Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




SHAKE AND BLOW
Sandy's wrath lingers in battered US northeast
by Staff Writers
New York (AFP) Nov 02, 2012


A grim routine set in Friday as superstorm Sandy's US victims struggled to adjust to gas lines, power outages and temporary housing while the death toll from the monster cyclone approached 100.

New York's famed subway lurched back to life with limited service Thursday, offering some relief from the storm-battered city's gridlock, but East Coast residents faced long lines at filling stations and lingering blackouts.

At least 92 people have now been reported dead across the 15 states hit by Monday night's unprecedented storm, including 40 in New York City, while some economists have estimated the disaster will cost up to $50 billion.

More bodies are being found as police and firefighters continue "their lifesaving mission, going block-by-block and door-to-door in the areas devastated by the hurricane," New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Thursday.

With about 650,000 people still without power in New York, Bloomberg said the city would start handing out food and water, while National Guard officers and police would go into high-rise buildings to help the elderly.

The Con Edison power company said some New Yorkers would have to wait until November 11 before electricity is restored, and the National Guard was still rescuing people trapped in flooded homes in nearby Hoboken, New Jersey.

The floodwaters receded slowly, leaving scenes of desolation. A yacht, thrown up by the storm, blocked one street near the Hoboken ferry terminal.

The Harman family on Thursday was bailing out the flooded garage they had used as a storage space. Already, they had filled a dumpster with ruined belongings, and a new pile -- children's toys, furniture and household equipment -- gathered on the sidewalk.

Christine Harman, a 43-year-old lawyer, said Hoboken residents were trying to keep their spirits up despite the lack of heat, power and in some apartments, water.

"We're sticking together. In our building we had a party last night. We had a grill on the roof and we cooked the meat that was going to go bad and drank the beer that was going to go off," she told AFP.

New Jersey, which President Barack Obama visited on Wednesday, saw the most widespread destruction, with entire communities along the coast flooded and some 1.8 million people still without power days after the storm.

Obama and Republican White House challenger Mitt Romney resumed full campaigning on Thursday five days out from a nailbiter election, although the tone of their attacks was more muted in the aftermath of the tragedy.

As he launched an ambitious swing through four vital battleground states, Obama took the time to call the governors of worst-hit states New York, New Jersey and Connecticut from aboard Air Force One, the White House said.

Meanwhile, the first subway trains brought some cheer to New York City.

A skeleton service started just before dawn and trains were quickly packed. Train rides were to be free on Thursday and Friday. "It is not comfortable, but it is a huge relief to get moving again," said commuter Dave Stetman.

In a bid to avoid traffic gridlock, Bloomberg said that until Friday cars entering Manhattan must carry at least three people. Police set up checkpoints at bridges and turned back hundreds of vehicles.

Some heartbreaking stories have emerged from the storm.

Two brothers, aged two and four, were swept from their mother's arms in the floods as the family tried to escape the rising seas in the New York City borough of Staten Island.

Glenda Moore's car became stuck in the water, and she was carrying the boys to seek help when they were swept away, the New York Post said. The boys, Connor aged four and Brandon aged two, were later found dead.

Many victims were electrocuted or drowned in flooded basements, while others died from poisoning from the fumes given off by diesel generators put into use since the storm.

The Shell oil company was meanwhile working to clean up a diesel spill off the coast of New York City estimated at up to 300,000 gallons (1.1 million liters), according to the company and the US Coast Guard.

New York police said 28 people had been detained for looting in the Coney Island and Rockaway Beach districts.

Hurricane Sandy brought devastation throughout the Caribbean, hitting Haiti and Cuba especially hard before slamming into the United States and Canada. The overall death toll is now at least 163.

On Thursday the Coast Guard called off the search for the missing captain of a replica of the 18th-century HMS Bounty merchant vessel, which went down in high seas off the Carolinas in the opening hours of the storm's onslaught.

.


Related Links
Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters
When the Earth Quakes
A world of storm and tempest






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








SHAKE AND BLOW
For New York rats, a question of sink or swim
New York (AFP) Oct 31, 2012
As Hurricane Sandy pushed floodwater through New York's streets and into its subways, many wondered how the city's infamous rat population would fare - sink or swim? For some, the deluge that accompanied Sandy raised fears of a "ratpocalypse," with the city's least glamourous residents crawling in their thousands up out of their subterranean habitats and into the streets. Others pondere ... read more


SHAKE AND BLOW
Study: Moon basin formed by giant impact

NASA's LADEE Spacecraft Gets Final Science Instrument Installed

Astrium presents results of its study into automatic landing near the Moon's south pole

European mission to search for moon water

SHAKE AND BLOW
Survey Of Matijevic Hill Continues

Preliminary Self-Portrait of Curiosity by Rover's Arm Camera

Nereidum Montes helps unlock Mars' glacial past

Curiosity's Tastes of Martian Soil Offer Insights on Mineral Composition

SHAKE AND BLOW
Voyager observes magnetic field fluctuations in heliosheath

New NASA Online Science Resource Available for Educators and Students

'First' Pakistan astronaut wants to make peace in space

Space daredevil Baumgartner is 'officially retired'

SHAKE AND BLOW
China to launch 11 meteorological satellites by 2020

China makes progress in spaceflight research

Patience for Tiangong

China launches civilian technology satellites

SHAKE AND BLOW
Crew Prepares for Spacewalk After Progress Docks

Crew Preparing for Cargo Ship, Spacewalk

Russian cargo ship docks with ISS: official

Packed Week Ahead for Six-Member Crew

SHAKE AND BLOW
Globalstar Birds To Launch On Soyuz Next February

Ariane 5s are readied in parallel for Arianespace's next heavy-lift flights

Japan Plans to Launch New Carrier Rocket in 2013

EUTELSAT 21B and Star One C3 Set For Ariane 5 November Launch

SHAKE AND BLOW
Physicists confirm first planet discovered in a quadruple star system

Planet-hunt data released to public

New Study Brings a Doubted Exoplanet 'Back from the Dead'

New small satellite will study super-Earths for ESA

SHAKE AND BLOW
Android smartphone shipments boom: industry tracker

Samsung sells 3 mn Galaxy Note II smartphones since debut

Apple iPad mini makes low key debut

Spaceflight Completes Secondary Payload System Preliminary Design Review With Hardware Fabrication Underway




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement