New England, Natural Disaster | featured news

A vast storm system that spawned tornadoes and killed three people marched toward the East Coast on Friday, delivering spring snow and ice to New England and promising to drench some of the country’s most populous cities. On Thursday, storms tore through the Great Plains, Midwest and South.

Almost a dozen New England towns were rendered virtual islands Monday as floodwaters from the remnants of Hurricane Irene reshaped parts of Vermont and upstate New York, turning placid rivers into raging torrents and some streets into treacherous mud bogs.

Bill, a Category 1 hurricane, moved along the New England coast this morning as authorities maintained tropical storm warning for parts of eastern Canada. Though beaches along the Massachusetts coast remained closed, the National Weather Service lifted its tropical storm warnings there at 8 a.m.