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                        Superstorm Sandy Floods New York

   by VOA News

   The massive storm named Sandy has brought torrential rain, high winds
   and dangerous tidal surges to one of the nation's most densely
   populated regions and killing at least 14 people.
    With winds still reaching 120 kilometers per hour, Sandy came ashore
   Monday with hurricane-strength winds some 200 kilometers south of New
   York, bringing a storm surge of four meters to lower Manhattan.  The
   usually bustling city was brought to a halt.  More than one million
   people in the area of the nation's largest city are without power.
   More than six million homes and businesses along the U.S. east coast
   and farther inland are without power.  The center of the storm moved
   inland early Tuesday.
   A New Jersey nuclear power plant declared an alert after waters rose to
   a designated high-level mark.  Officials said there were no safety
   concerns at the plant, which was shut off for maintenance.
   The deaths were reported across the affected region, from the U.S.
   state of Maryland to the Canadian city of Toronto. Most of the
   fatalities resulted from falling trees or traffic accidents.
   Tunnels and streets in low-lying areas of New York City were flooded,
   including the construction site where the World Trade Center once
   stood. Some residents were ordered to evacuate. The facade of an
   apartment building in the Chelsea neighborhood crumbled and fell,
   leaving entire apartments and their furnishings exposed to the
   elements. Cars in low-lying areas have been seen floating down the
   streets.
   Other U.S. cities along the Eastern seaboard, including Washington,
   were also at a standstill, with public transit systems suspended,
   airports closed and millions of people forced to stay home from work
   yet another day Tuesday.  Unseasonably powerful blizzards struck
   farther inland.  As much as a meter of snow was predicted in some
   places, as the storm spanned some 1,500 kilometers.
   Thousands of flights were canceled in the U.S. mid-Atlantic and
   northeast. Amtrak canceled passenger rail travel on the eastern
   seaboard, and major stock exchanges are closed for a second day
   Tuesday.
   President Barack Obama canceled election campaign events Monday to
   monitor the storm from the White House.
   Authorities in nine U.S. states and Washington, D.C. have declared
   states of emergency.   U.S. federal government offices were closed
   Monday and will remain so on Tuesday. The Department of Defense says
   nearly 2,000 members of the National Guard have been activated to help
   with disaster response and some 60,000 more are on standby.
   U.S. Coast Guard helicopters rescued 14 crew members who abandoned the
   HMS Bounty after it started to take on water off the coast of the state
   of North Carolina. Another crew member, who was termed "unresponsive"
   when found, has been pronounced dead at a hospital. The Coast Guard
   says the ship sank and that the captain is still missing.  The Bounty,
   a replica of an 18th century tall ship, was featured in the 1962 film
   "Mutiny on the Bounty."
   Sandy killed at least 65 people in the Caribbean last week before it
   moved toward the United States.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/superstorm-sandy-floods-new-york/1535
   799.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/superstorm-sandy-floods-new-york/1535799.html