Post by shatnerswig on Oct 28, 2012 8:03:02 GMT 10
Residents are urged to prepare for the superstorm as Hurricane Sandy approaches the Eastern Seaboard. Heavy rain, strong winds and now up to 2 feet of snow are in the forecast.
HATTERAS ISLAND, N.C. - Hurricane Sandy closed in on the United States on Saturday, where it threatens to hit the eastern third of the country with torrential rains, high winds, major flooding and power outages a week before U.S. presidential and congressional elections.
The late-season storm has been dubbed "Frankenstorm" by some weather watchers because it will combine elements of a tropical cyclone and a winter storm. Forecast says residents can expect up to 2 feet of snow as Sandy reaches the U.S. coast around Halloween.
Hurricane Sandy, upgraded again Saturday just hours after forecasters said it had weakened to a tropical storm, was barreling north from the Caribbean and was expected to make landfall early Tuesday near the Delaware coast, then hit two winter weather systems as it moves inland, creating a hybrid monster storm.
Even if Sandy loses strength and makes landfall as something less than a hurricane, the combined superstorm was expected to bring misery to a huge section of the East. An 800-mile wide swath of the country could see 50 mph winds regardless of Sandy's strength.
Experts said the storm could be wider and stronger than Irene, which caused more than $15 billion in damage, and could rival the worst East Coast storm on record. On Saturday morning, forecasters said hurricane-force winds of 75 mph could be felt 100 miles away from the storm's center
Up and down the coast, people were cautioned to be prepared for days without electricity. Officials urge residents to stock up on food, water and batteries. Several governors, including Connecticut's Dannel Malloy and New Jersey's Chris Christie, declared states of emergency. And airlines said to expect cancellations and waived change fees for passengers who want to reschedule.
Mandatory evacuations were under way in southern New Jersey's barrier islands, which people were ordered to leave by Sunday afternoon, and Christie ordered the evacuations of all Atlantic City casinos and said state parks would close.
"We should not underestimate the impact of this storm and not assume the predictions will be wrong," Christie said during a storm briefing Saturday in North Midletown, near the coast. "We have to be prepared for the worst."
In North Carolina's Outer Banks, light rain was falling Saturday and winds were building up to a predicted 30 to 50 mph. Gov. Beverly Purdue declared a state of emergency for some coastal areas, and a steady stream of campers and other vehicles hauling boats left the low-lying islands for the mainland. Residents feared a temporary bridge built after Irene last year poked a new inlet through the island could be washed out again, severing the only road off Hatteras Island.
In Ship Bottom, N.J., Russ Linke was taking no chances Saturday. He and his wife secured the patio furniture, packed the bicycles into the pickup truck and headed off the island.
"I've been here since 1997, and I never even put my barbecue grill away during a storm, but I am taking this one seriously," he said. "They say it might hit here; that's about as serious as it can get."
After Irene left millions without power, utilities were taking no chances and were lining up extra crews and tree-trimmers. Wind threatened to topple power lines, and trees that still have leaves could be weighed down by snow and fall over if the weight becomes too much.
New York City began precautions for an ominous but still uncertain forecast. No decision had been made on whether any of the city's public transportation outlets would be shut, despite predictions that a sudden shift of the storm's path could cause a surge of 3 to 6 feet in the subways.
The subway system was completely shuttered during Irene, the first such shutdown ever for weather-related reasons. Irene largely missed the city but struck other areas hard
The storm loomed a little more than a week before Election Day, while several states were heavily involved in campaigning, canvassing and get-out-the-vote efforts. Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and Democratic Vice President Joe Biden canceled weekend campaign events in coastal Virginia Beach, Va., though their events in other parts of the states were going on as planned.
State officials said they had put in place contingency plans in case Sandy caused extended power outages or other problems that could disrupt voting. In Rhode Island, politicians asked supporters to take down yard signs for fear they might turn into projectiles in the storm.
Sandy killed more than 40 people in the Caribbean, wrecked homes and knocked down trees and power lines.
