: the morning surge did toss a sailboat onto the beach in massachusetts, and there were problems with the wind. it knocked out power for this small community. like the rest of massachusetts, good news that the evening surge was nothing like they expected. three small dams in western massachusetts were breached and hundreds of thousands of people, as nightfall came, were still without electricity. david kerley, abc news, marion, massachusetts.

all that drenching rain is taking some serious tolls on vermont where some communities may be seeing the worst flooding since the 1920s. towns like ludlow in the southern part of the state were turned into rivers.quickly water quickly poured into homes and businesses and several bridges were washed out. the state capital, meanwhile, hundreds of people are waiting to see if they still will have to be evacuated. meanwhile, some beaches have already reopened along north carolina's coast despite the heavy pounding from irene. the hurricane made landfall there with devastating 115-mile-an-hour winds. abc's matt gutman rode out the storm in the outer banks. >> reporter: a day after hurricane irene passed through here, it's become obvious it spent most of its force on north carolina. right here is where a pier used to be. it is now backed into the parking lot of this restaurant in piles and about 50 yards away over there. also, can't see it, but this parking lot has been entirely cracked.

governor perdue of the state has said there were $400 million of damages. that number will probably rise. worse yet, of course, is the death tollll eight people killed in this storm. 1700 people still in shelter. very difficult situation for them. dozens of roads out of commission. it's going to take a long time for north carolina to claw itself back. we also learned a number of things from this storm. one of them is not just the danger from wind, but also from water. the town of hatteras has been n cut off. at least temporarily, from the main body of the barrier islands, the outer banks, as they're called. five new inlets were created by all that rushing water. now, also, that water can water-log the roots of trees like this. they become weak, flop down. also dead trees can become a hazard during a storm like this. they break apart in the wind and become like projectiles. experts are telling us, if you have any doubt about the health of your tree, cut it down. matt gutman, abc news, north carolina. >> all the horror stories are coming in now. we're hearing some reports

saying at least two dozen people are stranded by rising floodwaters in a hotel in the catskills. that's scary. >> bridges to the area are washed out, they can't escape, so they're sending in authorities to get those people out. the rising floodwaters aren't going to stop here. there are reports some rivers may not crest in new jersey until tuesday afternoon, so the worst flooding may be ahead a day or two after the storm finally passes. this is just a category 1, barely, tropical storm in some cases. get your head, all those pictures, keep in mind what a cat 2, 3, 4 would look live. >> devastating. absolutely devastating. >> you see what a tropical storm does. it's amazing. irene, as we said, was a tropical storm until late last night. it was downgraded as it crossed the canadian border. >> let's check in with alex rabb following the storm at accuweather. good morning. >> good morning, rob and tanya. the heaviest bands and showers and thunderstorms of irene are continuing to move northward into canada. we'll still see lingering showers across southern new

england and upstate new york. newark, new jersey, had just under 9 inches of rain associated with irene, while doylestown, pennsylvania, had a little over 7 inches. just because this rain is gone does not mean we're in the clear. we're still having to deal with gusty winds early this morning. they will subside by monday afternoon. as an area of high pressure will continue to build on in, leaving much improved weather conditions for the clean-up as over 4 million are still without power. now back to you, rob and tanya. >> that's the ironic part, the rest of the week in the northeast looks beautiful. >> i know. and right here in manhattan, it's a beautiful day. >> yeah. it's crazy how things change just like that. alex, thanks for an update on the weather. here's a look at the rest of the weather around the country. a sunny, as we said, pleasant day here in the northeast. showers, though, in virginia, the carolinas and florida. good music, guys. still hazy, hot and humid across texas. light rain in northern minnesota. thunderstorms from albuquerque to cheyenne. >> near 90 in boise and salt lake city.

triple-digits in phoenix and dallas. kansas city gets up to 83. minneapolis, 80. detroit, 77. upper 70s from boston to baltimore. 92 in atlanta. we are very fortunate here in manhattan. if you look outside our studios right now, streets pretty much dry as a bone out there. >> it was like irene just skipped over manhattan. it was incredible. just 24 hours ago it was a different scene. most of the cici's attractions were shut down. some visitors to times square got creative, amusing themselves with a few rounds of street soccer and hockey. we hear the hockey players were tourists from canada. of course they were canadian, right? >> yeah. >> who else would be playing hockey in times square? >> that's it. good luck, guys, with all that. more "world news now" coming up after the break. ♪ running against the wind against the wind ♪ ♪ see the young man run ♪

