Hurricane Irene, One Year Later: What Do You Remember?

Chances are last year at this time, you were scrambling to get a generator, or stocking up on bottled water, maybe even calling relatives to see if the family could move over there for a bit. As with many other communities around, Milford took a decent hit from Irene, who even in a weakened state as a tropical storm knocked out a majority of the town's power — in some cases for nearly a week.

Irene hit the edge of North Carolina on Aug. 27, 2011, as a Category 1 hurricane. It was the first of its kind to hit land since Ike two years earlier, and most of the East Coast felt its effects, with 2.3 million under mandatory evacuation orders. 

Patch in MetroWest covered the effects of Irene

And readers stepped up, submitting photos from before, during and especially the aftermath of the storm,

Massachusetts, Vermont and New Jersey felt the most severe impacts from the storm, according to the National Hurricane Center. The National Hurricane Center reports that 49 people were killed as a direct result of the storm, 41 of them in the U.S., as reported in the Huffington Post. The damage totaled $15 billion.

For Milford's residents, the major concern proved to be power outages, with many saying National Grid's response had been less than satisfactory.

During Irene, with the final homes and businesses regaining electricity nearly a week later. At its peak, one-quarter of the town was without power.

In late July, Attorney General Martha Coakley's office announced fines of $16 million against National Grid for its handling, or mishandling, of the tropical storm Irene in August and the snowstorm last October, according to the Worcester Business Journal.

What do you remember about Irene? Did the storm prompt you to buy a generator? How long were you without power? Are you more equipped now, should another massive weather pattern be headed to your property?

Share your memories of Irene, other storms, and respond in our comments section below.

Also attached are many photos that Milford Patch took, or that were submitted, during Irene.