Hurricane Irene battered New York with heavy winds and driving rain today, knocking out power and flooding Lower Manhattan's deserted streets.
However, the feared major devastation appears to have been avoided as the storm lost some of its punch.
Irene was downgraded to a tropical storm this morning after marching up the east coast, leaving 11 dead, as many as 3.4 million households without electricity and forcing the cancellation of thousands of flights.
While weakened, the swirling storm carries 95km/h winds and still packs wallop, sending waves crashing onto shorelines and flooding coastal suburbs.
There was about 30cm of water in the streets at the South Street Seaport in Lower Manhattan before the tide began receding. There appeared to be less damage than many had feared, and New York's residents shrugged it off.
Wall Street's financial district seemed largely unaffected as did Ground Zero, where the 10th anniversary of the September 11th attacks is soon to be observed. The New York Mercantile Exchange building planned to open as usual tomorrow.
But the big question for New Yorkers and the millions who commute to work in the city each day, was whether the city's subways and public transportation would be allowed to resume in time for tomorrow's rush hour. Subways had been halted and low-lying areas evacuated ahead of the storm.
Heavy rains and wind forced the closure of three bridges leading to the Rockaways peninsula facing the Atlantic Ocean, and further east on Long Island sand berms built to hold off the flooding and protect coastal businesses appeared to have failed. Some 15cm of rain fell on Central Park.
Irene was blamed for at least 11 deaths in North Carolina, Virginia, Florida and Maryland as it churned up the coast.
New York City's normally bustling streets were mostly quiet after authorities ordered tens of thousands of residents to evacuate low-lying areas and shut down its subways, airports and buses.
Airlines cancelled 9,000 flights over the weekend and all three major New York area airports were closed to incoming flights yesterday afternoon. The suspension hit John F Kennedy International, Newark Liberty International, LaGuardia, Stewart International and Teterboro airports. It applies to domestic and international flights.
All Aer Lingus flights scheduled to operate to and from New York today were cancelled. Flights to and from Boston tomorrow have also been cancelled.
But as the waters receded, tourists began venturing out for a look around New York's Times Square, where Broadway shows had been canceled in anticipation of the bad weather.
The storm dumped up to 20cm of rain on the Washington region, but the capital avoided major damage. Some bridges were closed but airports remained open and transit operated on a normal schedule.
From the Carolinas to Maine, tens of millions of people were in the path of Irene, which howled ashore in North Carolina yesterday, dumping torrential rain, felling trees and knocking out power.
Rick Meehan, mayor of Ocean City, Maryland, said initial assessments showed flooding and continuing power outages in some areas of the seaside resort, but not much damage. "It looks like we dodged a missile on this one," Mr Meehan told WBOC News.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said he expects damages from Irene to be costly, possibly worth billions of dollars, along the Atlantic coast and from inland river flooding.
From the Carolinas to Maine, tens of millions of people were in the path of Irene, which howled ashore in North Carolina yesterday, dumping torrential rain, felling trees and knocking out power.
After Irene, weather watchers were keeping an eye on Tropical Storm Jose, which has formed near Bermuda.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg had warned residents Irene was a life-threatening storm and urged them to stay indoors to avoid flying debris, flooding or the risk of being electrocuted by fallen power lines. In midtown Manhattan, there was a substantial police presence on the streets but most people heeded Mr Bloomberg's warning to stay inside.
About 370,000 city residents were ordered to leave their homes in low-lying areas ahead of Irene's arrival, many of them in parts of Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan.
This year has been one of the most extreme for weather in US history, with $35 billion in losses so far from floods, tornadoes and heat waves.
President Barack Obama, who cut his holiday short on the Massachusetts island of Martha's Vineyard to return to the White House, was keeping a close eye on preparations for the hurricane.