New Jersey - Hours before the worst of Sandy was supposed to come ashore, conditions in Atlantic City were already quickly deteriorating on Monday morning, with major street flooding and authorities reporting that the north end of the boardwalk is already on the verge of collapse.However, conditions were poor, making it difficult to travel to the area.
Massive waves pounded the beach and the entrances to the boardwalk were flooded and impassable. Three shelters are already reported full as Atlantic Avenue was already flooded with three feet of water at 7 a.m. and it was increasingly impossible to drive. Strong winds battered the boardwalk making it hard to stand. Emergency workers tried to get some of the homeless to leave but a few stubbornly stayed on their benches, at least until the worst of the storm arrives later today.
Earth Changes
© The Associated Press/Gerry Broome
Utilities and state road workers monitor the situation on Virginia Dare Trail as rain and wind from Hurricane Sandy engulf the beachfront road in Kill Devil Hills, N.C., Sunday, Oct. 28, 2012.
Utilities and state road workers monitor the situation on Virginia Dare Trail as rain and wind from Hurricane Sandy engulf the beachfront road in Kill Devil Hills, N.C., Sunday, Oct. 28, 2012.
"The time for preparing and talking is about over," Federal Emergency Management Administrator Craig Fugate said Sunday 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.
Airlines canceled more than 7,200 flights and Amtrak began suspending train service across the Northeast. New York, Philadelphia, Washington and Baltimore moved to shut down their subways, buses and trains and said schools would be closed on Monday. Boston also called off school. And all non-essential government offices closed in the nation's capital.
The New York Stock Exchange said it will be shut down Monday, including electronic trading. Nasdaq is shutting the Nasdaq Stock Market and other U.S. exchanges and markets it owns, although its exchanges outside the U.S. will operate as scheduled.
© USGS
2012-10-28 18:54:21 UTC
2012-10-28 09:54:21 UTC-09:00 at epicenter
Location
52.633°N 132.701°W depth=8.2km (5.1mi)
Nearby Cities
159km (99mi) SSW of Masset, Canada
245km (152mi) SW of Prince Rupert, Canada
342km (213mi) SW of Terrace, Canada
595km (370mi) WNW of Campbell River, Canada
640km (398mi) S of Juneau, Alaska
Technical Details
Aftershock data
A cold front has brought disruption to parts of France, with heavy snow falls in the east and strong winds in the south, prompting authorities to issue an "Orange" warning.
In the eastern region of Isere, local residents woke up to heavy snow falls and power cuts.
Local media reports say up to 50,000 households were deprived of electricity on Sunday morning.
In the eastern region of Isere, local residents woke up to heavy snow falls and power cuts.
Local media reports say up to 50,000 households were deprived of electricity on Sunday morning.
Sirens announced the tsunami warning across Hawaii on Saturday night, as thousands of revelers packed streets in Honolulu for the annual Hallowbaloo festival and many others in costumes headed to Halloween parties.
Restaurants, clubs and the festival immediately shut down and the parties turned into bumper-to-bumper traffic jams as residents headed to higher ground.
Visions of the devastating quake and tsunami that killed thousands in Japan in March 2011 fueled the fright, but the waves proved to be smaller and less powerful than feared.
While the warning said waves could surge between 3 and 6 feet, the largest wave, measured in Kahului on the island of Maui, was about 2.5 feet above ambient sea level, according to Gerard Fryer, senior geophysicist at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.
Transit officials in New York are preparing for a total shutdown of subway, bus and train service as Hurricane Sandy continues to bear down on the metropolitan region.
All service will be suspended at 7 p.m. on Sunday.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to start planning for an orderly suspension of service.
New York City subways and buses will start phasing out service at 7 p.m. Metro-North Railroad and the Long Island Rail Road will suspend service at 7 p.m. Sunday.
The city's mass transit system is the nation's largest. The subway alone has a daily ridership of more than 5 million.
All service will be suspended at 7 p.m. on Sunday.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to start planning for an orderly suspension of service.
New York City subways and buses will start phasing out service at 7 p.m. Metro-North Railroad and the Long Island Rail Road will suspend service at 7 p.m. Sunday.
