One year later, looking back on Hurricane Irene

SHELBURNE FALLS, Mass. (WWLP) - One year ago, the remnants of Hurricane Irene tracked through Western Massachusetts, flooding devastated parts of Franklin County.

This weekend, everything is nice and calm compared to one year ago.  On August 28, 2011, Tropical Storm Irene barreled up the East Coast and dumped several inches of rain in Western Massachusetts.

Heavy rain caused widespread flooding throughout the Pioneer Valley and the Berkshires.  As the water levels rose, roads became washed out, buildings flooded - some were even moved off their foundations.

The Deerfield and Westfield Rivers rose 15 and 20 feet respectively in a matter of hours.  Both rivers reached their highest flood stages in over 60 years.

Paul St. Martin, the owner of the West End Pub in Shelburne Falls, told 22News, "I could hear the river raging from my house, so I decided I better come down and see what's going on.  When I came down the hill, I could not believe how high the water was.  I never in my life thought the water would get that high from the river."

Shelburne Falls and Buckland were two towns hit hardest by the storm. The raging water actually reached the bottom of the Iron Bridge and historic Bridge of Flowers.

Irene was the most significant tropical cyclone to hit the Northeast since Hurricane Bob in 1991.  The World Meteorological Organization retired the name "Irene" since it was the one of the top five costliest Atlantic hurricanes, causing almost $19 billion in damages.

There’s something about those "I" storms.  One year after Irene, we are continuing to track Tropical Storm Isaac.  Isaac is expected to impact southern Florida within the next 36 hours.  Right now, it doesn't look like we'll see the remnants of Isaac here in Western Massachusetts, but, of course, things can change over the next several days.