Floods, Power Cuts Hit New York as Sandy Slams Into US
Superstorm Sandy slammed into the East Coast and hurled a record 14-foot surge of seawater at New York City, flooding the financial district, bringing transport to a standstill and putting the presidential campaign on hold a week before Election Day.
A huge fire also ripped through Breezy Point in the borough of Queens in New York City destroying 50 homes Tuesday in one of the city’s most remote neighborhoods.
The neighborhood had been extensively flooded by Sandy’s record storm surge, and firefighters were hampered in their efforts to bring the blaze under control, a spokesman for the New York Fire Department said.
No casualties were immediately reported and the cause of the fire was under investigation. The fire still was not under control by 5 a.m., the department said.
President Barack Obama signed a declaration of emergency for the state of New York making federal funding available to affected individuals in the counties of Bronx, Kings, Nassau, New York, Richmond, Suffolk and Queens, the statement said.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that 7 million people were left without electrical power by the storm, which crashed ashore late Monday near the gambling resort of Atlantic City, N.J.
At least 13 deaths were blamed on the storm, according to The Associated Press, while more than 1 million people across a dozen states were ordered to evacuate.
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