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♪ welcome , welcome back, everybody. as we mentioned, irene largely spared new york city, specifically manhattan didn't get the punishment people were expecting. residents were bracing for the worst, there were plenty others braving the elements, ready to help out if that storm got ugly. >> diane sawyer ventured out into the wind and rain to talk to some of them. here's what she found. >> reporter: as the storm was bearing down, we roamed around the city a a found ambulances and workers inside ready to brave anything. tell me, are you out all night? what are you doing? >> yes. we'll be out all night. >> reporter: beth israel's emergency room staffed up and preparing for the worst. are you full up tonight? they're still calling? on duty tonight, huh? >> how are you doing, diane sawyer? how are you?

>> reporter: and downtown, a homeless service' shelter at capacity for those who needed it. this is a daughter who moved from california four days ago to begin her new college life. this is her mother, who stepped off a boat in the caribbean and wound up here for the night. >> i mean, this is amazing. i cannot even tell you. we have everything we need. >> reporter: volunteers poured in to help. even doctors, veterinarians, coming to look after your dog while you got some sleep. well, lucky dog. literally. >> we're trying to keep them sfw entertained and comfortable. >> reporter: it wasn't just in new york. all along the coast, 14,000 national guard troops on the shore. families filling sandbags in annapolis. friends mopping up each other's homes in north carolina. and through the night, we read the tweets from the 65 million person hurricane community. one of them braving the storm from the 19th floor. another, sandbags in front of the doors. boards on lower windows. and we watched your home videos.

>> look at that rain. oh, my gosh. >> reporter: but as we walked the streets -- you're still out? most people are hiding in their closets right now. it seems new york is still a city that never sleeps or stops eating or caring for its own during the storm. >> wow. that goes to show you, some people carry on as normal during storm and for others it's serious work. all the cops and firefighters and rescue workers. that's a slice of life here in new york. a weekend like no other. >> new yorkers, like to think they're so tough, they can withstand almost anything, but -- >> that's right. even a cat 1. >> yes. more coming up in just a second. we'll be right back, everybody, with more of the storm. we'll be right back of course, a lot of events to be canceled. >> the little league world series finally has a winning team, no thanks to irene. that's next. ng team, no thanks to irene. that's next.

of course, due to irene, the little league championship was but --d. of course, due to irene, the little league championship was delayed. but -- >> but. >> but for the sixth time in seven years, an american team is the little league world series champion. >> very cool. nick prado singled in the wiing run giving the boys from southern california a 2-1 victory over the team from japan. curt sandoval of kabc-tv talked to the winners and one very excited parent. >> reporter: to see your son with some crazy big hits.

he's been pitching tremendous in this. what was it like as the mom watching him as he gets a base hit, they win? >> i have to say, this child has taken me on the most outrageous ride i've ever been on. >> reporter: nick, i don't know if you're ever in the history of your life going to have a bigger at-bat. >> no, probably not. >> reporter: has it sunk in what you did d day? >> not yet. no. it's indescribable. >> reporter: has it sunk in? >> yeah, it's sunk in a lot. >> reporter: how so? >> like a lot, a lot, a lot. >> reporter: has it sunk in you're a world series champion? >> i'd say a little bit of it, but i'm still taking it in. as he said, i remember going home and people are going to be seeing me and being like, we're on tv and the little league world series. >> reporter: what's it mean for to you hit a home run in the little league world series? >> it means a lot. like, i -- it's just a dream come true. like i've always wished to be in the world series. but to hit a home run here is just -- it's great. it's a great feeling. >> reporter: manager jeff prado and three players will go from the little league world series

onto cooperstown where they had scheduled a tournament over a year ago. from the little league world series in williamsport, pennsylvania, kurt sandodol, abc news. >> that's exciting news. >> very cool. congrats to those kids. prado, his dad was actually the coach of the team, so it was a family affair. >> all in the family. >> oh, yeah. >> we're all proud of that. >> congrats to the guys. >> absolutely.

