Hurricane Irene

WILMINGTON - Gasoline prices aren't going down in Delaware as they often do over the Labor Day weekend. AAA Mid-Atlantic says Delaware's average gasoline price is $3.59 a gallon, up 7 cents from last week. Delaware radio station WDEL-AM (1150) reports that is also up more than a dollar from last year. Pennsylvania and New Jersey have seen similar increases. The national average on Friday was $3.65 a gallon, up 6 cents from last week and nearly a dollar from Labor Day weekend last year.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission on Wednesday announced it will hold a special reliability forum in Harrisburg on Oct. 12 to hear how the state's electric utilities managed their responses to Hurricane Irene, which caused 1.3 million outages. "By taking a step back and looking at how the utilities responded and where we can make improvements allows us to strive for an even more effective response in the future," PUC Chairman Robert F. Powelson said in a statement. At the height of the Aug. 27 storm, about 768,000 customers were without power.

Hurricane Irene gave us so much to remember her by: fallen basements, curtailed vacations, power outages, fallen tree limbs. Add mold to that list. A wet summer, super-soaking Irene, and lingering damp conditions may have been a bane for the area's human inhabitants, but they have been nirvana for mold spores. Not surprisingly, county health departments say they have received more calls than usual about mold. "Absolutely," said Vince Barber of the Camden County Department of Health and Human Services.

Forget bread, milk, and eggs. It appears the region's residents rode out Hurricane Irene with booze. Whether the boost in business was for hosting hurricane parties or just hunkering down with a bit of Southern Comfort, sales at liquor stores were way up in the days approaching Irene. "We were reporting at some of our Philadelphia stores the wave of people we usually see during the December holiday season," said Stacey Witalec, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board.

By Claudia Vargas Paula Marie Thomas braved the big nor'easter of 1962 that pounded much of the East Coast, including her hometown of Atlantic City. Water came up to her porch - nine steps up from the ground. But she stayed put and made it through. Almost 50 years later, Hurricane Irene threatens destruction to the area. This time, though, she isn't being allowed to weather the storm. "They said it was mandatory. We had to go," Thomas said. Gov. Christie declared a state of emergency for New Jersey on Thursday, and residents along the coastline were told to evacuate the area.

ATLANTIC CITY - The irony of Blondie's "The Tide Is High" playing on loudspeakers was probably lost on gamblers rolling the dice in Caesars. But outside the casinos, officials were taking unprecedented measures Friday to stay one step ahead of the massive Hurricane Irene. Mandatory evacuations were under way for widespread coastal areas in Atlantic, Cape May, Monmouth, and Ocean Counties. Atlantic City casinos had decided to officially cease all gaming at noon Saturday - only the third closure since gambling began there 33 years ago. Shore traffic would be curtailed by eastbound and southbound lane closures on major roadways.

Two Camden County women have been charged with fraud after allegedly claiming that they were victims of Hurricane Irene in order to receive federal emergency funds for housing, Camden County Prosecutor Warren Faulk announced Wednesday. Tumesha Adkins, 34, of the 200 block of South 33d Street, Camden, and Michele Carter, 28, of LaCascata Apartments, Clementon, were indicted by a grand jury on charges of theft and forgery. The two were involved in separate incidents. On Oct. 26, 2011, Adkins gave the Federal Emergency Management Agency rental receipts for a residence in Pennsauken and collected $14,747 in assistance, but an investigation found she did not pay rent at that address, authorities said.

Philadelphia and its wounded suburbs crept toward normalcy Tuesday after superstorm Sandy, as transportation troubles eased and schools readied to reopen, but serious problems remained in parts of the region. Bristol Township officials called in the Pennsylvania National Guard to protect against looting overnight, saying burglaries and attempted burglaries of stores had begun as soon as the winds died down early Tuesday. Ten troops from the armory in Northeast Philadelphia started patrolling the streets at 8 p.m., coinciding with a newly imposed curfew that will run to 6 a.m. while most of the township is without power.

