| Story Views | |
| Now: | |
| Last Hour: | |
| Last 24 Hours: | |
| Total: | |
Mass Evacuations As Maryland Gov Says ‘People Will Die In This Storm!’
Frankenstorm hits the east coast
The Eastern Seaboard braced Monday for the full impact of Hurricane Sandy as it barreled toward shore packing 85-mph winds and an 11-foot storm surge that forecasters called “life-threatening.”
The 900-mile wide storm’s front edge sent tide-enhanced surges over boardwalks from Delaware to New York a full 12 hours before Sandy’s eye was to make landfall. Widespread evacuations along the coast were ordered, mass transit was shut down in major metropolitan areas and some 60 million people live in the path of the mega-storm and many likely face power outages in the coming hours and days.
The National Guard was deployed along the densely-populated Atlantic coast, and airports were expected to shut down by Monday afternoon as the weather system experts are calling “Frankenstorm” churned in from the sea. The hurricane is on a collision course with a winter storm and a cold front, and high tides from a full moon make it a rare hybrid storm that could be felt all the way to the Great Lakes.
“[It's a] very intense, very dangerous storm. People will die in this storm,” Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley said Monday. “So folks will need to mind their families, stay home and hunker down.”
Even homes on stilts were threatened by the massive surge, and water was cresting dunes and boardwalks from Delaware’s Rehoboth Beach to Jones Beach in New York.
Forecasters warned that the New York City region could face the worst of the hurricane. As of 9 a.m. Monday, the storm was centered about 300 miles southeast of New York City, moving to the north at 14 mph, with hurricane-force winds extending an incredible 175 miles from its center. The National Hurricane Center said early Monday the storm has intensified, with top sustained winds of 85 mph and higher gusts. Sandy has already been blamed for 65 deaths in the Caribbean before it began traveling northward, parallel to the Eastern Seaboard.
“The worst is still coming,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said during a morning press conference.
States of emergency were declared from North Carolina, where gusty winds whipped steady rain on Sunday, to Connecticut. Delaware ordered mandatory evacuations for coastal communities on Sunday, while Ocean City, Md. was also evacuated.
Authorities warned that New York City could be hit with an 11-foot wall of water that has the potential to swamp parts of lower Manhattan, flood subway tunnels and cripple the network of electrical and communications lines that are vital to the nation’s financial center.
Tens of thousands of people were ordered to evacuate in anticipation of the storm, including 375,000 in lower Manhattan and other parts of New York City. At least 50,000 were ordered to evacuate in Delaware alone and 30,000 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where the city’s 12 casinos were forced to shut down for only the fourth time in the 34-year history of legalized gambling there.
Airlines canceled more than 7,200 flights and Amtrak began suspending passenger train service across the Northeast. New York and Philadelphia shut down their subways, buses and commuter trains Sunday night and announced that schools would be closed on Monday. Boston, Washington and Baltimore also called off school. In Washington and New Jersey, Metrorail and PATH train services were canceled.
“The time for preparing and talking is about over,” Federal Emergency Management Administrator Craig Fugate said as Hurricane Sandy made its way up the Atlantic on a collision course with two other weather systems that could turn it into one of the most fearsome storms on record in the U.S. “People need to be acting now.”
Forecasters said the hurricane could blow ashore Monday night or early Tuesday along the New Jersey coast, then cut across into Pennsylvania and travel up through New York State on Wednesday.
“We’re looking at impact of greater than 50 to 60 million people,” said Louis Uccellini, head of environmental prediction for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
In upstate New York in Syracuse, shelves normally stocked with water at a Wegmans store were bare on Sunday, CNYCentral.com reports.
An assistant manager at a Lowes store in Columbus, Ohio, told 10TV.com that people were calling in from West Virginia and Maryland to ask for supplies, and in northern Virginia, a cashier at Pitkins Ace Hardware in Dale City said batteries, flashlights and candles were flying off the shelves, PotomacLocal.com reports.
The storm even put Lady Liberty on hold.
The Statue of Liberty was scheduled to reopen Sunday to the public after a renovation project, but the monument will be closed Monday and Tuesday as Sandy passes through the area.
The danger of the storm is hardly limited to coastal areas. Forecasters were far more worried about inland flooding from storm surge than they were about winds. Rains could saturate the ground, causing trees to topple into power lines, utility officials said, warning residents to prepare for several days at home without power.
In North Carolina’s Outer Banks, there was some scattered, minor flooding Sunday on the beach road in Nags Head.
The Virginia National Guard was also authorized to call up to 500 troops to active duty for debris removal and road-clearing, while homeowners stacked sandbags at their front doors in coastal towns.
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management says federal offices will be closed Monday and only emergency employees are required to report to work. Non-emergency employees will be granted administrative leave for their scheduled working hours unless they are required to telework or are traveling or on unpaid leave.
President Obama said the storm is “serious and big” and will be “slow moving,” while he was at the headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to get an update on plans for responding to Hurricane Sandy.
The president declared a state of emergency in the nation’s capital as Sandy approaches
The White House said in a news release that the president on Sunday signed the state of emergency declaration, which had been requested by Mayor Vincent Gray. It says federal aid should supplement the city’s response efforts due to the emergency conditions.
The move follows the federal government’s decision to close offices on Monday. The district’s board of elections also announced it was suspending early voting on Monday. It has not been determined whether here will be early voting on Tuesday.
Obama nixed his participation in a campaign rally in Orlando on Monday and flew back to Washington to monitor the storm. The president has instructed his team to make sure that needed federal resources are in place to support state and local recovery efforts. source – FoxNews
2012-10-29 12:00:10
Source:
