Superstorm Sandy cripples US East Coast, death toll rises to 40

Mangalore Today News/ PTI

New York, Oct 31: Millions of people were left reeling in the aftermath of the whipping winds and heavy rains of the massive storm Sandy on Tuesday as New York City and many parts of the eastern United States struggled with epic flooding and extensive power outages. The storm killed at least 40 people, including at least 18 in New York City, and insurance companies started to tally billions of dollars in losses.

 

 

Sandy, which crashed ashore with hurricane-force winds on Monday near the New Jersey gambling resort of Atlantic City, was the biggest storm to hit the country in generations. It swamped parts of New York’s subway system and lower Manhattan’s Wall Street district, closing financial markets for a second day. Businesses and homes along New Jersey’s shore were wrecked and communities were submerged under floodwater across a large area.

More than 8 million homes and businesses in several states were without electricity as trees toppled by Sandy’s fierce winds took down power lines. Across the region, crews began the monumental task of getting power back on. The storm reached as far inland as Ohio and caused thousands of flight cancellations. Cellphone outages also were widespread.

 

 

Parts of West Virginia were buried under 3 feet (1 meter) of drifting snow from the storm. Some East Coast cities like Washington, Philadelphia and Boston were spared the worst effects from Sandy and appeared ready to return to normal by Wednesday. But New York City, large parts of New Jersey and some other areas will need at least several days to get back on their feet.

 

 

 

 

"The devastation is unthinkable," New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said after seeing pictures of the New Jersey shore. The storm interrupted the US presidential campaign just a week before the November 6 election. The damage it caused raised questions about whether polling places in some hard-hit communities would be ready to open by next Tuesday.

Seeking to show he was staying on top of a storm situation that affected a densely populated region, the White House said President Barack Obama planned to tour damaged areas of New Jersey on Wednesday accompanied by Christie. The New Jersey governor, who has been a strong supporter of Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney, praised Obama and the federal response to the storm. "New Jersey, New York in particular have been pounded by this storm. Connecticut has taken a big hit," Obama said during a visit to Red Cross headquarters in Washington.

Obama issued federal emergency decrees for New York and New Jersey, declaring that "major disasters" existed in both states. Power outages darkened large parts of downtown Manhattan. A large blaze destroyed more than 80 homes in New York City’s borough of Queens, where flooding hampered firefighting efforts.

 

"To describe it as looking like pictures we’ve seen of the end of World War Two is not overstating it. The area was completely leveled. Chimneys and foundations were all that was left of many of these homes," New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said after touring the area. Neighborhoods along the East and Hudson rivers in Manhattan were underwater, as were low-lying streets in Battery Park near Ground Zero, where the World Trade Center once stood. Lower Manhattan could be without power for four days.

One disaster modeling company said on Tuesday that Sandy may have caused up to $15 billion in insured losses. That would make it the third-costliest hurricane on record, behind hurricanes Katrina, which laid waste to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast in 2005, and Andrew, which devastated parts of Florida in 1992. That figure did not take into account residential flood losses or flooding of tunnels and subways, meaning ultimate insurance claims could rise higher still.