>> reporter: we are on the main street in millburn. all the residents and business owners were here because it looks like every one of the businesses on main street got flooded. some got flooded badly. maybe you can hear the bell going off. it was obviously set off by irene and won't stop. what happened here is there is a river that runs right through this town. it crested and just flew right on over and washed right into businesses and they are used to this. they were flooded badly in 1999. chris christie said a lot of the rivers are either at record levels or near record levels. there was a lot of rain here for the last two weeks so the ground was soaked with water already. this pushd it over the edge. take a look at this local restaurant here. look inside. it was devastated by irene and all the flooding. we got a chance to go inside with dana the owner this evening for a real sense of just the damage that's been done by irene. listen to what he told us. we're going to see the basement. the floor is full of mud. you have sewage, gras

reporter chris knolle is live in newburn new jersey to tell us about -- millburn,new jersey to tell us about the damage there. >> reporter: we are watching a whole lot of folks to come out and view the damage done to their home, stores, and businesses. cleanup is well under way here. where we were standing was under water yesterday. the waters of the branches of the river are beginning to recede. some won't recede for a day or two to come. we have some without power in this area. the deli next to us is throwing away thousands of dollars of food. fortunately this is one of communities on the east coast dealing with hurricane irene. irene's three-day run caused major damage all along the east coast in many north eastern cities streets turned into raging rivers. despite being bordered on all sides by land, fast moving flood waters swarmed towns in vermont. this building is dangerously close to falling after a nearby brook tripled its width. soaking rain and rising water forced many to leave their homes. >> they pounded on our door at 10:30 and said we needed to get out. as soon as we look

millburn, new jersey is in sort of a valley. dana owns this mexican restaurant. dana, just devastation. i want to show you what he's going through. i was here at 5:00 when he first saw what his restaurant went through. the water came in, it flooded under the floor of his restaurant. lifted the floor. dana, come on inside with me, show me what else happened here. i mean it is just full of mud and sewage water. how bad is it? >> well, it looks bad. i think most of the damage is below about 12 inches. there is a big canal in the back. the water came in up through the basement actually and it actually knocked over most of these large pieces of furniture which i put back up about an hour ago. fortunately, most of the stuff that i built by hand is intact. >> come back into the kitchen, guys, so you can see exactly what's going on here. it is interesting, some of this stuff above a few feet stayed intact. we were here earlier, this margarita machine was on the floor. this freezer had tipped over. show us the basement, what's going on. because this is what is stunning to

this one in downtown millburn, new jersey. a photo we showed you on the air earlier today. powerful images. fred and brooke, you don't get used to seeing this. i know both of you have been at scenes of destruction after storms. you don't get used to seeing what people lose. >> this is just the beginning. a lot of these areas people can't venture quite yet. as soon as they are able to get in, particularly around the barrier islands, we're going to see a whole lot more destruction. >> this is just the beginning. >> the president said weeks. i think in some cases probably months. josh levs, thank you very much. we're not going to go too far from this story, tropical storm irene. but there is major, major news today out of libya about the man known as the lockerbie bomber. we have an exclusive report, next. for new people. hey ! chocolate, vanilla or strawberry ? chocolate ! chocolate it is ! yeah, but i'm new, too. umm... he's new... er... than you. even kids know it's wrong to treat new friends better than old friends. at ally bank, we treat all our customers fairly, with no

poppy harlow, cnnmoney.com, is in millburn for us. the problems reach far inland, right? >> reporter: absolutely, kyra. we're seeing some record inland flooding in new jersey. the mayor, chris christie, took an aerial view of the flooding. major, major problems even away from big rivers and away from the coast. the mayor is warning still of possible record flooding in the next two days. you had a lot of rain here before the storm. it soaked the ground. dams are still at risk here in knowledge. in millburn they certainly got the brunt of it. we're by this river in the middle of town, kyra. this crested, if you can believe it came all the way over, gushing into the streets and all the local businesses here on main street. i had a chance to spend the whole day yesterday with the business owners, dealing with the devastation. take a look at one. we're going to go see the basement. if we can look at the floor here, it's full of mud. you have a lot of sewage and grass and leaves that flew into these restaurants. this stuff can be -- go ahead and take us there. can be cleaned up