♪ ♪ >> i recognize it. i know that music from somewhere. i'm losing my train of thought. >> batman. >> there we go. finally this half hour, warm up that stash because this is our, what? not bad, not bad. >> could have been better. that's okay. >> this story takes us down to the capital of texas and austin is certainly living up to its motto of keeping it weird this morning. >> absolutely.

people there apparently are batty over bats. as morgan chesskey reports, it's big business. ♪ >> reporter: for decades it's been the music that's brought crowds to austin. now every summer night at congress avenue bridge, hundreds arrive for a different kind of show. in austin, bats rule. and not just at nighttime. >> pick your bat. >> reporter: every august the mexican freetail bats, already austin's official animal, get an official party. >ow can you describe that? it's amazing. >> reporter: batfest equals a day-long celebration of the city's nocturnal friend. >> she brought the glasses from michigan. i'm from texas. got to have the hat. there you go. >> reporter: bat hats, artwork, how about bat jewelry, almost nothing is unbatable. even 110-degree heat couldn't

keep crowds away, who did whatever they could to cool off. austin's bats bring in an estimated 8 million tourist dollars every year. their popularity puts volunteers with bat conservation groups in high demand. when they fly every summer evening, rolo newsome spreads bat wisdom. >> the bat doesn't get in their eye. no bats bite them. you know, they have a personal experience that these are not threatening critters. >> reporter: he had a batfest experience of his own as he spotted the original batmobile of the batman tv series. >> had a big red bat on the front. like a big black car. >> reporter: concerts entertain plenty, but for at least one visitor, the batfest signals a changing of the guard. >> apparently we are the bat capital of the world. so, you know, i'm down with that. >> reporter: hey, in a city known for its bats, the music isn't too bad either. >> not any small number of bats. we're talking about 750,000 bats at the peak of bat-watching season.

>> apparently this bridge is perfect for the bats the way it's constructed is just the right shape. >> got to love austin. the right shape. >> got to love austin. shape. >> got to love austin.

this morning on "world news now," the latest on irene. this morning on "world news now," the latest on irene. the deadly storm submerges entire communities in the suburbs after sparing much of new york city. >> in upstate new york, new jersey, new england and pennsylvania, waters are still rising after irene's historic flash floods, and the twors mwo still be to come. it is monday, august 29th. >> announcer: from abc news, this is "world news now." what a weekend it's been. >> good morning, i'm rob nelson.

>> and i'm tanya rivero. and it was irene's gust y winds causing aggravation on long island this morning. nearly a half million homes and businesses have no power and the utility company says it is the worst outage there in 20 years. but the biggest problems are inland, where entire towns are under water. >> the height of the storm, too, they're almost, i think, 5 million people without power in the northeast here. rivers are still rising at this point. like we said, the worst is yet to come. we'll have the latest on that. >> impressive damage. later in this half hour, while irene delivered, some moms were delivering bundles of joy. why babies always seem to arrive in numbers during times when hurricanes strike. very cute story there. >> it's interest. why is that, i wonder? the mtv music video awards are always shocking. remember lady gaga's meat costume? this year the biggest bomb shell happened outside on the red carpet.

wait until you hear beyonce's big announcement coming up in "the skinny." millions of people still face a threat from irene. even though the storm is over the border now heading towards cananada and over the ocean, th threat is not over. >> entire towns are under water in new york, new jersey and new england. and the rivers are still rising. here's abc's david muir. >> reporter: the dramatic pictures coming in from upstate new york. in a town of windham, the fire chief there says the town center is, quote, wiped out. completely under water after 10 inches of rain. this school bus submerged. the waters there slamming up against this bridge. as irene barrelled toward so many major cities -- philadelphia, new york, boston -- no one quite knew what the hurricane would quite bring. but irene would provdeadly. more than a dozen deaths across eight states and power out for 4 million. we would all learn very quickly it was not the skyscrapers, not the subways. they survived it. at daybreak it was the cities

and towns all around n new york deluged with water and wind. in queens power line crisscrossed the streets. cars under water, nearly vanishing. irene's rain came so quickly, it swept drivers off the road. in new jersey a 20-year-old woman desperately calling her boyfriend and 911 from her car. her body was found eight hours later, that car carried 150 feet off the road. >> this is not over. while the storm has weakened as it moves north, it remains a dangerous storm that continues to produce heavy rains. >> reporter: in elmsford, new york, we were taken to a place where the water is still rising. >> we've taken 12 people out of houses right here. >> reporter: it's deja v vu for teresa pfeiffer. more than a decade ago her home flooded after floyd. she razed her entire home five feet, but it still wasn't enough. that's her mailbox right there, number 6, now barely visible. >> this is all within the last few hours. and the water's still rising. >> reporter: and in long beach, new york, they'll have to rebuild this building carried

