Hurricane Sandy begin battering US East Coast
Laced with the threats of storm surges and catastrophic flooding, the Hurricane Sandy has begun battering the heavily populated areas of east coast of United States.
Thousands of people in New York City have been ordered to leave their homes and migrate to evocation shelters, which have been set up in 76 schools.
The storm, a poisonous combination of a stifling hurricane rolling north from the Caribbean and stern wintry winds approaching from Canada, brought transportation systems to a halt and snapped up the electrical connections.
For the first time since 9/11 attacks, the New York Stock Exchange and other U.S. financial markets were shutdown on Monday and are expected to remain close on Tuesday.
According to the forecasters the hurricane Sandy, which claimed 66 lives in the Caribbean before commencing travel towards north, parallel to the Eastern Seaboard, could be the largest storm to hit the mainland in US history.
Hurricane Sandy picked up speed on Monday morning, resulting in sustained winds as powerful as 140 km/h. Its center is likely to make landfall in southern New Jersey or Delaware between Monday and Tuesday night.
The storm has also spoiled the high-voltage presidential campaign with a week to go before the Election Day.
President Barack Obama returned to Washington on Monday after canceling a campaign event in Florida in order to monitor the response of government to the deadly storm.
“The election will take care of itself next week,” Obama said. “Right now, our number one priority is to make sure that we are saving lives… and that we respond as quickly as possible to get the economy back on track.”
On the other hand, Obama’s Republican enemy Matt Romney has also suspended his campaigning assignments. Early voting was also cancelled in Washington, D.C and Maryland.
Americans are yet coping with two storms and the threat of third one is looming. According to meteorologists, a system coming down from Canada would successfully snare the hurricane-nor’easter combo and grasp it in place.
According to the National Hurricane Center, hurricane Sandy is forecasted to fall 50 to 100 millimeters of rain for the western Maritimes from Tuesday into Wednesday.
