By the time Hurricane Irene slammed into New England on August 28, 2011, it had actually been downgraded into a tropical cyclone. But for the residents of western Massachusetts and Vermont, Irene was still an apocalyptic fury, with devastating damage from the winds and, particularly in Vermont, from flooding. The rivers in Vermont became raging torrents that swept away lives, damaged or sluiced through hundreds of roads, carried off century-old ... Full Story