Irene Couldn't Hurt the 9/11 Memorial

The 9/11 memorial is expected to be open in less than two weeks, and thankfully the hurricane won't be holding up the memorial from reaching its goal on time for the 10th anniversary ceremonies, The New York Observer is reporting. The memorial is mostly made of newly planted Swamp White Oak trees, and features thousands of granite cobblestone. Also per The Observer, crews were worried the storm might throw the cobblestones and break branches off the trees, leaving clean up crews a little too close to their deadline. Instead, they're now ahead of schedule. There was no damage to the area, except for a few broken tree limbs.  “All the preparations we did in preparing for the storm actually helped prepare us for the opening, like removing excess equipment and temporary fencing that had been surrounding the pools," said Joseph Daniels, president and CEO of the memorial foundation. There is some flooding in the basement of the museum, but they set out pumps during the preparation, so it shouldn't be a problem. "With two weeks left, it could have been a lot worse," Daniels said. "With the preparation the construction teams did, we’re real happy with that. We’re in great shape, actually."