Storm Aftermath Day 1

This morning the East Coast woke up to the havoc of Hurricane Sandy. Reports of widespread destruction are just hitting the media. New Jersey bore the brunt of the storm's landfall, while Lower Manhattan was deluged by 13-foot high tides. Power is out for millions from Virginia to New England, as the remnants of the hurricane dissipate on its path through the Midwest to Canada. Most of my friends are fine, but a ConEd substation on Avenue D and 14th Street exploded last night. This vital link in the city's powergrid could harbinger muhc touhg times ahead, for in Katrina the chaos didn't start until after the passage of the storm. President Obama has declared a State of Emergency for New York. BBC News reported the following updates -Fire has destroyed about 50 homes in the New York City borough of Queens -More than 200 patients were evacuated from New York University's Tisch Hospital after power went out and a backup generator failed -A large tanker ship has been washed on to a street in Staten Island, New York -America's oldest nuclear power plant, Oyster Creek in New Jersey, was put on alert due to rising water, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said -The New York Stock Exchange will stay shut on Tuesday - the first time it has closed for two consecutive days owing to weather since 1888 -A crew member from a replica of HMS Bounty has died and the captain is missing after the ship sank in mountainous seas off North Carolina on Monday -New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the storm surge had surpassed the highest forecast, but he expected waters to start receding. Airports are shut. Railroads are shut. Subways and buses are shut. NYC is off-line, but the Fort Greene Observatory stays open.