Superstorm Sandy carved a harrowing path of destruction through the East Coast on Monday, inundating Atlantic City and sending cars floating through the streets of lower Manhattan.
Accelerating Monday evening as it made landfall on the New Jersey coast, the storm promised a legacy as one of the most damaging ever to menace the Northeast, from North Carolina to New England.
Some 3.1 million people were left without electricity across the region Monday evening—the most since the 2003 blackout. In New York, more than 250,000 Con Ed customers from 39th Street south were left without power.
"It's sure shaping up to be a storm that will be historic in nature," said Louis Uccellini, director of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction, a federal government agency.
The storm left a trail of death, and the toll is expected to mount. Two people perished in Mendham, N.J., when a tree struck their car, officials said. In New York state, at least six were killed, including a 30-year-old man who died when a tree fell on his home.
The economic fallout could be considerable. As night fell Monday, the storm surge combined with high tides to flood New York's Brooklyn-Battery tunnel, a major traffic artery, as well as portions of the city's subway system. Subway service could be crippled for "at least a week," the head of the municipal transportation authority said late Monday.
Economic damages from Sandy, which is expected to affect some 20% of the U.S. population, could be in the range of $10 billion to $20 billion, according to EQECAT, a catastrophe-risk modeling firm. That compares to Hurricane Irene, which caused $10 billion in damage last year. Insured losses from Hurricane Katrina in 2005 alone topped $45 billion, adjusted for inflation.
Over the course of Monday, as winds strengthened to 90 miles per hour, waves swept away a historic pier in Ocean City, Md., Monday and left Atlantic City, N.J., largely submerged—the sea rushing over its iconic boardwalk, surging through the streets, and leaving hundreds of people in need of rescue.
In New York City, the backup power at NYU Langone Medical Center on First Avenue in Manhattan failed, prompting an emergency evacuation of patients, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Monday night.
At least 4.7 million public school students—about the population of Norway—stayed home Monday or will stay home Tuesday as a result of Hurricane Sandy, according to a Wall Street Journal tally. That estimate doesn't include private-school students; there may be more school closings that weren't reported to state education departments.
Sandy was relabeled from a hurricane to a posttropical cyclone on Monday evening. Earlier, its classification as a Category 1 storm, the least powerful category of hurricane, was deceiving. Scientists say the storm has an unusually low atmospheric pressure near its center, an important measure of a storm's strength.
The National Weather Service warned of potential flooding in coastal areas and damage well inland. Up to 12 inches of rain were expected over some parts of the mid-Atlantic states. The storm shut down the federal government for a second straight day Tuesday.
Snow began falling in the mountains of West Virginia on Monday and was expected to intensify across Appalachia over the next day as Sandy collided with cold air from the west. Storm surges of up to 11 feet were expected in the New York area and on Long Island Sound.
Hurricane-force winds extended as much as 175 miles from Sandy's center. As of Monday, more than 14,200 flights had been canceled in and out of airports stretching from Washington, D.C., to Boston, according to FlightAware.com, a flight-tracking service—well above the roughly 10,000 flights canceled by airlines in August 2011 for Hurricane Irene.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission sent extra inspectors to 10 nuclear plants from Maryland to New York, aware that Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster last year unfolded after that plant was struck by a devastating flood of water from a tsunami.
In New York City, roughly 2,500 people had booked into emergency storm shelters, less than 4% of the total capacity, nearly 24 hours after Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered an evacuation of 375,000 people from the city's low-lying areas.
Storm warnings provoked extra jitters in Vermont, which only 14 months ago was ravaged by Tropical Storm Irene. "Everyone is really worried," said Susan Lipkin, owner of the Harvest Moon Bed & Breakfast in Rutland. Ms. Lipkin said she is bringing inside anything that could be a projectile and trying to "make sure everything will be here tomorrow."
P.S :
Red Cross asking for anyone who can -donate blood across America 3000 units short. Also can text dono 'Red Cross' to 90999
Also look at this blog for the destruction caused in the Caribbean by Hurricane Sandy :
https://mouthshut.com/blog/jajcmpuomm/Gigantic-Hurricane-Sandy-bears-down-on-US-East-Coast
Wind Map :
Check here for more - https://hint.fm/wind/
