Irene didn't really track inland. It made landfall in NC as cat 1 and was still a cat 1 when it hit AC. Like every hurricane that takes a track like that the highest winds will always stay out over water or hit LI. Of course my block was the only place that managed to have a tree come down and take out power lines but I think that had more to do with the incredibly saturated ground since the highest gusts were only 50-55 mph