HURRICANE

Hurricane Irene left a path of destruction from North Carolina to the hills of Vermont. Here's a look at the latest photos of the damage.

Tropical Storm Katia strengthened rapidly on Wednesday, approaching hurricane status, but it was too soon to tell whether it would threaten land in the Caribbean or the United States.

This figure will surely escalate as state and federal officials quantify the losses arising from crop damage, costs of clean-up, road-and-bridge repairs among other expenses.

New Jersey Transit has restored Northeast Corridor service, finally ending more than three days of suspended service due to Hurricane Irene. Officials warned riders to expect delays of up to 45 minutes because of ongoing signal problems from flooding in Trenton.

While parts of the East Coast hard-hit by Hurricane Irene manage the damage and despair in Connecticut, New Jersey and Vermont another storm is cranking up in the Atlantic -- Tropical Storm Katia is on a path to become Hurricane Katia 2011 later Wednesday, according to the National Hurricane Center. The threat of Katia comes just days after Irene battered the Caribbean and the U.S. It's too early to tell if Katia will also hit the U.S.

The costly process of rebuilding after Hurricane Irene promises to be complicated by the fact that much of the damage was caused by flooding and will not be covered by homeowner insurance.

While parts of the East Coast hit hard by Hurricane Irene manage the damage and despair in Connecticut, North Carolina, New Jersey and Vermont another storm is cranking up in the Atlantic -- Tropical Storm Katia, likely to become Hurricane Katia later today, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Katia could become a major hurricane, forecasters say. The tropical storm is strengthening.

National Guard and firefighters rescued hundreds people from record flooding in New Jersey on Tuesday and Vermont planned to airlift food and water to inland towns cut off by Hurricane Irene after its paralyzing rampage through the U.S. northeast.

Developing Tropical Storm Katia is likely to become major Hurricane Katia -- with potential, albeit slim chance of eventually striking the U.S. as Hurricane Irene did last week.

In the aftermath of devastating Hurricane Irene, while Vermont still battles flood waters and millions along the U.S. East Coast pick up, Tropical Storm Katia has formed and is slowly strengthening as it moves across the Atlantic, expected to soon become Hurricane Katia.

Metro-North Railroad to and from New York City resumed full service on its major lines, while some remain indefinitely suspended.

Federal Emergency Management Agency's disaster aid money is swiftly running out as it faces a daunting Hurricane Irene cleanup that could cost billions of dollars.

Limbaugh also fired some volleys at the mainstream media for their coverage of the storm.

Extensive flooding remained in parts of New Jersey on Tuesday. Passaic County in the northern part of the state and Mercer and Middlesex Counties in the central part were particularly hard-hit, with water reaching the roofs of some houses.

Two men who ventured out into the storm on Saturday night (and were subsequently reported as missing) were found dead on Monday afternoon.

The recovery from Hurricane Irene in the U.S. has only just begun, but another tropical disturbance, Tropical Storm Katia, is slowly strengthening over the eastern tropical Atlantic, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

Metro-North train service was partly restored on Tuesday, but several lines remained down, and the Port Jervis Line was expected to be crippled for months because of flooding from Hurricane Irene.

Connecticut's utilities, maintenance, and emergency crews continued to play catch-up Tuesday in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, reducing the number of customers without power to about 420,000.

The storm arrived just as many farmers were planning to harvest corn, cotton, tobacco and other crops.

By Tuesday, the death toll from Irene had risen to at least 40. The sharp increase from initial reports of 25 casualties came as a number of drowned bodies were recovered and several more people electrocuted by downed power lines.