Superstorm may be biggest to hit east US
Source: Agencies |
October 29, 2012, Monday
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NEW York-based stock exchanges sent officials into Manhattan yesterday to stay in hotels and co-workers' homes as the NYSE and Nasdaq prepare to open for business today, even as Hurricane Sandy closes off public transport links.
Hurricane Sandy may slam into the East Coast later tonight, bringing torrential rains, high winds, severe flooding and power outages, according to forecasters.
The rare superstorm, created by an Arctic jetstream wrapping itself around a tropical storm, could be the biggest to hit the US mainland.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg yesterday ordered the evacuation of 375,000 people in low-lying areas threatened by Hurricane Sandy.
"This is a serious and dangerous storm," Bloomberg told a news conference as he ordered the mandatory evacuation ahead of the storm which is expected to start hitting today.
New York's subway, bus and rail systems would suspend service by 7pm yesterday, Governor Andrew Cuomo said, which means there will be no public transport into or within the city. About 8.5 million commuters use the Metropolitan Transit Authority's rail, bus and subway lines daily.
A spokesman for NYSE Euronext said after the Cuomo announcement that the New York Stock Exchange was monitoring the situation but still planned to open for trading today. A spokesman for Nasdaq OMX Group said the Nasdaq would open for trading as normal today.
The major exchanges and most big trading firms have alternate trading facilities if downtown New York is inaccessible, but the storm's wide path may affect a number of sites in the New York metropolitan area. Authorities have warned of possible widespread power outages that could last for days.
"Preparations are in place for our US markets to operate normally on Monday. If conditions change, notifications will be posted," the NYSE said in a statement on its website.
Sandy's storm surge has the potential to flood New York city's subway system if the storm arrives at or near this evening's high tide around 9pm, according to hurricane specialist Jeff Masters, who writes a Weather Underground blog.
Tens of millions of people in the eastern third of the US in the path of a massive freak storm had braced yesterday for the first raindrops that were expected later in the day, to be followed over the next few days by sheets of rain, high winds and even heavy snow.
Hurricane Sandy was headed north from the Caribbean, where it left nearly five dozen dead, to meet a winter storm and a cold front, plus high tides from a full moon, and experts said the rare hybrid storm that results will cause havoc over 1,300 kilometers from the East Coast to the Great Lakes.
The danger was hardly limited to coastal areas. Forecasters were far more worried about inland flooding from the storm surge than they were about winds. Rains could saturate the ground, causing trees to topple into power lines, utility officials said, warning residents to prepare for several days at home without power.
States of emergency were declared from North Carolina, where gusty winds whipped steady rain yesterday morning, to Connecticut.
Hurricane Sandy may slam into the East Coast later tonight, bringing torrential rains, high winds, severe flooding and power outages, according to forecasters.
The rare superstorm, created by an Arctic jetstream wrapping itself around a tropical storm, could be the biggest to hit the US mainland.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg yesterday ordered the evacuation of 375,000 people in low-lying areas threatened by Hurricane Sandy.
"This is a serious and dangerous storm," Bloomberg told a news conference as he ordered the mandatory evacuation ahead of the storm which is expected to start hitting today.
New York's subway, bus and rail systems would suspend service by 7pm yesterday, Governor Andrew Cuomo said, which means there will be no public transport into or within the city. About 8.5 million commuters use the Metropolitan Transit Authority's rail, bus and subway lines daily.
A spokesman for NYSE Euronext said after the Cuomo announcement that the New York Stock Exchange was monitoring the situation but still planned to open for trading today. A spokesman for Nasdaq OMX Group said the Nasdaq would open for trading as normal today.
The major exchanges and most big trading firms have alternate trading facilities if downtown New York is inaccessible, but the storm's wide path may affect a number of sites in the New York metropolitan area. Authorities have warned of possible widespread power outages that could last for days.
"Preparations are in place for our US markets to operate normally on Monday. If conditions change, notifications will be posted," the NYSE said in a statement on its website.
Sandy's storm surge has the potential to flood New York city's subway system if the storm arrives at or near this evening's high tide around 9pm, according to hurricane specialist Jeff Masters, who writes a Weather Underground blog.
Tens of millions of people in the eastern third of the US in the path of a massive freak storm had braced yesterday for the first raindrops that were expected later in the day, to be followed over the next few days by sheets of rain, high winds and even heavy snow.
Hurricane Sandy was headed north from the Caribbean, where it left nearly five dozen dead, to meet a winter storm and a cold front, plus high tides from a full moon, and experts said the rare hybrid storm that results will cause havoc over 1,300 kilometers from the East Coast to the Great Lakes.
The danger was hardly limited to coastal areas. Forecasters were far more worried about inland flooding from the storm surge than they were about winds. Rains could saturate the ground, causing trees to topple into power lines, utility officials said, warning residents to prepare for several days at home without power.
States of emergency were declared from North Carolina, where gusty winds whipped steady rain yesterday morning, to Connecticut.
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