TONY BROWN KNOWS a thing or two about hurricanes.
He was living in Jamaica in 1988 when Hurricane Gilbert - a Category 3 beast - tore through the island with fury.
"Now that was a bad storm," said Brown, 52, as he gazed yesterday at the rising waters of the Schuylkill from a Chestnut Street pedestrian bridge.
"This hurricane, Irene, was a baby. It was overhyped."
Many in the region seemed to share the same view of Hurricane Irene, a Category 1 storm that didn't deliver as much widespread destruction as experts and city officials had feared.
That's not to say that Philadelphia and surrounding counties didn't pay a heavy price for Irene's visit.
The region marked just one death. Celena Sylvestria, 20, died along Route 40 in Pilesgrove, N.J., when she became trapped in her car by floodwaters about 1:40 a.m. yesterday, said New Jersey State Police Sgt. Ryan Polite. Sylvestria, of Quinton, Salem County, called 9-1-1 for help - but by the time emergency workers arrived, rising waters had covered her vehicle.
Although they couldn't find Sylvestria, they did spot James Troy, 68, of Cape May, and rescued him from his car, which also had become trapped.
Mayor Nutter, who lifted the city's state of emergency at noon yesterday, said a still-unidentified man was killed in a one-car accident in Northeast Philadelphia about 8:40 p.m. Saturday.
"Other than that, we have no reports of injuries or fatalities as a result of the storm," Nutter said. "No dramatic rescues. No boats, no helicopters, we didn't have the Coast Guard swoop in to get anybody or anything like that."
About 20 residents of a six-story apartment complex on 17th Street near Fitzwater had to be evacuated when a roof covering blew off and 71 seniors were evacuated from a Chestnut Hill Senior Center because of a roof collapse.
Meanwhile, in Atlantic City, seniors at the Best of Life Park highrise who refused to leave despite mandatory evacuations were proud that they rode it out and that all 100 or more had made it through the night.
About 170 people went to Philadlephia's three main emergency shelters - at John Bartram, Abraham Lincoln and Roxborough high schools - soon after they opened Saturday, city officials said. Some still lingered in the shelters yesterday as they pondered their next moves.
Alexis Collazo rested on a cot inside Bartram as he recalled being picked up by outreach workers on Saturday while he shivered in the rain near 15th Street and JFK Boulevard.
