Hurricane Sandy Batters U.S. East Coast

Hurricane Sandy moves along the U.S. East Coast and into the Mid-Atlantic and northeastern U.S.(right). Predicted storm surge probabilities in percentages across the cities in the East Coast (left). Courtesy: NASA/NOAA.

Hurricane Sandy slams densely populated East Coast of the United States virtually disrupting the life of nearly 75 million people in its path from North Carolina to New England.  Total shut down is reported in almost eight states including New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia.  Millions of people are without power. Atlantic City, New Jersey is the hardest hit as most of the city inundated with 3-5 ft flood water per latest reports.  New York City, the city that never sleeps, is completely shut down as nearly 8 million New Yorkers have been ordered to stay home and do nothing.  No local and international flights are going in and out of the city and so do train or bus services.  President Barak Obama cut short his scheduled presidential campaign and returns to White House to oversee the emergency operations.  President later signs the emergency disaster declaration for the eight affected states. Wall street will be shut down for Monday and Tuesday as the financial losses due to hurricane Sandy is estimated at $17.2b with most of the losses are expected from damages due to flooding and storm water inundation of the cities and boroughs across the coastline.