By Peter Morici Hurricane Sandy will likely have devastating effects on lives and property. However, gauging its full impact on an economy still struggling to recover from the Great Recession - though with substantial resources to overcome adversity - is far more complex than merely adding up insurance payouts and uninsured losses. Disasters can give an ailing construction sector a boost, while unleashing reinvestment that actually improves stricken areas and the lives of residents.

LONG AFTER HE'D sandbagged the doors to a bar that's been a second home for decades, Joe Rullo tried to sandbag Hurricane Sandy on Sunday with superstition, laughter and a cold beer. A $1 bill he'd placed on the cash register at Echo's, in North Wildwood, was the "Hurricane Dollar" that had helped thwart Hurricane Irene last year. Outside, in black and orange spray paint, Rullo had written Go Pound Sandy on the fresh plywood that covered the doors, alongside a makeshift jack-o'-lantern and ghost.

NORTH WILDWOOD, N.J. - Sitting in his house in North Wildwood on Saturday, John Hearn, who describes himself as "a young 67," said he had stocked up on water, peanut butter, and tuna fish, filled his gas tank, and fired up the generator. His wife, Gloria, had already left town, to stay at the couple's second home in Bucks County, but Hearn wanted to stay behind to keep an eye on his boats and "experience what we're going to experience. " "We have a pretty high elevation," he said.

After a hot and sunny start, Labor Day Weekend could end with the arrival of the remnants of Hurricane Isaac. Today, Philadelphia could see a high in the mid 90s for the first time since early August, and Saturday, as the two-day Made in America music festival begins on the Parkway, the high could hit the high 80s or low 90s. Sunday brings a slight chance - 20 percent - of showers or thunderstorms, with a high in the mid 80s. As a hurricane,...

This week's images of Hurricane Isaac's rampage along the Gulf Coast are a reminder that measures taken to prepare for big storms can reduce the damage they cause. Just a year ago, Hurricane Irene demonstrated that this region is hardly exempt from nature's wrath. (Hurricane Kirk is forming in the Atlantic now, heading northwest.) So this column is the first of two, with an emphasis on getting ready for a storm. Next week, we'll tackle cleaning up after a storm. Even so, there are too many topics to be covered.

Her father's work ethic contributed to his death in the lashing storm that swept South Jersey over the weekend, a mourning Ye Chen said Monday. The owner of two busy Ventnor restaurants, Ming Zhen Chen did not have time most days to relax and enjoy the summer, so he made plans to go night fishing on Friday. Caught in ferocious winds early Saturday, Ming Zhen Chen never made it back to shore. State police released his name Monday. After putting in a long shift, the 48-year-old Chinese immigrant, who moved to Ventnor 20 years ago and opened Tsui's Garden and Tsui's Garden II, ventured out on Absecon Bay in a 20-foot skiff with his brother and another relative, according to his daughter.

Mandi Dorrell of Somers Point, N.J., is pictured enjoying the view at Acadia National Park in Maine in August, just ahead of Hurricane Irene. She writes of the trip: "My three-day drive to Maine was rainy. … I could not see the car in front of me and was even more frustrated when I got to Acadia because the wood was too wet to build a fire. I went out to dinner that night in Bar Harbor and cried because I thought our vacation was ruined. "But when I woke up the next day, the rain had stopped and it was 85 degrees — something the citizens of Acadia said had only ever happened a few times.

Monday was one of the windiest days of the year, with gusts of more than 50 m.p.h. recorded in a half-dozen places, including Philadelphia. The wind, along with a recent lack of rain, continues to spur fears of new wildfires, with a red flag warning once again in effect for the entire region, including all of New Jersey and Delaware. Today, though, should just be breezy - with winds from about 14 to 22 m.p.h. - with a slight chance of afternoon rain. Yesterday's top gusts spanned most of the day, from a 51 m.p.h.