The city's mass transit system is the nation's largest. The subway alone has a daily ridership of more than 5 million.
© NOAA
Fog lends a creepy air to the Oregon coast in this 2009 image.
Fog lends a creepy air to the Oregon coast in this 2009 image.
With Halloween approaching, it's natural to wonder just a little bit more than usual about things that go "bump" in the night. But what about things that go "bloop" in the deep sea?
Poltergeists, witches and ghosts aren't the only source for spooky seasonal mystery. In fact, scientists monitoring the oceans have uncovered a handful of sounds that can't be explained - at least not with any certainty.
With names like "The Bloop," "Train" and "Julia," the sounds have been captured by hydrophones, or underwater microphones, monitored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Here are the six most mysterious noises ever heard in the sea, and what might have made them. [Listen to the Six Spooky Sounds]
1. The Bloop
The decidedly nonspooky nickname for this sound does little to dispel the mystery surrounding it. In 1997, NOAA hydrophones picked up one of the loudest sounds ever recorded off the southern coast of South America: the Bloop (which sounds like, well, a bloop), was recorded by two hydrophones nearly 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers) apart.
© Handout/Getty Images
In this satellite image provided Friday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Hurricane Sandy's huge cloud extent of up to 2,000 miles churns over the Bahamas, as a line of clouds associated with a powerful cold front approaches the East Coast of the U.S.
In this satellite image provided Friday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Hurricane Sandy's huge cloud extent of up to 2,000 miles churns over the Bahamas, as a line of clouds associated with a powerful cold front approaches the East Coast of the U.S.
It is clear, however, that Sandy will be remembered as the storm that broke all the rules and baffled the nation's top weather forecasters.
Early Saturday morning, the National Weather Service downgraded the storm from a hurricane to a tropical storm - only to return it to hurricane status a few hours later. Either way, forecasters warn, "widespread impacts" are expected along the coast.
Three days before reaching land - a time when the National Hurricane Center usually puts a bull's-eye on a small stretch of coast - government forecasters were still talking about the possibility of the storm striking anywhere from Maryland to New York.
Their uncertainty was especially surprising because hurricane track forecasts have become so good in the past couple of decades. They are usually accurate five or more days out.
Yet during a press conference on Friday, James Franklin of the NHC was still deflecting reporters' questions about Sandy's track. "We cannot be precise at this stage about exactly where it will come in," he said.
Forecasters say Sandy just isn't like other hurricanes.
"The whole thing is unprecedented," Henry Margusity of AccuWeather told NPR's Melissa Block. "We've never seen anything like this."
Santa Barbara authorities just released a statement explaining residents are in no immediate danger of a potential tsunami triggered by the 7.7 magnitude earthquake that struck northwest Canada at 9:04 pm Saturday tonight.
The quake was centered near a remote area of Prince Rupert, BC, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre has issued warnings for coastal areas from the northern tip of Vancouver Island to Cape Decision. Multiple aftershocks have been felt since the first tremor, according to the Toronto Star.
The quake was centered near a remote area of Prince Rupert, BC, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre has issued warnings for coastal areas from the northern tip of Vancouver Island to Cape Decision. Multiple aftershocks have been felt since the first tremor, according to the Toronto Star.
© U.S. Geological Survey
This photo released by the U.S. Geological Survey shows the area where a 7.7 magnitude earthquake is reported to have struck the north-central coast of British Columbia.
This photo released by the U.S. Geological Survey shows the area where a 7.7 magnitude earthquake is reported to have struck the north-central coast of British Columbia.
People in coastal areas were told to move inland to higher ground while residents in low-lying coastal areas were ordered to be on alert for instructions from their local emergency officials after the tsunami warning was issued just before 8 p.m. local time.
The epicentre was reported in coastal waters about 40 kilometres south of Sandspit, B.C. at a depth of 19 kilometres.
Natural Resources Canada issued a statement Saturday: "A major earthquake occurred in the Haida Gwaii region. It was felt across much of north-central B.C., including Haida Gwaii, Prince Rupert, Quesnel and Houston. There have been no reports of damage at this time."
