Seorang lelaki berjalan ke jalan dibanjiri hadapan Taufan Sandy pada 29 Oktober, 2012 di Atlantic City, New Jersey. (A man walks down a flooded street ahead of Hurricane Sandy on October 29, 2012 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. (AFP Photo/Mario Tama)
Pantai Timur tepu sebagai superstorm Sandy
menghampiri pantai (PHOTOS) . . .
By 1WC’sChannel (15, Dz ‘Hijjah1433), Wednesday 31, October 2012
Taufan Sandy telah memaksa pemindahan sepanjang jalan sehingga Timur pesisir, walaupun ia masih belum membuat pendaratan. Sebanyak 50 juta orang boleh berakhir dengan cara bahaya, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina dan Virginia sudah dapat melihat banjir. Ribut, yang Pusat Taufan Kebangsaan kini berada sebagai kategori 1, ditetapkan untuk membuat pendaratan di sepanjang pantai New Jersey Isnin petang, dengan angin kuasa-taufan sudah memukul pantai di sana. 14 negeri boleh mengharapkan untuk melihat berterusan angin 75-batu per jam, sebanyak 10 inci hujan dan 2 hingga 3 kaki salji bermula lewat malam Isnin.
Ribut yang amat besar telah membawa angin ribut-kuasa setinggi 73 mph sepanjang jalan dari selatan Maine Bank Luar North Carolina. Penduduk berkenaan Luar telah bersedia untuk menghadapi banjir yang lebih pada Isnin. Datuk Bandar NYC Michael Bloomberg telah memberi amaran bahawa keadaan dijangka memburukkan lagi, menggesa New York untuk tinggal di dalam rumah. "Keadaan di luar adalah berbahaya, dan mereka hanya akan menjadi lebih teruk pada waktu akan datang," katanya pada satu sidang akhbar. Taufan telah meninggalkan lebih daripada 1.5 juta pelanggan di 11 negeri tanpa kuasa. Negeri-negeri yang terjejas termasuk NY, NJ, MA, PA, CT, DE, MD, RI, NH, ME dan Washington, DC.
"Ia mengubah oleh quarterhour," Keith Voight Edison Electric Institute, persatuan syarikat-syarikat yang menyediakan 75% peratus daripada tenaga negara, memberitahu berita USA Today. "Peramal meramalkan ia boleh menjadi ribut terburuk melanda Pantai Timur dalam 100 tahun." Atlantic City, New Jersey sudah merasakan kesan ribut, dengan jalan-jalan dibanjiri, seksyen titian dipecahkan dan balas pertama meletakkan skor panggilan dari penduduk tempatan yang menyangka mereka boleh naik keluar badai.
Ocean City, New Jersey. (Image from twitter user@digitaldb)
Hurricane Sandy has forced evacuations all the way up Eastern Seaboard, though it has yet to make landfall. As many as 50 million people could end up in harm's way, with New Jersey, New York, North Carolina and Virginia already seeing flooding. The storm, which the National Hurricane Center now ranks as a category 1, is set to make landfall along the New Jersey coast Monday evening, with hurricane-force winds already hitting the coast there. Fourteen states can expect to see sustained 75-mile-per-hour winds, as much as ten inches of rain and two to three feet of snow beginning late Monday night.
The colossal storm has already brought storm-force winds as high as 73 mph all the way from southern Maine to North Carolina's Outer Banks – without its center having hit land. The Outer Banks' residents were bracing for more flooding Monday. NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg has warned that conditions are expected to worsen, urging New Yorkers to stay inside. “Conditions outside are dangerous, and they are only going to get worse in the hours ahead,” he told a press conference. The hurricane has left more than 1.5 million customers in eleven states without power. The affected states include NY, NJ, MA, PA, CT, DE, MD, RI, NH, ME and Washington, DC.
"It's changing by the quarterhour," Keith Voight of the Edison Electric Institute, the association of companies that provides 75% of the country's power, told USA Today. "Forecasters predicted it could become the worst storm to hit the East Coast in 100 years." Atlantic City, New Jersey is already feeling the effects of the storm, with streets flooded, boardwalk sections broken up and first responders fielding scores of calls from locals who thought they could ride out the storm.
Atlantic City, New Jersey (Image from twitter user@KevinJRawlinson)
"Kebanyakan bandar adalah dalam air," keselamatan awam Atlantic City pengarah Willie Glass berkata. Dengan air sudah mencapai tahap Irene Taufan tahun lepas, bahagian New York dan kawasan sekitarnya sudah dibanjiri juga. Lebuh raya, transit awam dan jambatan ditutup awal. Sekolah-sekolah awam di bandar ini akan kekal tertutup Selasa, akan Bursa Saham New York. Beberapa universiti dan serta muzium di bandar ini telah memilih untuk menutup pintu mereka sehingga notis selanjutnya.