Early Saturday, the storm was about 355 miles southeast of Charleston, S.C. Its sustained wind speed was about 75 mph.
Sandy was projected to hit the Atlantic Coast early Tuesday. As it turns back to the north and northwest and merges with colder air from a winter system, West Virginia and further west into eastern Ohio and southern Pennsylvania are expected to get snow. Forecasters were looking at the Delaware shore as the spot the storm will turn inland, bringing 10 inches of rain and extreme storm surges, said Louis Uccellini, environmental prediction director for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Up to 2 feet of snow was predicted to fall on West Virginia, with lighter snow in parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Jeff Masters, meteorology director of the forecasting service Weather Underground, said this could be as big, perhaps bigger, than the worst East Coast storm on record, a 1938 New England hurricane that is sometimes known as the Long Island Express, which killed nearly 800 people.
While rains were light Saturday in North Carolina's Outer Banks, winds were building up to a predicted 30 to 50 mph and a steady stream of campers and other vehicles hauling boats or with kayaks strapped to the roof were headed off the low-lying islands to the mainland. Local residents were preparing for power outages lasting days and fearing a temporary bridge built after Hurricane Irene poked a new inlet through the island last year could be washed out again, cutting off the only road out of Hatteras Island.
BATTERED CUBA, BAHAMAS
"Regardless of the exact landfall spot this system has ... much of New England and the mid-Atlantic states are going to be impacted, perhaps very severely, by this storm," National Hurricane center meteorologist Chris Landsea told Reuters.
"It's certainly going to be a very significant storm when it gets up to the mid-Atlantic states," he added.
Sandy battered the Bahamas southeast of Florida on Friday after causing widespread destruction in eastern Cuba a day earlier.
The storm's powerful winds and rains were blamed for at least 41 deaths in several Caribbean countries, including 11 in Cuba. Most were killed by falling trees and building collapses.
On its current projected track, Sandy could make U.S. landfall on Monday night or Tuesday anywhere between Maryland and southern New England, forecasters said.
"Perhaps the biggest concern, at the very end, may be the extreme rainfall that's going to occur after landfall," Landsea said.
In addition to coastal and inland flooding, along with widespread power outages, Sandy was expected to dump heavy wet snow in southwest Pennsylvania and as far inland as Ohio.
High winds also threaten to disrupt air travel along the U.S. East Coast.
Tropical storm warnings and watches along Florida's east coast were lifted on Saturday as the storm moved north.
Tropical storm-force winds were being felt near the North Carolina coast and tropical storm warnings for all of the coastal portion of the state, along with about half of South Carolina, were in effect.
Along North Carolina's Outer Banks barrier islands, which jut out into the Atlantic, residents and officials took a wait and see approach to the storm as rain fell and the winds and surf picked up early Saturday.
"We're watching it and waiting and seeing," said North Carolina Emergency Management spokeswoman Julia Jarema.
Outer Banks residents, with memories of damaging flooding from last year's Hurricane Irene, moved vehicles to higher ground and secured outside objects ahead of winds of more than 60 mph beginning Saturday night and potentially lasting into Monday.
Beach erosion and ocean overwash of the only highway on Hatteras Island were expected, shutting off several thousand year-round residents from the mainland.
A buoy 225 miles south of Cape Hatteras recorded 26-foot waves amid blistering wind gusts early on Saturday, authorities said.
Many forecasters are warning that Sandy could be more destructive than last year's Hurricane Irene, which caused billions of dollars in damage across the U.S. Northeast.
Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report.
(Additional reporting by Tom Brown in Miami, Desmond Boylan in Cuba, Neil Hartnell in Nassau, Patricia Zengerle in Washington, Barbara Goldberg in New York and Gene Cherry on Hatteras Island, North Carolina, Emery P. Dalesio reported from Kill Devil Hills, N.C. Associated Press writers Brock Vergakis in Duck, N.C., Frank Eltman in Freeport, N.Y., George Walsh in Albany, N.Y., Joe Mandak in Pittsburgh, Kathy Matheson in Philadelphia, Seth Borenstein in Washington and Christine Armario in Miami contributed to this report.)
