NYC GOES DARK

[Jeannette Latoria]

NYC GOES DARK




Official: 'Most' Of Atlantic City Underwater... Bloomberg: This Is The 'Storm Of The Century'... Help HuffPost Track The Storm... LOOK: Sandy's Path... HOW YOU CAN HELP... LATEST UPDATES

[Michelle Jahn]

Superstorm Sandy Live Updates, Photos: Hudson River Flooding, ConEd Outages & More

AP/The Huffington Post  |  Posted: 10/29/2012 9:40 pm EDT Updated: 10/29/2012 9:40 pm EDT

Superstorm Sandy causes rising water to flood into a subterranian parking garage on October 29, 2012, in the Financial District of New York, United States.

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Superstorm Sandy slammed into the New Jersey coastline with 80 mph winds Monday night and hurled an unprecedented 13-foot surge of seawater at New York City, threatening its subways and the electrical system that powers Wall Street. At least four deaths were blamed on the storm, and the presidential campaign ground to a halt a week before Election Day.

Sandy knocked out power to at least 3.1 million people, and New York's main utility said large sections of Manhattan had been plunged into darkness by the storm. Water pressed into the island from three sides.

(SCROLL DOWN FOR LIVE UPDATES)

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

As the storm closed in, it smacked the boarded-up big cities of the Northeast corridor — Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and Boston — with stinging rain and gusts of more than 85 mph. It also converged with a cold-weather system that turned it into a superstorm, a monstrous hybrid consisting not only of rain and high wind but snow.

Sandy made landfall at 8 p.m. near Atlantic City, which was already mostly under water and saw a piece of its world-famous Boardwalk washed away earlier in the day.

Authorities reported a record surge more than 13 feet high at the Battery at the southern tip of Manhattan, from the storm and high tide combined.

EDITOR'S NOTE: HUFFPOST'S LIVEBLOG WILL BE UPDATED AS FREQUENTLY AS POSSIBLE BUT DELAYS MAY BE CAUSED TO TO OUTAGES. PLEASE CHECK TIMESTAMPS AND REFER TO OUR TWITTER FEED FOR ADDITIONAL UPDATES.

[Michelle Jahn]

Ground Zero Flooding

[Michelle Jahn]

Medical workers assist a patient into an ambulance during an evacuation of New York University's Tisch Hospital, Monday, Oct. 29, 2012, in New York. The New York City hospital is moving out more than 200 patients after its backup generator failed when the power was knocked out by a superstorm.

Credit: John Michillo, AP
12:20 AM – Today
Hotel Stay Offers Welcome Distraction From Storm Damage

HuffPost's Chris Kirkham reports:

    The city is silent and dark. Power has been out for hours. Parts of town have become an obstacle course of downed trees and flooded roads, with bright-red flares warning drivers to stay away.

    But despite the chaos just outside the sliding doors, the Holiday Inn-Bridgeport's lobby feels more like a tourist destination than a de facto shelter for those fleeing floodwaters and the prospect of long-term power outages.

Read more here.
12:18 AM – Today
Anger Over American Apparel's Hurricane Sale

HuffPost Canada reports:

    Late Monday night, as much of the eastern U.S. seaboard was being pelted by the winds, rain and waves of Hurricane Sandy, several retailers were sending eblasts to their customers to let them know they were holding inclement weather sales. The most prominent notice came from American Apparel. The ad, which featured the verbiage, "In case you're bored in the storm, 20% off everything for the next 36 hours," was reportedly sent to fans of the retailer in the exact states where Hurricane Sandy was set to do the most damage -- New Jersey and New York.

Read more at HuffPost Canada.
12:09 AM – Today
17 Inches Of Snow In West Virginia, More To Come
breakingweather    @ breakingweather : #Sandy Update: 17 inches of snow has fallen so far in Davis, WV. Much more to come.

[Michelle Jahn]

Credit: kevinbarnett, Instagram
12:07 AM – Today
Basement Flooded At NY's Bellevue Hospital Center
cnnbrk    @ cnnbrk : New York’s Bellevue Hospital Center has flooded basement, using emergency backup power, but no injuries reported http://t.co/0aJUD1SS #Sandy

12:01 AM – Today
Hurricane Sandy Forces Colleges To Cancel Classes, Evacuate Campuses

HuffPost College reports:

    Hurricane Sandy caused dozens of colleges throughout the mid-Atlantic states to cancel classes and shut down operations Monday and many will remain closed Tuesday.

    An estimated 1.2 million college students have been effected by Sandy, according to CNN's Chandler Friedman.

    The University of Virginia, Georgetown, New York, Syracuse and Penn State Universities will all remain closed Tuesday after canceling classes Monday because of Sandy. Boston University canceled classes through 11 a.m. Tuesday.

    Universities in Maryland and Virginia shut down, as did most colleges in New Jersey. All of the City University of New York campuses, Columbia University and New York University canceled classes for Monday and Tuesday.

    Every college in the Washington, D.C. area canceled classes on Monday, and many were calling them off on Tuesday as well. The University of Vermont closed for Monday, the AP reports.

    Harvard University, located in Cambridge, Mass., canceled classes for the first time in 34 years.

