Big Cities In East Coast US Prepare For Hurricane Sandy
By Nani Rahayu Yusof
NEW YORK, Oct 29 (Bernama) — Big cities from Washington to Boston buttoned up on Sunday against the onslaught of a superstorm that could affect some 50 million people in the most heavily populated corridor in the nation, with forecasters warning New York could be in particular peril.
Federal Emergency Management Administrator Craig Fugate was quoted by CBC News as saying that “the time for preparing and talking is about over”.
“People need to be acting now,” he 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.
Airlines cancelled more than 5,000 flights and Amtrak began suspending train service across the Northeast.
New York and Philadelphia moved to shut down their subways, buses and trains Sunday night and announced that schools would be closed on Monday.
Boston, Washington and Baltimore also called off school. As rain from the leading edges of the hurricane began to fall over the Northeast, tens of thousands of people in coastal areas from Maryland to Connecticut were under orders to clear out Sunday.
Sandy, a Category 1 hurricane with sustained winds of 75 mph as of Sunday afternoon, was blamed for 65 deaths in the Caribbean before it began churning up the Eastern Seaboard.
Meanwhile New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg announced a mandatory evacuation of low-lying coastal areas in the city’s five boroughs besides all the city schools would be closed on Monday, as the expected height of the storm.
He added all City-run hospitals also will postpone it’s elective surgeries, “Now is the time to take these kinds of sensible precautions,” said Bloomberg.
The New York Stock Exchange announced plans to suspend physical trading floor operations on Monday, but electronic trading will continue.
If Sandy hits near New York City, as one weather model predicts, the storm surge will be capable of overtopping the flood walls in Manhattan, which are only five feet above mean sea level, according to Weather Underground meteorologist Jeff Masters.
Sandy’s storm surge has the potential to flood New York City’s subway system, and landfall along the Mid-Atlantic coast “would likely be a billion-dollar disaster,” Masters said.
He also noted that the full moon will occur Monday, which means astronomical tides will be at their peak for the month, increasing potential storm surge flooding.
The mandatory evacuation starts Sunday at 7 p.m. New York City police officers will go through the affected areas with bullhorns, warning residents to leave and stay with relatives or friends elsewhere, or go to one of 72 city-run shelters opened for the storm. The city ordered a similar procedure last year for Hurricane Irene.
Bloomberg said those who ignore the evacuation order would not be arrested. “But I would argue they’re being selfish,” because city emergency personnel could be forced to rescue them during the storm, the mayor said.
Meanwhile, Gov Andrew Cuomo set in motion a shutdown of the mass transit system serving New York City and the surrounding suburbs. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority will shut down subways, buses and commuter rail service at 7 p.m. Sunday, Cuomo said.
“The transportation system is the lifeblood of the New York City region, and suspending all service is not a step I take lightly,” said Cuomo in an official announcement.
“But keeping New Yorkers safe is the first priority, and the best way to do that is to make sure they are out of harm’s way before gale-force winds can start wreaking havoc on trains and buses.”
MTA Chairman Joseph Lhota said subway service would be curtailed starting at 7 p.m. Sunday. Bus service would follow within the following two hours.
The MTA Hurricane Plan is designed to secure equipment and protect employees in advance of major storms. The process must begin hours in advance of the storm’s arrival, as thousands of rail cars, subway cars and buses must be pulled from service and stored safely.
The Coast Guard closed New York Harbour and has diverted arriving ships elsewhere, Bloomberg said. Additionally, all Staten Island Ferry service will end by 8.30pm, he said.
East River Ferry service is also being suspended. United Nations through it’s hotline isued a notice that the world body also will be closed on Monday.
Meanwhile a Malaysian in Marlborough, Delaware, Shahrul Nakim said, her family had already received the advisory stating the possibility of power disruption for seven days after the Sandy storm.
As a result, she and her family had made preparations including getting drinking water supply and food, and she had prepared various dishes which could be kept for a long time.
“My eight-year-old son, Jeremy Danial Sewell, is a bit fussy about food, so to ensure that his food routine is not affected, I have made the necessary dishes for him, I have boiled the eggs, baked some cakes and several Western dishes that could be kept for a long time.
“This is one of the biggest storm in our life time, I managed to speak to my mother and children in Malaysia, asking them to pray for our safety here,” she said.
“Our house is only 15 miles from the coast and we are still waiting for the order from the Delaware governor if we have to move, but for the moment, only residents along the coast have been given the mandatory evacuation order,” she said when contacted by Bernama from New York, here Sunday night.
Another Malaysian living in Long Island City, New York, one of the areas in Zone A, the zone that is expected to be the worst hit, said, although they had received the ‘evacuation advisory notice’, he and his housemates did not want to leave their house.
Meanwhile, another Malaysian student at the Steven Institute of Technology, New Jersey, who is also the president of the Malaysia Steven Association, Muhammad Izwan Abdul Malik said the Malaysian Students Department in Washington DC had sent an email to all Malaysian students which, among other things, asked them to constantly inform about their situation and condition to the department, and in case they needed aid.
The Malaysian Consulate in New York had also sent the SMS to Malaysians asking them to always be wary and informing them that the consulate office would be closed on Monday.
— BERNAMA
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