Irene leaves estimated $7b in damages, kills 21 in US

Slowly, the East Coast surveyed the damage, up to $7 billion by one private estimate. The center of Irene crossed into Canada late yesterday, but for many in the United States the danger had not passed.

Rivers and creeks turned into raging torrents tumbling with limbs and parts of buildings in northern New England and upstate New York.

“This is not over,’’ President Obama said yesterday afternoon.

Flooding was widespread in Vermont, where parts of Brattleboro, Bennington, and several other communities were submerged.

One woman was swept away and feared drowned in the Deerfield River.

In Philadelphia, the mayor lifted the city’s first state of emergency since 1986.

The storm was blamed for the collapses of seven buildings, but no one was hurt and everyone was accounted for. People kept their eyes on the rivers. The Schuylkill was expected to reach 15 feet.

Meanwhile, the nation’s most populous region looked to a new week and the arduous process of getting back to normal.

New York lifted its evacuation order for 370,000 people and said it hoped to have its subway, shut down for the first time by a natural disaster, rolling again today, though maybe not in time for the morning commute. Philadelphia restarted its trains and buses.

“All in all,’’ said Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York, “we are in pretty good shape.’’

At least 21 people died, most of them when trees crashed through roofs or onto cars.