Read more at HuffPost College

[Michelle Jahn]

 11:59 PM – Today
WATCH: Description Of NYC Building Collapse

WATCH:

[Michelle Jahn]

 11:55 PM – Today
PA Man Reportedly Killed By Falling Tree
cnnbrk    @ cnnbrk : U.S. death toll rises to 12. A 62-year-old man killed by a falling tree in Oley, Penn, according to Penn. State Police http://t.co/0aJUD1SS

11:47 PM – Today
Bellevue Hospital Running Low On Power; Coney Island Hospital Has No Power

Bellevue Hospital on the East Side of Manhattan is running out of power, WNYC reported via Twitter. The facility is located just blocks from the New York University Langone Medical Center, which is in the process of being evacuated.

Coney Island Hospital in Brooklyn also has no power, Ian Michaels, a spokesman for the New York City Health and Hospitals Corp., told HuffPost in an e-mail.

-Jeffrey Young, HuffPost
11:46 PM – Today
PHOTO: Wading Across NYC Street

    Kevin Barnett @kevinbarnett

    wading across Ave C #sandy instagr.am/p/RY80ANlZrL/
    29 Oct 12

11:44 PM – Today
Nearly 6 Million Reportedly Without Power
twc_hurricane    @ twc_hurricane : The Weather Channel and http://t.co/uVb6PJJd News Desk reports that nearly 6 million are now without power due to #Sandy.

[Michelle Jahn]

 11:39 PM – Today
Staples Sign Kills Toronto Woman As Sandy's Winds Slam Ontario

[Michelle Jahn]

A woman was killed by flying debris as high winds from the remnants of Sandy roared into Toronto, knocking out power to several thousand buildings at the beginning of what promised to be a long, stormy night. The woman, reportedly in her 50s, was killed near a Staples store at the intersection of Keele St. and St. Clair Ave. W. in the city’s west end, CBC reports.

Metal debris from the store’s sign struck the woman, knocking her unconscious shortly after 7 p.m. Paramedics tried but couldn’t revive her and she was declared dead at the scene, CTV reports.

Read the story here

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/10/29/staples-sign-kills-toronto-woman_n_2041964.html

[Michelle Jahn]

 11:38 PM – Today
Newark Mayor Gets A Call From Obama
CoryBooker    @ CoryBooker : Just received call from Pres Obama. I appreciate his hands on involvement during this crisis. His concern & practical support are excellent

11:35 PM – Today
Tourists Stranded In New York By Hurricane Sandy Take Hit In Costs, But Remain Upbeat

HuffPost's Janean Chun and Alice Hines report:

    Around noon on Monday, Times Square was nearly as bustling as it is on a normal day, even though most shops and restaurants were shuttered. Those that did remain open -- Levi's, Billabong, Sbarro, and Travelex, among others -- were packed, sometimes overflowing with lines out the door.

Read more here.
11:34 PM – Today
NYC Map Of Evacuation Zones And Shelters
ASE    @ ASE : New NYC-specific Hurricane #Sandy map features evacuation zones, open shelters, weather info & live webcams: http://t.co/XIU9bkl5 #google

11:31 PM – Today
Half Of Hoboken, NJ Flooded
cnnbrk    @ cnnbrk : Half the city of Hoboken, New Jersey, is flooded, said Mayor Dawn Zimmer. The city of 50,000 has had to evacuate two of its fire stations

11:30 PM – Today
At Least 13 Reported Dead In U.S.
breakingstorm    @ breakingstorm : Update: At least 13 US deaths blamed on Sandy - @AP http://t.co/B8kUBkSW

11:26 PM – Today
50-70 Ambulances Reported Outside NYU Hospital

WCBS reports 50-70 ambulances outside the NYU hospital to transport patients, including 20 infants in the neonatal intensive care unit, to other hospitals, namely Mt. Sinai Hospital, Memorial Sloan-Kettering and NYU's Hospital for Joint Diseases.

    Robert Grossman, Dean Of NYU Medical Center, told CBS 2′s Brennan that “We’ve had a number of power failures of primary and secondary backup systems.”

    “[We're] trying to evacuate our patients from the hospital. Our patients are our main concern right now,” Grossman said.

More here.
11:20 PM – Today
Photos From Our HuffPost Community

If you have photos from the storm, you can share them here. Please only take photos if you are in a safe place to do so.
11:15 PM – Today
NYU Medical Center Patients Moved To Other Hospitals

Bloomberg's press office says patients are being moved to Mt. Sinai Hospital and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

-Jeffrey Young, HuffPost

[Michelle Jahn]

 11:14 PM – Today
PHOTO: Submerged HMS Bounty

superstorm sandy hms bounty

[Michelle Jahn]

This photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard shows the HMS Bounty, a 180-foot sailboat, submerged in the Atlantic Ocean during Hurricane Sandy approximately 90 miles southeast of Hatteras, N.C., Monday, Oct. 29, 2012. The Coast Guard rescued 14 of the 16 crew members by helicopter. Hours later, rescuers found one of the missing crew members, but she was unresponsive. They are still searching for the captain. (AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard, Petty Officer 2nd Class Tim Kuklewski)

Credit: Petty Officer 2nd Class Tim Kuklewski, USCG / AP

[Volitzer]

I know cops will have to go back to being public servants again.