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October 28, 2012

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US East Coast a bulls eye for megastorm

HURRICANE Sandy upgraded again yesterday, just hours after forecasters said it had weakened to a tropical storm, headed north from the Caribbean and was expected to pummel the eastern United States.

The US National Weather Service said the storm is likely to make landfall early Tuesday near the Delaware coast, then hit two winter weather systems as it moves inland. That may create a rare hybrid monster storm that could bring nearly 30 centimeters of rain, high winds and up to 60 centimeters of snow.

Yesterday morning, forecasters said hurricane-force winds of 120 kph could be felt 160 kilometers away from Sandy's center.

Sandy killed 43 people in the Caribbean, wrecked homes and knocked down trees and power lines. Early yesterday, the storm was about 250 kilometers north of Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas and 565 kilometers south-southeast of Charleston, South Carolina.

Tropical storm warnings were issued for parts of Florida's East Coast, parts of coastal North and South Carolina and the Bahamas. Tropical storm watches were issued for coastal Georgia parts of South Carolina and parts of Florida and Bermuda.

Up and down the east coast of the United States, people were cautioned to be prepared for days without electricity.

"Be forewarned," said Connecticut Governor Dannel P Malloy, "Assume that you will be in the midst of flooding conditions, the likes of which you may not have seen at any of the major storms that have occurred over the last 30 years."

On the shore of New Jersey state, beach towns began issuing voluntary evacuations and protecting boardwalks, and Atlantic City casinos made contingency plans to close.

With a rare mix of three big merging weather systems over a densely populated region, experts predict at least US$1 billion in damage. Sandy, having blown through Haiti and Cuba continues to barrel north. A wintry storm was moving across the US from the west, and frigid air was streaming south from Canada.

If they meet Tuesday morning around New York or New Jersey, as forecasters predict, they could create a big, wet mess that settles over the nation's most heavily populated corridor and reaches as far west as Ohio.

Government forecasters said there is a 90 percent chance - up from 60 percent two days earlier - that the East Coast will get pounded.

"It's going to be a long-lasting event, two to three days of impact for a lot of people," said James Franklin, forecast chief for the National Hurricane Center.




 

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