16 killed in megastorm Sandy; Obama declares ’major disaster’

New York, 30 Oct 2012 (PTI): Superstorm Sandy battered the US East Coast today with fierce winds and heavy rains, killing at least 16 people, plunging millions into darkness and leaving the New York Stock Exchange shut for two straight days for the first time since 1888, prompting President Barack Obama to declare it a "major disaster".

 

Sandy, one of the biggest storms ever to hit the US, slammed 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, bringing the Presidential campaign to a halt a week before the November 6 polls.

 

Obama, who took a day off from the campaigning yesterday to oversee from the White House the response to the megastorm, declared that megastorm Sandy had sparked a "major disaster" in the states of New York and New Jersey. He ordered release of federal aid for those who lost homes or businesses.

 

Republican challenger Mitt Romney also cancelled some campaign appearances.

 

Stock trading was closed in the US for a second day today — the first time the New York Stock Exchange remained closed for two consecutive days due to weather since 1888, when a blizzard struck the city.

 

Storm damage was projected at USD 10 billion to USD 20 billion, meaning it could prove to be one of the costliest natural disasters in US history.

 

According to CBS News, 16 deaths were reported in New Jersey, New York, Maryland, North Carolina, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. Some of the victims were killed by falling trees. At least one death was blamed on the storm in Canada.
Still, the power was out for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers and an estimated 6.2 million people altogether across the East.