. >> guys do you have any questions for dana and the folks in millburn? >> where was dana and his crew when all of this was happening? >> they're asking where were you when all of this was going on. i know you own a number of restaurants across new jersey. where were you? >> i was at home, battening down the hatches in my own house. it's a two-family, so there were tree limbs blowing, windows smashing. i tried to get over here and the roads were closed. then i got into an accident. i spent the whole day trying to get here. >> we were here at about 5:00. we saw the damage, didn't want to come inside without the owner here. right at 5:00 dana showed up and he walked in and seen the damage for himself. i give him credit, you handled this so well. you take it in stride. it's not as bad as the damage that was done in 1999 with hurricane floyd. >> the stuff that's hard to be replaced has not been damaged. within a month hopefully tinga will be back. >>> after the storm coming the cleanup. we will check in with general russell honore. the lexus golden opportunit

want to bring you out and show you the river in millburn.ver it crested came all the way over this, came into the street across into all the businesses here on main street, christine. i spent the day in all these businesses, flooded basements. want you to take a look at all the damage it did to one restaurant in millburn. take a look. >> we're going to go seat basement. if we can look at the floor it's full of mud. a lot of sewage and grass and leaves that into into these restaurants. this stuff can be -- go ahead and take us there, can be cleaned up, but what dana was telling me earlier, it's going to take about a month. a big concern is often times flood insurance doesn't cover basements. can you imagine that. wait until you see this paintment and see what we're talking about. look down here. dana, how many feet down does that go? >> well, that's about ten, 11 feet. >> 10 or 11 feet of water in there. >> right up to the ceiling. the office, all of the walk-ins, all the food is gone. >> reporter: all the food is gone, his computers under th

poppy harlow is standing by in millburn now. what do you see? >> reporter: it's died down in terms of the chaos on main street. what you still see bemind me is workers around the clock trying to clean up their businesses that have been decimated by the flooding. we had massive flooding. look at this mexican restaurant. take a close look inside here. it is full of mud and dirt. it was flooded with water. the basement has ten feet of water in it. you've got all these small businesses on main street trying to recover. they went through this ten years ago in hurricane floyd. they know what it's like. we haven't talked about the residents today. we have steve and fran here. what's upsetting you is it will be a long time before power goes back on. tell me your situation. >> the power went off last night. they're telling me it will be seven days before power is back on. next sunday afternoon we'll have power. >> reporter: how does that make you feel? i know you work from home. how difficult is the situation for you and your neighbors? >> it's hard to l

this is from millburn, new jersey, 6 inches of water, that is it, that is it, can drown a person. look at the power of this moving this park bench. another picture i want to show you also from new jersey, or this water can submerge a car, no question about that. look at this police car. this is how high the water is. this is a motorcycle to give you perspective. this is hillside new jersey west of newark. there could be power lines in the floodwaters. it's ironic, look at this police car in newark alone six police rescues getting people out of their cars that were stuck in stranded roads because of this water. >> that's incredible. the force of the water can't be underestimated. it's amazing how it could probably move like that picture demonstrating, moving that park bench. >> why they call it flash flooding. >> it's pretty significant. >> this alone, 6 inches is drown a person. >> alexandra steele. thanks very much. for now, welcome back. top of the hour and we want to bring you up to date on this tropical storm irene. i'm fredericka whitfield. >> the storm is chaurning over new

let's go live to crystals in millburn, new jersey. it >> sunny skies and dry conditions. quite a contrast to yesterday's when i ring took over this town flooding it with 10 in. of rain. the rain was hitting already saturated ground. it had no where to go. the rivers overflowed their banks in pore through businesses and restaurants, all kinds of jobs in the area and also coming of through people's basements. it is the basement that are being pumped out now. this storm will be known for its massive flooding potential not just here. thousands of towns and more across the entire eastern seaboard were affected by the devastation of hurricane i ring. >> irene's 3 dave ryan caused major damage all along the east coast in many northeastern cities. streets turned into raging rivers. despite being ordered on all sides by land, fast-moving floodwaters swarmed towns in vermont. this building is dangerously close to falling after a nearby brook tripled its with. the soaking rain in rising water forced some to leave their homes with little warning. >> we were prepared and emergency she