Penduduk Virginia sudah mula berasa ribut Sabtu, dengan kira-kira 53.000 penduduk kehilangan kuasa. Seperti hari Isnin sebanyak 8 inci hujan telah melanda negeri itu. Hampir 6,000 Virginians masih tanpa kuasa, kemudahan tempatan rasmi David Botkins katanya. Sekurang-kurangnya 9,000 penerbangan komersial telah dibatalkan kerana hari Isnin kerana ribut, mengikut nombor yang diberikan oleh FlightAware. Angka kelihatan tertentu untuk berkembang - mungkin memintas 14,000 pembatalan disebabkan untuk Taufan Irene tahun lepas - sebagai Sandy menghampiri pantai.
"Most of the city is underwater," Atlantic City's public safety director Willie Glass said. With water already reaching the levels of last year's Hurricane Irene, parts of New York City and the surrounding areas are already flooded too. Highways, public transit and bridges were closed early on. The city's public schools will remains closed Tuesday, as will the New York Stock Exchange. Some of the city's universities and museums have opted to shut their doors until further notice as well.
Virginia residents had already begun to feel the storm Saturday, with about 53,000 residents losing power. As of Monday as much as eight inches of rain have hit the state. Nearly 6,000 Virginians are still without power, local utilities official David Botkins said. At least 9,000 commercial airline flights have been canceled as of Monday due to the storm, according to numbers posted by FlightAware. The figure looks certain to grow – probably bypassing the 14,000 cancellations due to last year's Hurricane Irene – as Sandy approaches the coast.
Memandu kereta melalui air didorong ke jalan yang oleh Taufan Sandy di Southampton, New York, Oktober 29, 2012. (A car drives through water driven onto a roadway by Hurricane Sandy in Southampton, New York, October 29, 2012. (Reuters/Lucas Jackson)
Beribu-ribu pekerja elektrik adalah pada cara mereka dari sejauh California untuk membantu keluar di Pantai Timur. Pegawai Chicago juga bersedia untuk angin kencang dan gelombang di luarkawalan melonjak Tasik Michigan. Ribut ditetapkan untuk memukul semasa bulan penuh, yang bermaksud air pasang surut pun akan tertinggi mereka bagi bulan ini, meningkatkan risiko banjir. Palang Merah menubuhkan pusat perlindungan dan bekalan untuk membantu penduduk kawasan pantai di seluruh beberapa negeri.
"Kami mahu memastikan kami bersedia untuk musim bunga ke dalam tindakan dengan seberapa segera seperti yang kita sedang diperlukan," kata jurucakap Anne Marie Borrego. Di North Carolina, Coast Guard telah dipanggil keluar untuk menyelamatkan mangsa bot telah karam kira-kira 90 kilometer tenggara bandar Bank Outer Hatteras. 14 dari 16 orang telah diselamatkan, tetapi 2 kekal hilang. Stu Ostro, meteorologi Weather Channel berkata ribut "akan menduduki tempat dalam sejarah sejarah cuaca sebagai salah satu yang paling luar biasa yang telah terjejas Amerika Syarikat."
Air pasang mula membanjiri jalan di kawasan pantai Milford, Connecticut sebagai Taufan Sandy pendekatan Oktober 29, 2012. (High tide begins to flood a street on the shoreline area of Milford, Connecticut as Hurricane Sandy approaches October 29, 2012. (Reuters/Michelle McLoughlin)
Thousands of electric workers are on their way from as far as California to help out on the East Coast. Chicago officials are also preparing for high winds and out-of-control waves surging off of Lake Michigan. The storm is set to hit during a full moon, which means tides will already be at their highest for the month, increasing flood risks. The Red Cross is setting up shelters and supplies to help the residents of coastal areas across several states.
"We want to make sure we're ready to spring into action as soon as we're needed," spokeswoman Anne Marie Borrego said. In North Carolina, the Coast Guard was called out to rescue survivors of a capsized boat about 90 miles southeast of the Outer Banks town of Hatteras. Fourteen of 16 people were saved, but two remain missing. Stu Ostro, a meteorologist at the Weather Channel said the storm "will occupy a place in the annals of weather history as one of the most extraordinary to have affected the United States."
Atlantic City, New Jersey (Image from twitter user@Hoeboma)
Hoboken, New Jersey. (Image from twitter user@scooterbeanbag)
Hoboken, New Jersey. (Image from twitter user@PiersTonight)
Satu Boardwalk kosong sebelum ketibaan Taufan Sandy Oktober 29, 2012 di Atlantic City, New Jersey. (An empty Boardwalk before the arrival of Hurricane Sandy October 29, 2012 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. (AFP Photo/Stan Honda)
Atlantic City, AC Coast Guard base (Image from twitter user@twc_hurricane)
Joe Wagner (kiri), dan Donald Wistozt (kanan), berjalan pada dok dibanjiri oleh Taufan Sandy, pada 29 Oktober, 2012 di Cape May, New Jersey. (Joe Wagner (L), and Donald Wistozt (R), walk on the docks flooded by Hurricane Sandy, on October 29, 2012 in Cape May, New Jersey. (AFP Photo/Mark Wilson)
Satu dinding air membuat jalan ke pantai sebagai penduduk berenang dalam melayari besar di Ocean City, Maryland, sebagai Taufan Sandy menguatkan Oktober 29, 2012. (A wall of water makes its way to shore as residents take a dip in the big surf in Ocean City, Maryland, as Hurricane Sandy intensifies October 29, 2012. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)