16 dead as Sandy becomes superstorm

Oct 30 2012

At least 16 deaths were reported as Superstorm Sandy slammed into the New Jersey coastline with 80mph winds and hurled a record-breaking 13ft surge of seawater at New York City, flooding tunnels, highways, subway stations and the electrical system that powers Wall Street.

Sandy knocked out power to at least 6.2 million people across the eastern US, and New York's main utility company said large sections of lower Manhattan had been plunged into darkness by the storm.

The superstorm also forced President Barack Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney to cancel campaign events in the key battleground states, punching holes in both campaigns' carefully mapped out strategies to make their closing arguments to voters with only a week left before the November election.

Just before its centre reached land, Sandy was stripped of its hurricane status, but the distinction was purely technical, based on its shape and internal temperature. It still packed hurricane-force winds, and forecasters were careful to say it remained every bit as dangerous to the 50 million people in its path.

The full extent of the storm's damage across the region was unclear, and unlikely to become known until daybreak. Heavy rain and further flooding remain major threats over the next couple of days as the storm makes its way into Pennsylvania and up into New York State. At around midnight, the centre of the storm was just outside Philadelphia, and its winds were down to 75mph, barely hurricane strength.

"We knew that this was going to be a very dangerous storm, and the storm has met our expectations," New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. "This is a once-in-a-long-time storm."

The New York Stock Exchange will be closed again on Tuesday - the first time it has been shut for two consecutive days due to weather since 1888, when a blizzard struck the city.

Sixteen 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. Police in Toronto said a woman was killed by a falling sign as high winds closed in on Canada's largest city.

Storm damage was projected at 10 billion US dollars (£6.23bn) to 20 billion US dollars (£12.46bn), meaning it could prove to be one of the costliest natural disasters in US history.

At the White House, the President made a direct appeal to those in harm's way: "Please listen to what your state and local officials are saying. When they tell you to evacuate, you need to evacuate. Don't delay, don't pause, don't question the instructions that are being given, because this is a powerful storm."