Mega storm Sandy hits US, at least 13 dead

New York, October 31: Mega storm Sandy battered the US East Coast on Tuesday with fierce winds and heavy rains, killing at least 13 people and causing a power plant explosion, besides uprooting trees, power lines and plunging much of Manhattan in darkness.

Sandy, one of the biggest storms ever to hit the US, battered the coastline of New Jersey, where a large number of Indian families reside, with 80 mph winds, pushing seawater up by an unprecedented 13-feet in New York City.

Floods inundated large number of areas in New York and New Jersey and an explosion at a sub-station on the east side of Manhattan's Midtown left 500,000 people without power.

Eyewitnesses said a huge ball of blue light exploded over Manhattan last night believed to be a powerful blast at Consolidated Edison station.

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) declared an alert at the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant in New Jersey, which is currently in a regularly scheduled outage, as the water level reached the minimum high level criteria.

"Water level is rising in the intake structure due to a combination of a rising tide, wind direction and storm surge. It is anticipated water levels will begin to abate within the next several hours," the NRC said.

According to NRC, no plants had to shut down as a result of the storm although several plants were already out of service for regularly scheduled refueling and maintenance outages. All plants remain in a safe condition, with emergency equipment available if needed and NRC inspectors on-site.

The storm left a trail of death, and the toll is expected to mount. Two people perished in Mendham, New Jersey, when a tree struck their car, officials said.

In New York State, at least six persons were killed, including a 30-year-old man who died when a tree fell on his house. Two people died in other incidents. It also flooded ground-zero, the site of the 9/11 terror attacks here. There was also report of damage to facade of a building in Manhattan.

Two people were killed in Pennsylvania and a woman in Maryland died after hydroplaning into a tree, officials said. Authorities evacuated more than 200 patients and staff of a New York City hospital after its backup generator failed when the power was knocked out by the super storm.

According to initial estimates, the devastation has resulted in a loss of USD 10-20 billion. Sandy is no longer a hurricane because it's drawing energy from temperature differences and not the ocean, making the transition to a super storm that may push a wall of water ashore in the Northeast and lash the East with wind and rain.

John F Kennedy airport in New York City and other airports in the region have been shut down with more than 13,000 flights being cancelled in the storm affected areas. New York and New Jersey registered a record level of rainfall and shut down major transportation arteries.

Emergency has been declared in Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. The storm affected more than 50 million people along the entire East Coast from North Carolina to New Hampshire.

President Barack Obama cancelled his election campaign schedule mid-way and rushed back to the White House to personally monitor the situation. "I am not worried at this point about the impact on the election. I'm worried about the impact on families, and I'm worried about the impact on our first responders. I'm worried about the impact on our economy and on transportation," Obama said at a White House news conference soon after he held a situation room meeting on the hurricane preparedness.

"You know, the election will take care of itself next week. Right now, our number-one priority is to make sure that we are saving lives, that our search-and-rescue teams are going to be in place, that people are going to get food, the water, the shelter that they need in case of emergency, and that we respond as quickly as possible to get the economy back on track," Obama said.

Mitt Romney, his Republican challenger in the November 6 presidential elections, also cancelled his campaign.

Sandy forces shutting of NYSE, Nasdaq for second day

New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Nasdaq remained closed for the second consecutive day, the first time since 9/11, as super storm Sandy swept across New York City, leaving the Wall Street powerless. NYSE Euronext and Nasdq OMX Group said they made their decision in consultation with industry executives and regulators, and intend to reopen on Wednesday, conditions permitting.