Hurricane Sandy Threats New York
"There will be school closures, travel will be messed up for days and major airports will be closed," said Henry Margusity, a senior meteorologist with AccuWeather, on Saturday. "This could be a disaster of biblical proportions—a multibillion-dollar disaster."

Under a worst-case scenario, New York could face the most intense storm in its history. See related story by meteorologist Eric Holthaus on how storm has potential to break weather records.

The storm could bring in high winds and heavy rain to New York City that could make operating transit lines, tunnels and bridges dangerous. Nearly 15 million people in a 5,000-square-mile area stretching from New York City through Long Island, southeastern New York state and Connecticut.
Hurricane Sandy closed in on the United States on Saturday as it threatened to smack the eastern third of the country with torrential rains, high winds, major flooding and power outages a week before the U.S. presidential election.

On its current projected track, Sandy could make U.S. landfall on Monday night or Tuesday anywhere between Maryland and southern New England, forecasters said. Rain accumulations of up to 12 inches and heavy snowfall inland are considered likely in some areas.

As it merges with an Arctic jet stream, forecasters said Sandy has all the ingredients to transform into a "super storm" unlike anything seen over the eastern United States in decades.

It is a massive, slow-moving storm with tropical storm-force winds extending across 650 miles. Forecasters said its flooding impact could span multiple tides with a storm surge of 4 to 8 feet in Long Island Sound, the southern portion of Lower New York Bay and Delaware Bay.

"This is going to go well inland," Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Craig Fugate said.

"This is not a coastal threat alone," Fugate added, warning of the potential for flooding in Maryland and Pennsylvania, as well as more than 2 feet of snow in West Virginia.

Governors in states along the U.S. East Coast declared emergencies, with officials urging residents to stock up on food, water and batteries.

The storm's wind field expanded on Saturday, with hurricane force winds now extending 105 miles from its center, increasing the risk of downed trees and power lines, government forecasters said.

Coastal flooding posed a major threat, particularly in low-lying areas like New York City, the global financial nerve center, and Alexandria, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.

That threat was described in a blog posted on Weather Underground (www.wunderground.com) by veteran weather forecaster Bryan Norcross as "serious as a heart attack for anybody near the rising water."

Sandy claimed at least 59 lives as it made its way through the Caribbean islands, including 44 people in southern Haiti, mostly from flash flooding and mudslides, according to authorities. Another 11 people died in Cuba, largely due to from collapsed buildings, officials said.

Coming in the hectic run-up to the November 6 election, the storm presented a challenge to the campaigns of President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

As Sandy approached, Romney was rescheduling all of his campaign events planned for Virginia on Sunday and flying to Ohio instead. And Obama's campaign announced that Vice President Joe Biden has canceled a Saturday trip to Virginia Beach.

EMERGENCY PREPARATIONS

Ahead of the election, millions of Americans are taking advantage of early voting arrangements to cast their ballots. State officials said they have put in place contingency plans in case Sandy caused extended power outages or other problems that could disrupt voting.

The White House said Obama convened a call with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, FEMA's Fugate and other officials to receive a Saturday update on ongoing government actions to prepare for the storm.

Officials said 50 to 60 million people could be affected by Sandy, which many forecasters warn could be more destructive than Irene, which caused billions of dollars in damage across the U.S. Northeast in August 2011.

"People should be ready for the possibility of power outages paired with cold temperatures. Now is the time to prepare," Fugate said.

In New York, authorities were considering closing down the city's buses, subways, commuter railroads, bridges and tunnels in preparation for the storm's arrival.

A potential shutdown could begin at 7 p.m. on Sunday, when the last commuter trains would depart, with the entire system to be closed down by 3 a.m. Monday, officials said.

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