Over a dozen dead, over 6 million without power as Sandy pummels the East Coast

[Geee]

Fox News:

Monster Storm Sandy slammed into the East Coast Monday, killing at least 16 people, hurling a record-breaking 13-foot surge of seawater at New York City and knocking out power to an estimated 6.2 million people.

The massive storm was downgraded from a hurricane after it barged ashore in southern New Jersey, bringing more than 85-mph winds and a roiling wall of seawater as it moved through New York City. It sent water surging into two major commuter tunnels and into subway stations and tracks. It was unclear how much water had come in.

The 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.

The power was out for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers and an estimated 6.2 million people altogether across the East, with the full extent of the storm's damage across the region unclear and unlikely to be known until daybreak.

[Geee]

Sandy slams into Northeast; at least 16 dead, 7.4M without power

 

NEW YORK (AP) — As Superstorm Sandy marched slowly inland, millions along the East Coast awoke Tuesday without power or mass transit, with huge swaths of the nation’s largest city unusually vacant and dark.

New York was among the hardest hit, with its financial heart in Lower Manhattan shuttered for a second day and seawater cascading into the still-gaping construction pit at the World Trade Center. President Barack Obama declared a major disaster in the city and Long Island.

The storm that made landfall in New Jersey on Monday evening with 80 mph sustained winds killed at least 16 people in seven states, cut power to more than 7.4 million homes and businesses from the Carolinas to Ohio, caused scares at two nuclear power plants and stopped the presidential campaign cold.

The massive storm reached well into the Midwest: Chicago officials warned residents to stay away from the Lake Michigan shore as the city prepares for winds of up to 60 mph and waves exceeding 24 feet well into Wednesday.

“This will be one for the record books,” said John Miksad, senior vice president for electric operations at Consolidated Edison, which had more than 670,000 customers without power in and around New York City.

 

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/oct/29/east-coast-grinds-halt-superstorm-nears/

[Geee]

Sandy Slams into Boarded-Up N.J. Coast, Flooding NYC Commuter Tunnels

 

Atlantic City (AP) – Superstorm Sandy slammed into the New Jersey coastline with 80 mph winds Monday night and hurled an unprecedented 13-foot surge of seawater at New York City, flooding its tunnels, subway stations and the electrical system that powers Wall Street. At least 10 U.S. deaths were blamed on the storm, which brought the presidential campaign to a halt a week before Election Day.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that the worst of the rain had passed for the city, and that the high tide that sent water sloshing into Manhattan from three sides was receding.

Still, the power was out for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers and more than 3 million people altogether across the East, and the full extent of the storm's damage across the region was unlikely to be known until daybreak.

In addition, heavy rain and further flooding remain major threats over the next couple of days as the slow-moving storm makes its way into Pennsylvania and up into New York State.

By late night, the center of the storm was over southern New Jersey. Just before it reached land, forecasters stripped it of hurricane status, but the distinction was purely technical, based on its shape and internal temperature. It still packed hurricane-force wind, and forecasters were careful to say it remained every bit as dangerous to the tens of millions still in its path.

 

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/sandy-slams-boarded-nj-coast-flooding-nyc-commuter-tunnels

[Geee]

SUPERSTORM SANDY HITS CHICAGO LAKESHORE

 

 

The massive storm that is pounding the east coast has moved inland--and its effects were already felt late Monday night on the far shore of Lake Michigan. North winds began blowing down the lakefront, bringing massive waves to the Chicago shoreline.

 

Wave heights reached as high as 8-10 feet near shore, and were forecast to reachas high as 17 feet overnight. Waves are expected to build to 19 to 21 feet on Tuesday and subside slightly to 13 feet on Wednesday.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/10/29/Mega-Storm-Begins-to-Descend-on-Chicago-Lake-Shore

[Valin]

Nature and Nature’s God

Walter Russell Mead

10/29/12

 

While the lights went out across Manhattan tonight, and the city that calls itself the capital of the world was cut off from the mainland as flood waters thundered through its streets, many people around the world watched the spectacle and were reminded just how fragile the busy world we humans build around us really is.

 

(Snip)

 

Into this busy, self involved world Hurricane Sandy has burst. Sharks have been photographed (or at least photo shopped) swimming in the streets of New Jersey towns; waves sweep across the Lower East Side; transformers explode on both sides of the Hudson as salt water surges into the tunnels and subways. For a little while at least, New Yorkers are reminded that we live in a world shaped by forces that are bigger than we are; tonight it is easy to identify with the sentiments in John Milton’s paraphrase of Psalm 114:

 

Shake earth, and at the presence be aghast

Of him that ever was, and aye shall last,

That glassy floods from rugged rocks can crush,

And make soft rills from the fiery flint-stones gush.

(Snip)

 

But events like this don’t come out of nowhere. Sandy isn’t an irruption of abnormality into a sane and sensible world; it is a reminder of what the world really is like. Human beings want to build lives that exclude what we can’t control — but we can’t.

 

(Snip)

 

Coming to terms with that reality is the most important thing that any of us can do. A storm like this one is an opportunity to do exactly that. It reminds us that what we like to call ‘normal life’ is fragile and must someday break apart. If we are wise, we will take advantage of this smaller, passing storm to think seriously about the greater storm that is coming for us all.

 

(Snip)

[Ghost]

It seems New England was relatively unscathed. Well according to the dozen or so friends I have in Mass, Conn, RI, Maine and New Hampshire. Glad for that. No contact with those in WV however where I am guess the power outages accompany being buried in snow. Here in NE Ohio there is mixed reporting on damage. Lots of power outages and in my short drive just now noted many trees down.

 

Excessive flooding in Cuyahoga Valley n along Lake Erie. I have on large tree down in back n as is is wholly in my yard and not on buildings, I will ignore it. Big pine. Not good for fireplace