NY says Irene damage will total about $1 billion

A woman rides her bicycle through a flooded street in lower Manhattan after Hurricane Irene passed over the New York City area, August 28, 2011.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hurricane Irene caused an estimated $1 billion in damage in New York state, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a news conference alongside U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Craig Fugate, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Cuomo said the upstate region had suffered greatly.

More than 600 homes in the state have been damaged or destroyed, Cuomo said.