away while back in this new jersey neighborhood where the water levels are rising, neighbors waited behind police tape to check on friends and family. david muirirabc news. travelers may face frustration along the east coast. new york city buses and subways will run early this morning about 6:00 a.m., but the regional train service is still suspended and amtrak is now canceling trains from new york all the way down to florida. flights are resuming in boston and in all three of the major airports here in the new york city area. but thousands -- but since thousands of flights were canceled over the weekend, the wait time, as you can imagine, could be very lengthy. pack your patience this morning. >> that's right. pack a lot of it. and then thousands of people are spending their second night without power. wabc reports from long island. >> reporter: the generator at lisa's massapequa park home is for the necessities, nothing else. it's running her refrigerator, so her family has to grin and

bear it on the luxuries. >> just right now i need some light. >> reporter: sunday night they reported 4500 out of 6,000 customers, like lisa, are without power here in massapequa park. she's relying on candles and flashlights to get around, and dreading that cold shower in the morning before work. >> the tree came down from across the street, took the power down. we've been without power for a while. it's warm. it's beaiful out here. and the storm is over. but we've had enough. we need power. where is lipa? we haven't seen one lipa truck. where are they? >> reporter: so many people here on long island dealing with one of three things -- flooding, lack of electricity or storm damage. just one of those three things can be so frustrating. put all three together, and it's devastating. reporting at massapequa park, long island, abc news. >> biggest power outage in long island in 20 years. >> that's right. of course, affecting transit

systems as well. boston's transit system is supposed to be back on at normal at 8:00 a.m. we'll see how that works out. >> as we said, the first time new york city shut down the subway system for a natural disaster ever but expected to be running at 6:00 a.m. like we said, pack your patience because long lines and crowd trains today. a rocky day. >> and still not clear how back to normal tomorrow's transit situation will be. we have a lot of wait-and-see going on. >> probably for the good part of the week, too. we'll see. >> absolutely. keeping with irene, as irene blew into new england, the soaking rain paralyzed much of vermont, flash flooding shut down dozens of roads and washed out bridges across the state. at least one person was swept away and killed. and even more flooding is expected over the next few days. more evacuations are likely in the capital city of montpelier. it the river was expected to crest at 2 20 feet. in greenfield, massachusetts, the river overflowed its banks turning streets into a swimming pool.

irene has lost much of its punch by the time it got to the area, but it still raked over parts of massachusetts with 60-mile-per-hour winds, strong enough to topple trees and knock out electricity to tens of thousands. it could be a week before power is fully resesred. also, new jersey and pennsylvania got their faiai share of flooding as well in all of this. at least four people were killed in the philadelphia area. rescuers are working around the clock. more from abc's dan harris. >> reporter: vineland, new jersey, five teenagers whose boat capsized in a raging crook, hanging on for their lives until firefighters launched a risky mission, pajdzing through trees and branches to pull them to safety. >> we didn't realize the current was as song as it was. basically as we were coming up we realized, wow, it's getting really strong. >> reporter: white marsh township, pennsylvania, an elderly couple climbing into their attics to escape rising water.

in north philadelphia, a building containing a chinese restaurant and family home collapsed due to heavy rains. nothing got hurt. many people in these parts assumed the coast would get the worst of irene, but while the beach communities did get hit, it was the suburbs, some 50 miles inland, that really got nailed. and while the winds were bad, knocking down this enormous tree, for example, it was the water that did the real damage. the storm dumped 5 5 inches of rain in 18 hours, more than this area usually gets in a month. the river through philly crested at its highest level since 1869, flooding homes and businesses. it's like a river running down this street. >> river on main street right now. >> reporter: the river in philadelphia is by no means the only river posing a threat. there are creeks and rivers rising as we speak and some are expected to crest by record levels perhaps monday or tuesday. either way, it's a gift from irene that, unfortunately, it going to keep on giving. dan harris, abc news, philadelphia.

