This Article is From Oct 30, 2012

Superstorm Sandy claims 17 lives, power out for millions in US: 10 latest developments

New York: The US east coast awakened Tuesday to a flooded subway system, shuttered financial markets and hundreds of thousands of people without power a day after a wall of seawater and high winds slammed into the city, destroying buildings and flooding tunnels.

Here are the 10 latest developments in the story:

  1. The storm that made landfall in New Jersey on Monday evening with 80 mph sustained winds killed at least 17 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.

  2. Scenes of the damage were everywhere in New York City. About 670,000 homes and businesses were without power. At least 50 flooded homes in Queens caught fire and were destroyed. A hospital removed patients on stretchers and 20 babies from neonatal intensive care, some on respirators operating on battery power. At least five people were killed in the city, most by falling trees.

  3. New York has shut all three of its airports and over 12000 flights have been grounded. Tens of thousands of stranded fliers are waiting out the storm. Subways, schools, stock exchanges, Broadway theaters and several bridges and tunnels were also closed as the weather worsened.

  4. On Tuesday, the New York Stock Exchange was to be closed again - the first time it's been closed for two consecutive days due to weather since 1888, when a blizzard struck the city. Monday's was the first unscheduled closure since 9/11 and the first weather-related closure in 27 years.

  5. 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.

  6. Authorities launched an effort to evacuate about 800 people in the town of Moonachie in northern New Jersey early Tuesday after a berm overflowed, authorities said.

  7. Parts of two nuclear power plants were shut down late on Monday and early Tuesday, while another plant - the nation's oldest - New Jersey's Oyster Creek was put on alert after waters from Superstorm Sandy rose 6 feet above sea level.

  8. As Hurricane Sandy closed in on the Northeast, it converged with a cold-weather system that turned it into a monstrous hybrid of rain and high wind - and even snow in West Virginia and other mountainous areas inland.

  9. The storm damage is projected at $10 billion to $20 billion, meaning it could prove to be one of the costliest natural disasters in US history, AFP reports.

  10. President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney have suspended their campaigning for the November 6 Presidential elections.  President Obama cancelled a campaign event in Florida on Monday in order to return to Washington and monitor the US government's response to the storm.



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