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The time to prepare for Hurricane Sandy is "about over," FEMA warns
In this handout satellite image provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Hurricane Sandy, pictured Sunday evening, churns off the east coast on October 28, 2012, in the Atlantic Ocean. / NASA via Getty Images
Updated 12:03 a.m. ET on Monday
NEW YORK 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."
People from coastal towns escaping the storm
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. It could wreak havoc all the way into the Great Lakes Region.
Airlines canceled more than 7,200 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.
Sandy, a Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph as of Sunday evening, was blamed for 65 deaths in the Caribbean before it began churning up the Eastern Seaboard. As of 11 p.m., it was centered about 470 miles southeast of New York City, moving at 14 mph, with hurricane-force winds extending an incredible 175 miles from its center.
It was expected to hook left toward the Mid-Atlantic coast and come ashore late Monday or early Tuesday, most likely in New Jersey, colliding with a wintry storm moving in from the west and cold air streaming down from the Arctic.
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Forecasters said the combination could bring close to a foot of rain, 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.
As rain from the leading edges of the monster hurricane began to fall over the Northeast, hundreds of thousands of people from Maryland to Connecticut were ordered to evacuate low-lying coastal areas Sunday, including 375,000 in lower Manhattan and other parts of New York City, 50,000 in Delaware and 30,000 in Atlantic City, N.J., where the city's 12 casinos were forced to shut down for only the fourth time ever.
"We were told to get the heck out. I was going to stay, but it's better to be safe than sorry," said Hugh Phillips, who was one of the first in line when a Red Cross shelter in Lewes, Del., opened at noon.
However, CBS News correspondent Chip Reid reports some, like Ocean City, Md., surfer Brian Dean, said they have decided to stay.
"We've got everything pretty well situated, bunkered down, generators, [we'll] hang out, ride it out. We rode out Irene last year, it wasn't that bad," he said.
U.S. prepares for Hurricane Sandy
"I think this one's going to do us in," said Mark Palazzolo, who boarded up his bait-and-tackle shop in Point Pleasant Beach, N.J., with the same wood he used in past storms, crossing out the names of Hurricanes Isaac and Irene and spray-painting "Sandy" next to them. "I got a call from a friend of mine from Florida last night who said, `Mark, get out! If it's not the storm, it'll be the aftermath. People are going to be fighting in the streets over gasoline and food."'
Authorities warned that the nation's biggest city could get hit with a surge of seawater that could swamp parts of lower Manhattan, flood subway tunnels and cripple the network of electrical and communications lines that are vital to the nation's financial center.
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Louis Uccellini, environmental prediction chief for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told The Associated Press that given Sandy's east-to-west track into New Jersey, the worst of the storm surge could be just to the north, in New York City, on Long Island and in northern New Jersey.
Forecasters said that because of giant waves and high tides made worse by a full moon, the metropolitan area of about 20 million people could get hit with an 11-foot wall of water. CBS News correspondent Chip Reid reports from Ocean City, Md. that sea level could rise 8 feet above normal - enough to flood much of the city.
"This is the worst-case scenario," Uccellini said.
The Department of Defense says there are approximately 1,500 National Guard forces on state active duty supporting the governors of New York, Massachusetts, Virginia, New Jersey, Delaware, Connecticut and Maryland. These forces are available to provide assistance to local first responders and FEMA. Additionally, more than 61,100 National Guard members are available to assist civilian authorities in potentially affected states in support of relief efforts.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg warned: "If you don't evacuate, you are not only endangering your life, you are also endangering the lives of the first responders who are going in to rescue you. This is a serious and dangerous storm."
New Jersey's famously blunt Gov. Chris Christie was less polite: "Don't be stupid. Get out."
New York called off school Monday for the city's 1.1 million students and announced it would suspend all train, bus and subway service Sunday night. More than 5 million riders a day depend on the transit system.
The New York Stock Exchange announced it will shut down its trading floor Monday but continue to trade electronically.
Officials also postponed Monday's reopening of the Statue of Liberty, which had been closed for a year for $30 million in renovations.
Obama warns Americans to take Hurricane Sandy seriously
In Washington, President Barack Obama promised the government would "respond big and respond fast" after the storm hits.
"My message to the governors as well as to the mayors is anything they need, we will be there, and we will cut through red tape. We are not going to get bogged down with a lot of rules," he said.
He also pleaded for neighborliness: "In times like this, one of the things that Americans do is we pull together and we help out one another And so, there may be elderly populations in your area. Check on your neighbor, check on your friend. Make sure that they are prepared. If we do, then we're going to get through this storm just fine."
The storm forced the president and Mitt Romney to rearrange their campaign schedules in the crucial closing days of the presidential race. And early voting on Monday in Maryland was canceled.
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http://crooksandliars.com/karoli/frankenstorm-bears-down-remember-what-mitt-
You are asking the wrong question. Ask yourself instead, why is the moon fully lit during the full moon? Answer: because the Sun, Earth, and Moon are all aligned. They are also aligned during a New Moon. During these times, the gravitational effects of the Sun and Moon reinforce each other to cause higher tides.
will find life hard in a 28 foot trailor. ESPN, ESPN2 ESPNU have informed cable companies in tennessee they may lose their feed.
I believe shutting down the stock market, cancelling 17,000 air flights, shutting down amtrak, stopping the subway and closing the tunnels indicate someone is taking this serious. I pray for all, I did disaster relief in tennessee for victims of Katrina and have family in Ocean Springs, Biloxi, and Gulfport. All were affected, not just those who lost everything. Remember, thousands
died in Katrina and this area has 10 times the population.
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sounds a bit dramatic.
if it's not the storm ... it'll be the hype ... and the overreaction it creates that leads to any so called 'fighting'.
Why must every single thing be ratcheted up to the most Hollywood scale apocalypse? Just one more reason to not take our 'news' seriously.