I live in Johnstown, PA, which is south eastern PA and Irene has just shown her face here with winds & rain around 8pm & is suppose to continue till 6am tomorrow. So she had enough speed in her to make it over the mountain ridges. My area has to watch for flooding. Johnstown is like New Orleans its a basin surrounded by mountain ridges so once a storm comes over one side of the mountians it circles, either fizzes out or gains speed and gets over the side of the mountain ridge. It's now 9:30 pm and the rain is moderate and becomes heavy downpours at time. Can't imagine what beating the coastal ppl got! Sending prayers to all eastern states! Stay safe!