As Superstorm Sandy turned into reality from a scare, millions along the US East Coast awoke on Tuesday without power or mass transit, and huge swaths of New York City were unusually dark and abandoned. At least 17 people were killed in seven states.
The storm that made landfall in New Jersey on Monday evening with 80 mph (130 kph) sustained winds cut power to more than 6 million homes and businesses from the Carolinas to Ohio and put the presidential campaign on hold one week before Election Day.
New York was among the hardest hit, with its financial heart closed for a second day and seawater cascading into the still-gaping construction pit at the World Trade Center. The storm caused the worst damage in the 108-year history of New York’s extensive subway system, according to Joseph Lhota, the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Trading at the New York Stock Exchange was canceled again Tuesday. The first time the exchange suspended operations for two consecutive days due to weather since a blizzard in 1888.
US President Barack Obama declared a major disaster in New York and Long Island, making federal funding available to residents of the area. The damage is ‘almost incalculable,’ New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said as he spoke with TV networks Tuesday morning. New York City’s three major airports remained closed. Overall, more than 13,500 flights had been canceled.
Superstorm Sandy battered the US East Coast on Tuesday with fierce winds and heavy rains, killing at least 17 people, plunging millions into darkness and leaving the New York Stock Exchange shut for two straight days for the first time since 1888, prompting President Barack Obama to declare it a ‘major disaster’.
Sandy, one of the biggest storms ever to hit the US, slammed the coastline of New Jersey where a large number of Indian families reside, with 80 mph winds, pushing seawater up by an unprecedented 13-feet in New York City, bringing the Presidential campaign to a halt a week before the 6 November polls.
Obama, who took a day off from the campaigning on Monday to oversee from the White House the response to the megastorm, declared that megastorm Sandy had sparked a ‘major disaster’ in the states of New York and New Jersey. He ordered release of federal aid for those who lost homes or businesses.
Republican challenger Mitt Romney also cancelled some campaign appearances. Stock trading was closed in the US for a second day on Tuesday the first time the New York Stock Exchange remained closed for two consecutive days due to weather since 1888, when a blizzard struck the city. Storm damage was projected at USD 10 billion to USD 20 billion, meaning it could prove to be one of the costliest natural disasters in US history.
According to CBS News, 16 deaths were reported in New Jersey, New York, Maryland, North Carolina, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. Some of the victims were killed by falling trees. At least one death was blamed on the storm in Canada.
Still, the power was out for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers and an estimated 6.2 million
people altogether across the East.
The storm that made landfall in New Jersey on Monday evening with 80 mph (130 kph) sustained winds cut power to more than 6 million homes and businesses from the Carolinas to Ohio and put the presidential campaign on hold one week before Election Day.
New York was among the hardest hit, with its financial heart closed for a second day and seawater cascading into the still-gaping construction pit at the World Trade Center. The storm caused the worst damage in the 108-year history of New York’s extensive subway system, according to Joseph Lhota, the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Trading at the New York Stock Exchange was canceled again Tuesday. The first time the exchange suspended operations for two consecutive days due to weather since a blizzard in 1888.
US President Barack Obama declared a major disaster in New York and Long Island, making federal funding available to residents of the area. The damage is ‘almost incalculable,’ New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said as he spoke with TV networks Tuesday morning. New York City’s three major airports remained closed. Overall, more than 13,500 flights had been canceled.
Superstorm Sandy battered the US East Coast on Tuesday with fierce winds and heavy rains, killing at least 17 people, plunging millions into darkness and leaving the New York Stock Exchange shut for two straight days for the first time since 1888, prompting President Barack Obama to declare it a ‘major disaster’.
Sandy, one of the biggest storms ever to hit the US, slammed the coastline of New Jersey where a large number of Indian families reside, with 80 mph winds, pushing seawater up by an unprecedented 13-feet in New York City, bringing the Presidential campaign to a halt a week before the 6 November polls.
Obama, who took a day off from the campaigning on Monday to oversee from the White House the response to the megastorm, declared that megastorm Sandy had sparked a ‘major disaster’ in the states of New York and New Jersey. He ordered release of federal aid for those who lost homes or businesses.
Republican challenger Mitt Romney also cancelled some campaign appearances. Stock trading was closed in the US for a second day on Tuesday the first time the New York Stock Exchange remained closed for two consecutive days due to weather since 1888, when a blizzard struck the city. Storm damage was projected at USD 10 billion to USD 20 billion, meaning it could prove to be one of the costliest natural disasters in US history.
According to CBS News, 16 deaths were reported in New Jersey, New York, Maryland, North Carolina, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. Some of the victims were killed by falling trees. At least one death was blamed on the storm in Canada.
Still, the power was out for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers and an estimated 6.2 million
people altogether across the East.