(NECN: Alysha Palumbo) - Flooded beyond recognition, roads and bridges up and down the east coast are impassable, crumbling uncontrollably, or in some cases completely wiped out.
Tropical Storm Irene left a trail of devastation from North Carolina to Maine.
In Paterson, New Jersey, entire towns were underwater, with multiple story buildings barely peaking out over the floods.
Hill created waterfalls powerful enough to change the landscape around them.
And as the floodwaters rose in residential areas, people trapped had to be rescued by boat or carried out of their own homes, including this little baby wrapped in just a towel.
"It was too deep. It was like scary. I opened the door and the water looked like it was my height, so I had to close the door and I waited until the morning time, until the day," said one man who was rescued.
In New Paltz, New York, muddy water replaced roads and fields.
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In the aftermath of Irene, the conditions have been so bad, officials were forced to shut down at least ten major city streets.
And in Manteo, North Carolina, the destruction was too much to take for some residents.
While others began the long and arduous task of cleaning up and repairing homes and businesses ruined by the flood waters.
It's clear in just these first few days after the storm, the recovery process will be lengthy and expensive.
"I've not seen the kind of flooding and damage to crops that I saw briefly today...if this is representative of what North Carolina has suffered it's obviously a fairly significant blow to North Carolina agriculture," said U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack.
