As Hurricane Sandy stayed on track to barrel the East Coast, states
of emergency were declared from North Carolina to Connecticut, with
residents being evacuated, schools and transit systems shut and food and
supplies flying off store shelves in a sure sign people were preparing
for the worst.
Sandy, a Category 1 hurricane with sustained winds of 75 mph as of
Sunday evening, was blamed for 65 deaths in the Caribbean before it
began traveling northward, parallel to the Eastern Seaboard. As of 8
p.m., it was centered about 485 miles southeast of New York City, moving
at 15 mph, with hurricane-force winds extending an incredible 175 miles
from its center.
The Hurricane is on path to meet a winter storm and a cold front,
plus high tides from a full moon, and experts said the rare hybrid storm
that results could cause havoc through 800 miles from the East Coast to
the Great Lakes.
Forecasters said the combination could bring close to a foot of rain
in places, a potentially lethal storm surge of 4 to 11 feet across much
of the region, and punishing winds that could cause widespread power
outages that last for days. The storm could also dump up to 2 feet of
snow in Kentucky, North Carolina and West Virginia.
From Washington to Boston, big cities and small towns Sunday buttoned
up against the onslaught of a superstorm that could endanger 50 million
people in the most heavily populated corridor in the nation, with
forecasters warning that the New York area could get the worst of it --
an 11-foot wall of water.
"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
Airlines canceled more than 5,000 flights and Amtrak began suspending
train service across the Northeast. New York, Philadelphia, Washington
and Baltimore moved to shut down their subways, buses and trains and
said schools would be closed on Monday. Boston also called off school.
And all non-essential government offices closed in the nation's capital.
Officials raised the storm-related death toll across the Caribbean to
65, with 51 of those coming in Haiti, which was pelted by three days of
constant rains that ended only on Friday.
In upstate New York in Syracuse, shelves normally stocked with water at a Wegmans store were bare, 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.
In New York City, where residents were also packing stores to buy
storm-related supplies, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that the city will
suspend its bus, subway and commuter rail service Sunday at 7 p.m. in
anticipation of the storm. New Jersey's PATH train service, which
ferries passengers between New York City and New Jersey, announced that
it would close starting Monday until further notice. Bridges and tunnels
would be closed on a case by case basis, and the New York Stock
Exchange floor will be closed, but trading will resume electronically.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered the closure of all city
public schools for Monday and mandatory evacuations of all low-lying
areas. He urged residents in lower Manhattan to call 311 or visit the
city's website for information on evacuation zones. About 1,100 National
Guard troops will be deployed to the area, including 400 on Long Island
and 200 in New York City, for assistance.
“You don’t want to be over panicked and overly prepared, but you want to be prudent and do what’s necessary," Cuomo said.
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 warning from other officials to anyone who might be affected in
the storm's path was simple: Be prepared and get out of the way. The
storm is expected to bring a few days of rain, high winds and possibly
heavy snow.
"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.
The danger was 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.
States of emergency were declared from North Carolina, where gusty
winds whipped steady rain on Sunday morning, to Connecticut. Delaware
ordered mandatory evacuations for coastal communities by 8 p.m. Sunday.
"You never want to be too naive, but ultimately, it's not in our
hands anyway," said Andrew Ferencsik, 31, as he purchased plywood and
2-by-4 lumber from a Home Depot in Lewes, Del.
In North Carolina's Outer Banks, there was some scattered, minor
flooding at daybreak Sunday on the beach road in Nags Head. The bad
weather could pick up there later in the day, with the major concerns
being rising tides and pounding waves.
The town of Ocean City, Md., has ordered an evacuation of downtown
residents by 8 p.m. Sunday as Sandy heads for the Delmarva Peninsula. A
voluntary evacuation order has been issued for residents and occupants
of known low-lying areas. The town says severe flooding is expected.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie broke off campaigning for Republican
presidential nominee Mitt Romney in North Carolina on Friday to return
home.
"I can be as cynical as anyone," said Christie, who declared a state
of emergency Saturday. "But when the storm comes, if it's as bad as
they're predicting, you're going to wish you weren't as cynical as you
otherwise might have been."
Christie's emergency declaration will force the shutdown of Atlantic
City's 12 casinos for only the fourth time in the 34-year history of
legalized gambling here. City officials said they would begin evacuating
the gambling hub's 30,000 residents at noon Sunday, busing them to
mainland shelters and schools. Christie also ordered evacuations for
communities along the Jersey Shore and encouraged schools to close
Monday.
Philadelphia's transit agency has announced that it will suspend all services at the end of Sunday.
In Nassau County on Long Island, County Executive Edward P. Mangano said three public shelters will be opened at 1 p.m.
In neighboring Suffolk County, a mandatory evacuation of Fire Island was ordered, with all parks to close at 6 p.m.
The Virginia National Guard was 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.
In Arlington, just outside Washington, D.C., a few shoppers strolled
in and outside a Giant supermarket. Cathy Davis, 40, said the
supermarket was sold out of the water she wanted to purchase, but she
wasn't doing much else to prepare. She figured she would bring her
outdoor furniture inside later in the day, and might make some chili.
She said the storm did lead her to decide against decorating for Halloween.
"I was like, 'eh, it will just be blown away anyway,'" she said. "What's the point?"
Amtrak said in a news release Sunday that it was canceling all
service north of New York at 7 p.m. Nearly all service across the
Eastern Seaboard will be canceled starting Monday
Airlines canceled more than 3,000 flights as of Sunday morning, with
hubs along the East Coast bearing the brunt of the disruptions.
According to the flight-tracking service FlightAware, 707 flights have
been canceled Sunday, with more than 265 cancellations at Newark
Airport. For Monday, 2,499 flights are canceled, with 774 cancellations
at Newark, followed by 428 at Dulles in Washington and 355 cancellations
at Philadelphia.
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.
The storm also forced the presidential campaign to juggle schedules.
Romney scrapped plans to campaign Sunday in Virginia and switched his
schedule for the day to Ohio. First lady Michelle Obama canceled an
appearance in New Hampshire for Tuesday, and Obama moved a planned
Monday departure for Florida to Sunday night to beat the storm. He also
canceled appearances in Northern Virginia on Monday and Colorado on
Tuesday.
Former sailor Ray Leonard, 85, had a bit of advice for those in the
path of the storm. Leonard and two crewmates in his 32-foot sailboat,
Satori, rode out 1991's infamous "perfect storm," made famous by the
Sebastian Junger best-selling book of the same name, before being
plucked from the Atlantic off Martha's Vineyard, Mass., by a Coast Guard
helicopter.
"Don't be rash," Leonard said Saturday from his home in Fort Myers,
Fla. "Because if this does hit, you're going to lose all those little
things you've spent the last 20 years feeling good about."
