The emergency evacuations of low-lying areas in advance of Hurricane Irene [/city-orders-mandatory-evacuation-of-zone-a-including-manhattan-beach-brighton-beach-and-sheepshead-bay/] might have seemed like an overreaction to those residents who didn’t live in the small pockets of the city pummeled by the winds and rain [/photos-hurricane-irenes-first-round-sees-floods-fallen-trees/]. But, despite the small scale of the damage, it’s undeniable