>> some areas -- >> won't crest until tuesday. oh, man, unbelievable. >> some areas still have the worst in front of them. irene was downgraded as it crossed over into canada last night with 50-mile-an-hour winds. >>ed klg z the conditions with accuweatr from alex rabb. >> good morning. now, though the worst of the rain of irene continues to move northward into canada, we're still expecting to see some showers across southern new england and upstate new york this morning. though the worst is gone, we're still dealing with gusty winds all the way down throughout washington, d.c. an area of high pressure will continue to build in and the winds will subside this afternoon, leaving much improved weather for the clean-up since over 4 million are without power.

we're also keeping our eye across the tropics as jose continues to move northward from bermuda, but the good news is, jose will be missing the united states. back to you, rob and tanya. >> thanks. now a quick look at the rest of your monday forecast. a beautiful day from boston to washington, d.c. showers in virginia and the carolinas, rough surf and showers from tampa to orlando. thunderstorms in the desert southwest and central rockies. >> 93 in albuquerque. 91 in sacramento. 71 in seattle. dallas, still hot, 108. indianapolis, 80. chicago, 78. meanwhile, 77 here in new york. 91 in miami. and 95 in new orleans. we have some happy news. >> yes. >> a little update on one of our favorite "world news now" critters. >> remember happy feet? he's the penguin who washed up on a new zealand beach in june thousands of miles away from native antarctica. >> he's on his way home this morning with a clean bill of health and fitted with a tracking device. so wildlife experts can monitor his progress. go, happy feet. >> glad to see that he's back

on -- back on his way home. he was very sick when they first found him. he did a little rehab, like charlie sheen, back -- and he's feeling good again. good for happy feet. >> all that tiger blood. >> he's winning. oh, man. more "world news now" after the break. ♪ go your own way welcome back, everybody. ♪ go your own way [ malalannouncer ] we asked real people if they'd help us with an experiment for febreze fabric refresher. they agreed. [ experimenter 1 ] relax, take some nice deep breaths. [ experimenter 2 ] what do you smell? lilac. clean. there's something that's really fresh. a little bit beach-y. like children's blankets. smells like home. [ experimenter 1 ] okay. take your blindfolds off. ♪ hello? [ male announcer ] and now new and improved febreze fabric refresher with up to two times the odor elimination so you can breathe happy, guaranteed.

welcome back, everybody. from bun one extreme to the we'vr. welcome back, everybody. we've been talking about all that water from irene, but in texas, it's fire that's causing problems. >> historic drought plus sky-high temperatures are fueling all those flames as jonathan bentz in dallas report. firefighters are now finding themselves in a losing battle.

>> reporter: the land is so hot, firefighters need as much patience as they do water. >> you put it out, you leave, you think you got it out. you look back behind you. rekindles again. >> reporter: near record drought is creating an extraordinary fire season and very fickle wildfires for crews. the fire looks out, but it is so hot and dry, it doesn't take much for this ash to quickly reignite. firefighters spend hours soaking charred lands. >> anything that you can put out, it has a chance of coming back up because it's so dry. >> reporter: it's a gruelling job for don howe at only 19 years old. >> doesn't take much for it to get out of control, no sir. >> reporter: saturday two grass fires quickly ignited south of dallas, charring acres of land and threatening homes. >> it may spread farther than we're at right now. we're calling for additional resources. >> reporter: texas is facing it's worst fire season in

history. 20,000 fires so far have burned a record 3.5 million acres. hundreds of homes have been lost. >> it's always our goal, you know, protect as much property as we can, after life. >> reporter: in this fire near enis, they succeeded. a challenge for crews where the land is already baked. >> there are, i guess, 251 counties in texas that have burn bans where it's illegal to burn anything outside. >> because everything is so dry there. more numbers. listen to this, since november 15th of 2010 there have been almost 20,000 fires in texas. almost 3.5 million acres have been burned. that's staggering numbers. >> it really is. >> it's a dry state. a lot of it is very dry. >> and it's still hot down there. all the right ingredients for something like this. it's crazy. >> absolutely. coming up next, we'll lighten the mood. who is proclaiming their love for justin bieber? >> this is a fun one. beyonce with surprising news at last night's music video awards. that's next in "the