HATTERAS ISLAND, N.C. - Hurricane Sandy closed in on the United States on Saturday, where it threatens to hit the eastern third of the country with torrential rains, high winds, major flooding and power outages a week before U.S. presidential and congressional elections.
The late-season storm has been dubbed "Frankenstorm" by some weather watchers because it will combine elements of a tropical cyclone and a winter storm. Forecast says residents can expect up to 2 feet of snow as Sandy reaches the U.S. coast around Halloween.
Hurricane Sandy, upgraded again Saturday just hours after forecasters said it had weakened to a tropical storm, was barreling north from the Caribbean and was expected to make landfall early Tuesday near the Delaware coast, then hit two winter weather systems as it moves inland, creating a hybrid monster storm.
Even if Sandy loses strength and makes landfall as something less than a hurricane, the combined superstorm was expected to bring misery to a huge section of the East. An 800-mile wide swath of the country could see 50 mph winds regardless of Sandy's strength.
Experts said the storm could be wider and stronger than Irene, which caused more than $15 billion in damage, and could rival the worst East Coast storm on record. On Saturday morning, forecasters said hurricane-force winds of 75 mph could be felt 100 miles away from the storm's center
Up and down the coast, people were cautioned to be prepared for days without electricity. Officials urge residents to stock up on food, water and batteries. Several governors, including Connecticut's Dannel Malloy and New Jersey's Chris Christie, declared states of emergency. And airlines said to expect cancellations and waived change fees for passengers who want to reschedule.
Mandatory evacuations were under way in southern New Jersey's barrier islands, which people were ordered to leave by Sunday afternoon, and Christie ordered the evacuations of all Atlantic City casinos and said state parks would close.
"We should not underestimate the impact of this storm and not assume the predictions will be wrong," Christie said during a storm briefing Saturday in North Midletown, near the coast. "We have to be prepared for the worst."
In North Carolina's Outer Banks, light rain was falling Saturday and winds were building up to a predicted 30 to 50 mph. Gov. Beverly Purdue declared a state of emergency for some coastal areas, and a steady stream of campers and other vehicles hauling boats left the low-lying islands for the mainland. Residents feared a temporary bridge built after Irene last year poked a new inlet through the island could be washed out again, severing the only road off Hatteras Island.
In Ship Bottom, N.J., Russ Linke was taking no chances Saturday. He and his wife secured the patio furniture, packed the bicycles into the pickup truck and headed off the island.
"I've been here since 1997, and I never even put my barbecue grill away during a storm, but I am taking this one seriously," he said. "They say it might hit here; that's about as serious as it can get."
After Irene left millions without power, utilities were taking no chances and were lining up extra crews and tree-trimmers. Wind threatened to topple power lines, and trees that still have leaves could be weighed down by snow and fall over if the weight becomes too much.
New York City began precautions for an ominous but still uncertain forecast. No decision had been made on whether any of the city's public transportation outlets would be shut, despite predictions that a sudden shift of the storm's path could cause a surge of 3 to 6 feet in the subways.
The subway system was completely shuttered during Irene, the first such shutdown ever for weather-related reasons. Irene largely missed the city but struck other areas hard
The storm loomed a little more than a week before Election Day, while several states were heavily involved in campaigning, canvassing and get-out-the-vote efforts. Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and Democratic Vice President Joe Biden canceled weekend campaign events in coastal Virginia Beach, Va., though their events in other parts of the states were going on as planned.
State officials said they had put in place contingency plans in case Sandy caused extended power outages or other problems that could disrupt voting. In Rhode Island, politicians asked supporters to take down yard signs for fear they might turn into projectiles in the storm.
Sandy killed more than 40 people in the Caribbean, wrecked homes and knocked down trees and power lines.
Early Saturday, the storm was about 355 miles southeast of Charleston, S.C. Its sustained wind speed was about 75 mph.
