Hurricane Sandy continued to barrel towards the East Coast early Monday, threatening some 50 million people with a storm surge the National Hurricane Center called "life-threatening."
As of 5 a.m. Monday, the storm was centered about 385 miles southeast of New York City, moving to the north at 14 mph, with hurricane-force winds extending an incredible 175 miles from its center. The National Hurricane Center said early Monday the storm has intensified, with top sustained winds of 85 mph and higher gusts.
Authorities warned that New York City could be hit with an 11-foot wall of water that has the potential to swamp parts of lower Manhattan, flood subway tunnels and cripple the network of electrical and communications lines that are vital to the nation's financial center.
Tens of thousands of people were ordered to evacuate as forecasters warned the megastorm could wreak havoc over 800 miles, including 375,000 in lower Manhattan and other parts of New York City. At least 50,000 were ordered to evacuate in Delaware alone and 30,000 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where the city's 12 casinos were forced to shut down for only the fourth time in the 34-year history of legalized gambling there.
Airlines canceled more than 7,200 flights and Amtrak began suspending passenger train service across the Northeast. New York and Philadelphia moved to shut down their subways, buses and commuter trains Sunday night and announced that schools would be closed on Monday. Boston, Washington and Baltimore also called off school.
Sandy, a Category 1 hurricane, was blamed for 65 deaths in the Caribbean before it began traveling northward, parallel to the Eastern Seaboard.
The hurricane is on path to meet a winter storm and a cold front, plus high tides from a full moon, and experts said the rare hybrid storm that results could cause havoc through 800 miles from the East Coast to the Great Lakes.
Forecasters said the combination could bring close to a foot of rain in places, a potentially lethal storm surge of 4 to 11 feet across much of the region, and punishing winds that could cause widespread power outages that last for days. The storm could also dump up to 2 feet of snow in Kentucky, North Carolina and West Virginia.
From Washington to Boston, big cities and small towns Sunday buttoned up against the onslaught of a superstorm that could endanger 50 million people in the most heavily populated corridor in the nation, with forecasters warning that the New York area could get the worst of it -- an 11-foot wall of water.
"The time for preparing and talking is about over," Federal Emergency Management Administrator Craig Fugate said as Hurricane Sandy made its way up the Atlantic on a collision course with two other weather systems that could turn it into one of the most fearsome storms on record in the U.S. "People need to be acting now."
Forecasters said the hurricane could blow ashore Monday night or early Tuesday along the New Jersey coast, then cut across into Pennsylvania and travel up through New York State on Wednesday
In upstate New York in Syracuse, shelves normally stocked with water at a Wegmans store were bare, CNYCentral.com reports.
An assistant manager at a Lowes store in Columbus, Ohio, told 10TV.com that people were calling in from West Virginia and Maryland to ask for supplies, and in northern Virginia, a cashier at Pitkins Ace Hardware in Dale City said batteries, flashlights and candles were flying off the shelves, PotomacLocal.com reports.
In New York City, where residents were also packing stores to buy storm-related supplies, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that the city will suspend its bus, subway and commuter rail service Sunday at 7 p.m. in anticipation of the storm.
New Jersey's PATH train service, which ferries passengers between New York City and New Jersey, announced that it would close starting Monday until further notice. Bridges and tunnels would be closed on a case by case basis, and the New York Stock Exchange floor will be closed Monday and potentially Tuesday.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered the closure of all city public schools for Monday and mandatory evacuations of all low-lying areas. He urged residents in lower Manhattan to call 311 or visit the city's website for information on evacuation zones. About 1,100 National Guard troops will be deployed to the area, including 400 on Long Island and 200 in New York City, for assistance.
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