oh, yes, time to lighten it oh, yes, time to lighten it up. >> lighten it up. all this storm coverage. let's talk about some hollywood gogo gossip out there. of course, the vmas, mtv's annual video music award are always kind of controversial awards. something unexpected stole the show this year. beyonce, who did perform, but made news for another reason. she was on the red carpet in this beautiful orange gown. yes, she confirmed that she is pregnant. she's 29 years old. of course, her husband, jay-z, 41 years old. they've been married three years. she said she wanted a baby by the time she is 30. she is pregnant and looking

great. >> she performed for the gma summer concert series she was pregnant. >> and still high energy, jumping all around. she's pregnant still performing. amazing. >> great performer. >> in case you're wondering who won big last night, here are a few big winners. the best video, lady gaga's "born this way," best pop music video britney spears. then we also had the best rock video, foo fighters with "walk." best hip-hop video is super bass. and best male video, justin bieber. that's such a nice thing. >> nice. on that note, speaking of justin more new admirer out there.e kathy griffin pulled a jim carrey. if you watched "the skinny" last week you know what we're talking about. jim carrey had that bizarre ode to emma stone that crashed his website. that was on thursday. kathy griffin decided she wouldn't be outrated there.

she decided to do her own version to justin bieber. take a listen. >> justin biebeb, i want you to know you are all the way beautiful. you're smart and kind-hearted. if i could, i would marry you. oh, that's actually not true. it's messy, justin. there's a distribution of assets. we would just go steady. >> so good. so funny. and, you know, a lot of people have been asking jim carrey, what the heck was up with that? he decided to come clean. this is what he said. yes, my message to emma stone was a comedy routine, and the funniest part is everything i said is true. that clears it up. >> yeah, jim, what -- i don't know what that's all about. another breakup news to report this morning. derek jeter, famous yankee, is splitsville now for three years with his extremely hot girlfriend, mika kelly. they are done. you think about all the athlete/actress couples that have broken up over the years. you had halle berry, david justice and kim kardashian and

reggie bush, lance armstrong and sheryl crow. the list goes on. i don't know how you let that go, but, dude -- >> we want to tell you all the "dancing with the stars" fans you'll be excited because another set of stars heading into the ballroom. some possible people, chaz bono, snooki, david arquette, queen la feef fa, all of this is speculation. we don't know for sure yet. >> the official announcement tonight. stay tuned. as another season gets under way. [ male announcer ] undeniably colorful,

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it reaches, it grabs, it's collapsible and it's portable. it goes wherever you go. get it free while supplili last. call the number on your screen to get your free video, brochure and your free hoveround collapsible grabber. call the number on your screen. here are some stories to watch today on abc news. trs here are some stories to watch today y abc news. travelers strand due to hurricane irene should get moving today. east coast airport operations are getting back to normal. also, broadway theater productions resume today in new york. the stages went dark all weekend long because of irene. u.s. open tennis organizers say the tournament will open on time today. irene caused only minimal damage at the tennis center on new york's long island. that will make a lot of tennis fans very happy. finally, one fascinating

fact in the wake of irene. a reported bababboom at one hospital along the storm's path. >> the hospital in north carolina reported births were up 40%. that was during the storm. as david muir reports, it's not the first time newborns arrived with all the wind and rain. >> reporter: hurricane irene also ushered in babies. in this hospital in wilmington, north carolina, kristin gave birth to a healthy baby girl as the storm had already hit. mom will certainly have a story to tell baby parker. >> i'm just going to tell her that, you know, she was born during a very exciting time. and i guess she decided to make it even more exciting by coming during it. >> reporter: we wondered here about all those other hurricane babies from hurricanes past. ivan pittman's mom will never forget when her son was born during hurricane ivan in 2004. here he is then and here he is today. his mother told us he's living up to his name, full of energy. and we all r rember katrina. this little girl born back then,

and she was named for the storm long before those levees broke, the true devastation settling in. she's now 5, and her parents say she is redefining the name. >> katrina. it's a pretty name. >> it is. six years ago today is when that storm hit the gulf coast. life has never been the same. >> it's hard to believe it was so long ago. >> doesn't seem like it. it's crazy. crazy. >> well, we here in manhattan are lucky. the worst of irene passed most of us by. >> that wasn't the case all along her path, though. we leave you now with some images from the storm. ♪ ♪

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