Monster Storm Sandy Batters East Coast [VIDEO]
She’s no longer a hurricane, but Sandy’s wrath has left millions in the dark and hundreds of thousands forced from their homes along the eastern U.S. coast. High winds and heavy rains have uprooted trees and brought down power lines in the Northeast, while the storm’s strong on-shore winds have driven the Atlantic Ocean into communities up and down the shoreline. Shortly after 7pm Eastern Monday, the National Hurricane Center announced that Sandy had lost her tropical characteristics as she combined with a storm system pushing in from the west and was no longer classified as a hurricane. Less than an hour later, the storm made landfall along the NJ coast.
The storm’s destructive power was on full display Monday, as boardwalks and piers have been ripped up from North Carolina to New Jersey. In Montgomery County, Maryland, a storm-related crash left one person dead. The casinos of Atlantic City – including those right along the boardwalk – were shut down and evacuated for only the fourth time in 34 years.
LISTEN as NJ Gov. Chris Christie chastises Atlantic City Mayor Lorenzo Langford after at least one evacuation shelter in the city flooded during the storm:
(Obama) “This is going to be a big and powerful storm.”
That warning from President Obama after a briefing from the emergency response teams on Hurricane Sandy. The President urging those in the path of the storm to take it seriously and heed evacuation orders.
(Obama) “Do not delay, don’t pause, don’t question the instructions that are being given.”
The President saying his advisers and state and local officials are confident they have the supplies and manpower ready. But he warns recovery, particularly getting the lights back on, may take awhile.
At the White House, Mike Majchrowitz, FOX News Radio.
