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SHAKE AND BLOW
Deadly cyclone Sandy crashes into US East Coast
by Staff Writers
New York (AFP) Oct 29, 2012


Key developments surrounding Hurricane Sandy
Washington (AFP) Oct 30, 2012 - Here were the key developments as Sandy, a monster storm of unprecedented size, barrelled into the US East Coast:

- At least 12 people are killed across six US states in storm-related incidents as Sandy comes crashing ashore. A 13th fatality is confirmed in Canada

- The center of Sandy makes landfall along the coast of southern New Jersey near Atlantic City at around 0000 GMT Tuesday

- Shortly before landfall, the superstorm technically becomes Post-Tropical Cyclone Sandy as it collides with a cold front coming down from Canada

- The storm retains hurricane strength with maximum sustained winds of up to 80 miles per hour (130 kilometers per hour) as record storm surges flood Lower Manhattan and power outages plunge much of New York into darkness

- Seawater bursts the banks of the East and Hudson rivers, submerging road and subway tunnels

- New York University hospital has to move patients to other hospitals after it loses power and a back-up generator

- Heavy snow is reported in parts of West Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina as Sandy merges with the descending cold front from Canada

- Cities along the coast from Boston and New York down to Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington are expected to remain partially paralyzed on Tuesday as Sandy halts transport services and schools remain shuttered

- A replica of the HMS Bounty that starred in Hollywood movies sinks in towering waves off North Carolina. The Coast Guard rescues 14 crew in a dramatic helicopter rescue but one woman dies and the captain is still missing

- State-by-state tallies by US media show some six million American households without power

- Coastal areas of Maryland, Delaware, Massachusetts and Long Island, New York see widespread flooding as television pictures show wooden boats carrying stranded residents to safety

- The New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq, the world's biggest financial markets, suspend trading for a weather event for the first time since Hurricane Gloria in 1985

- President Barack Obama cuts short election campaigning in Florida and rushes back to Washington to manage storm response

- Obama addresses the nation, warning Americans up and down the Eastern Seaboard that Sandy could cause fatalities and urging residents to heed advice from local authorities

- Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney cancels all campaign events on Monday and Tuesday as pundits ponder how the storm will influence the White House race just a week before election day

- Thousands of flights are cancelled at airports in major cities up and down the coast, causing widespread travel chaos just before Halloween

- Disaster estimator Eqecat says damage from Sandy could hit as much as $20 billion

Monster storm Sandy swept a wall of churning sea water and driving rain onto the eastern United States on Monday, flooding the heart of downtown New York and leaving at least 13 dead.

Seawater coursed between the iconic skyscrapers of New York's financial district in lower Manhattan, flooding subways and road tunnels and shorting out the power grid, plunging hundreds of thousands into darkness.

Further south, vast swathes of the eastern seaboard found themselves under water and on inland mountains Sandy's rain-heavy clouds had merged with a cold weather front to dump tons of snow on higher ground.

The catastrophe completely overshadowed the US election race, forcing a halt to campaigning just eight days before Americans are due to go to the polls to choose between President Barack Obama and challenger Mitt Romney.

Hurricane Sandy had killed 67 people as it tore through the Caribbean, and reports of more deaths began to arrive after it made landfall at 8:00 pm (0000 GMT) in New Jersey and began to wreak havoc in the United States.

Local officials in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia and North Carolina reported 13 dead in storm related incidents, and Toronto police said a Canadian woman was killed by flying debris.

Authorities warned the threat to life and property was "unprecedented" and ordered hundreds of thousands of residents in areas from New England to North Carolina to evacuate their homes and seek shelter.

The National Hurricane Center said wind speeds inside Sandy dropped as the storm became a post-tropical cyclone, but remained hurricane-force at 75 miles per hour (120 kmph) after making landfall near casino resort Atlantic City.

Falling trees dragged down power cables, plunging millions of homes into darkness as night fell, while storm warnings cut rail links and marooned tens of thousands of travelers at airports across the region.

A nuclear power plant in New Jersey declared an alert as waters rose.

The Oyster Creek nuclear power plant, just north of Atlantic City, was already on a scheduled outage as Sandy made landfall, and the industry regulator said there was no immediate danger.

"Water level is rising in the intake structure due to a combination of a rising tide, wind direction and storm surge," the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said, adding that inspectors were working with the firm to ensure safety.

"Hurricane-force winds are expected to gradually spread across southern New England and mid-Atlantic states from Connecticut southwards to New Jersey and Delaware," the National Hurricane Center warned.

"The combination of an extremely dangerous storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters."

Barometric pressure in the heart of the storm dropped to only 940 millibars, on course to break records for low pressure in the region.

"The most important message to the public I have right now is: 'please listen to what your state and local officials are saying.' When they tell you to evacuate, you need to evacuate," Obama said.

Disaster estimating firm Eqecat forecast that Sandy would affect more than 60 million Americans, a fifth of the population, and cause up to $20 billion (15 billion euros) in damage.

Refineries closed and major arteries such New York's Holland Tunnel were shut to traffic. The operator of two major New Jersey nuclear plants said they might have to be closed, threatening half the state's power supply.

The New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and the futures markets in Chicago were closed for Monday and Tuesday, along with federal government offices and the entire Amtrak rail network on the eastern seaboard.

"The election will take care of itself next week," Obama said. "Right now, our number one priority is to make sure that we are saving lives... and that we respond as quickly as possible to get the economy back on track."

Both the Democratic incumbent and his Republican rival Romney were keen to display resolute leadership in the face of the storm, given the memory of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Romney also canceled some appearances.

Former president George W. Bush was widely seen as having bungled the handling of Katrina, which devastated New Orleans. The failure of authorities in the ensuing emergency response tainted the rest of his presidency.

Obama has signed emergency declarations to free up federal disaster funds for New York state, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, the District of Columbia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.

burs-dc/jk

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Related Links
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SHAKE AND BLOW
Sri Lanka escapes cyclone, coastal residents return
Colombo (AFP) Oct 30, 2012
Sri Lanka lifted an evacuation order as a cyclone heading towards the island changed course early on Tuesday and headed towards neighbouring India, the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said. Thousands of people living within 500 metres (550 yards) from the coast were asked to move inland, but instead of making landfall the cyclone changed direction towards the south Indian coast of Tamil Nad ... read more


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