Sandy was projected to hit the Atlantic Coast early Tuesday. As it turns back to the north and northwest and merges with colder air from a winter system, West Virginia and further west into eastern Ohio and southern Pennsylvania are expected to get snow. Forecasters were looking at the Delaware shore as the spot the storm will turn inland, bringing 10 inches of rain and extreme storm surges, said Louis Uccellini, environmental prediction director for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Up to 2 feet of snow was predicted to fall on West Virginia, with lighter snow in parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Jeff Masters, meteorology director of the forecasting service Weather Underground, said this could be as big, perhaps bigger, than the worst East Coast storm on record, a 1938 New England hurricane that is sometimes known as the Long Island Express, which killed nearly 800 people.
While rains were light Saturday in North Carolina's Outer Banks, winds were building up to a predicted 30 to 50 mph and a steady stream of campers and other vehicles hauling boats or with kayaks strapped to the roof were headed off the low-lying islands to the mainland. Local residents were preparing for power outages lasting days and fearing a temporary bridge built after Hurricane Irene poked a new inlet through the island last year could be washed out again, cutting off the only road out of Hatteras Island.
BATTERED CUBA, BAHAMAS
"Regardless of the exact landfall spot this system has ... much of New England and the mid-Atlantic states are going to be impacted, perhaps very severely, by this storm," National Hurricane center meteorologist Chris Landsea told Reuters.
"It's certainly going to be a very significant storm when it gets up to the mid-Atlantic states," he added.
Sandy battered the Bahamas southeast of Florida on Friday after causing widespread destruction in eastern Cuba a day earlier.
The storm's powerful winds and rains were blamed for at least 41 deaths in several Caribbean countries, including 11 in Cuba. Most were killed by falling trees and building collapses.
On its current projected track, Sandy could make U.S. landfall on Monday night or Tuesday anywhere between Maryland and southern New England, forecasters said.
"Perhaps the biggest concern, at the very end, may be the extreme rainfall that's going to occur after landfall," Landsea said.
In addition to coastal and inland flooding, along with widespread power outages, Sandy was expected to dump heavy wet snow in southwest Pennsylvania and as far inland as Ohio.
High winds also threaten to disrupt air travel along the U.S. East Coast.
Tropical storm warnings and watches along Florida's east coast were lifted on Saturday as the storm moved north.
Tropical storm-force winds were being felt near the North Carolina coast and tropical storm warnings for all of the coastal portion of the state, along with about half of South Carolina, were in effect.
Along North Carolina's Outer Banks barrier islands, which jut out into the Atlantic, residents and officials took a wait and see approach to the storm as rain fell and the winds and surf picked up early Saturday.
"We're watching it and waiting and seeing," said North Carolina Emergency Management spokeswoman Julia Jarema.
Outer Banks residents, with memories of damaging flooding from last year's Hurricane Irene, moved vehicles to higher ground and secured outside objects ahead of winds of more than 60 mph beginning Saturday night and potentially lasting into Monday.
Beach erosion and ocean overwash of the only highway on Hatteras Island were expected, shutting off several thousand year-round residents from the mainland.
A buoy 225 miles south of Cape Hatteras recorded 26-foot waves amid blistering wind gusts early on Saturday, authorities said.
Many forecasters are warning that Sandy could be more destructive than last year's Hurricane Irene, which caused billions of dollars in damage across the U.S. Northeast.
Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report.
(Additional reporting by Tom Brown in Miami, Desmond Boylan in Cuba, Neil Hartnell in Nassau, Patricia Zengerle in Washington, Barbara Goldberg in New York and Gene Cherry on Hatteras Island, North Carolina, Emery P. Dalesio reported from Kill Devil Hills, N.C. Associated Press writers Brock Vergakis in Duck, N.C., Frank Eltman in Freeport, N.Y., George Walsh in Albany, N.Y., Joe Mandak in Pittsburgh, Kathy Matheson in Philadelphia, Seth Borenstein in Washington and Christine Armario in Miami contributed to this report.)