Interesting article and photos on how Sandy will affect the area and even things like the election possibly.
-murph
Northeast in crosshairs of possible 'superstorm' Sandy
By
Ben Brumfield and
Mariano Castillo,
CNN
updated 11:04 AM EDT, Sat October 27, 2012
<cite style="" id="galleryCaption001">Houses are flooded out in the neighborhood of La Javilla in Santo Domingo, the capital of Dominican Republic, on Friday, October 26.</cite>
Photos: Sandy's destructive path
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: Sandy responsible for at least 42 deaths
- States of emergency issued in at least four states and the District of Columbia
- Airlines offer customers free flight changes to and from the Atlantic Coast
- Sandy will move slowly, could merge with cold front to morph into a "superstorm"
Are you affected by Hurricane Sandy? Send us your pictures and videos but stay safe.
(CNN) -- Sandy regained hurricane strength on Saturday, as weather forecasts predicted it would turn into a destructive "superstorm" that would impact the East Coast as early as Sunday.
This storm, already responsible for at least 42 deaths in the Caribbean, will be studied for years to come, said Louis Uccellini, who is responsible for environmental prediction at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
CNN Weather estimates that damage from Hurricane Sandy could reach $3.2 billion. This estimate is based only on wind damage and does not include flooding.
At least four states in its path and the nation's capital have declared states of emergency, and some airlines have announced they will allow passengers to change existing flights to and from Atlantic coast cities free of charge.
How is Sandy expected to develop?
Weather forecasters still predict it will push in a large storm surge as it nears land, inundate a broad, highly populated region with rain, and knock out power for perhaps weeks with destructive winds.
"Forget about the category with this," said CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano. "When you have trees with leaves on them still, this kind of wind and rain on top of that, you're talking about trees that are going to come down, power lines are going to be out and the coastal flooding situation is going to be huge."
Sandy was still predicted to merge with a strong cold front from the west and morph into a "superstorm."
This "will energize this system, so we'll actually get an intensification of this system," Uccellini said.
The resulting storm could sit over New England, creating serious trouble for millions of residents. Heavy snow was possible for the Appalachians.
"Expect it to move very slowly," said James Franklin of the National Hurricane Center. "The large size of the system and its slow motion will mean a long-lasting event with two to three days of impacts."
The tropical storm force winds were likely to spread over a vast distance, potentially up to 700 miles from North Carolina to Maine. That could mean widespread power outages, according to CNN's Weather Unit.
Sandy has taken on a lopsided form and its heaviest winds should be in the northern and eastern sections of the storm as it nears land -- and be directed inbound toward the coastline.
The surge is likely to hit during a full moon, when tides are the highest, worsening coastal damage.
Computer models predict Delaware, Maryland and Virginia could see up to a foot of rain, according to the CNN Weather Unit. Isolated spots could see the worst rains in 500 years.
At 8 a.m. ET Saturday, the National Weather Service said Sandy was about 335 miles south-southeast of Charleston, South Carolina. It was a Category 1 hurricane with winds of 75 mph.
The U.S. target area was hard to predict. Some landfall computer models showed the storm striking somewhere between the border separating North Carolina and Virginia north to Connecticut. That area includes some of the most densely populated areas of the country.
Keep a hurricane preparation checklist
Sandy is responsible at least 29 deaths in Haiti, Civil Protection spokesman Joseph Edgard Celestin said. Four Haitians remained missing. Another 13 people were reported killed in Cuba, Jamaica and Puerto Rico.
How will Sandy effect voting and election campaigning?
With early voting underway for the U.S. presidential election already under way in many states, Sandy's wrath could impact the political situation.
In Virginia Beach, a campaign rally scheduled for Sunday for GOP nominee Mitt Romney was canceled because of the storm. There was no word on the status of other events scheduled later in the week.
"We're keeping an eye on it," said a senior Romney campaign adviser.
Similarly, Vice President Joe Biden canceled his visit to Virginia Beach on Saturday, "out of an abundance of caution to ensure that all local law enforcement and emergency management resources can stay focused on ensuring the safety of people who might be impacted by the storm," the Obama administration said.
Early voting kicked off Monday in Washington and is scheduled to start Saturday in Maryland. On Friday, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley left open the possibility that the vote could be rescheduled, or polling stations relocated inland.
What preparations are being made?
The District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and New York have declared states of emergency, while Maine's governor signed a limited emergency declaration. Delaware's governor has said the state will issue a mandatory evacuation of its coastline, if the storm stays on path.
North Carolina issued states of emergency for 40 coastal counties.
All the Northeast metro airports will experience delayed and canceled flights, the CNN Weather Unit said.
American, United and Spirit airlines announced late Friday they would waive fees for passengers traveling in and out of many Atlantic coast cities who want to change plans.
Amtrak will deploy preparedness crews and equipment along its tracks in the Northeast to remove debris, make repairs and mend any downed electrical lines, it said in a statement Friday.
Washington's power company has ordered 2,500 additional linemen, 400 tree cutters and has staffed beefed up call center staff, according to affiliate WJLA. "We'll open up additional staging areas," PEPCO executive David Velazquez said.
In New York, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is studying whether it should suspend all or some services ahead of the storm, according to Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
In Maryland, the Baltimore Gas and Electric Company expects that several hundred thousand customers could be affected, as early as Sunday.
Hurricane safety: When the lights go out
Late Friday, shoppers depleted pallets of mineral water stacked up outside a supermarket in Staten Island, New York. At 11 p.m. the parking lot was still full of people buying storm supplies, affiliate WABC reported.
In New York City, workers covered subway ventilation grids to keep potential flood waters out. Bulldozers shored up sand to form barriers in hopes of preventing street flooding in coastal areas of the city's Burroughs.
They did the same on New Jersey's shores as early as Thursday, CNN affiliate KYW reported. Worried residents filled sandbags in case of flooding.
"We will be piling up as much sand as possible along the beachfront," said Frank Ricciotti, Margate, New Jersey, public works director. "I think the water damage is worse than another type of damage, and the hardest thing is to stop water, once it starts coming up."
Residents in New Jersey have been stocking up on batteries and bottled water since Thursday, and hardware stores have put up preparedness displays, KYW reported. One location quickly sold out of electric generators.
"This is the worst timing for a storm," Newark Mayor Cory Booker told CNN's Soledad O'Brien. "You have fall ending, a lot of loose branches.
"The storm itself will be bad, but I worry about the aftermath, people being caught without power."
Farther south, in the Norfolk, Virginia, area, more than two dozen U.S. Navy ships were sent to sea to ride out the storm.
'Superstorm' meets barnstorm as weather and politics collide
Is Sandy another "Perfect Storm?"
Sandy presents a scenario not unlike the one that led to 1991's "Perfect Storm," when moisture flung north by Hurricane Grace combined with a high pressure system and a cold front to produce a tempest in the north Atlantic over Halloween.
But Grace never made landfall.
