Hurricane Sandy is going to fuck shit up

Tens of millions of people braced themselves for the arrival of hurricane Sandy on Sunday, as the gigantic storm threatened to unleash punishing winds, driving rain, heavy snow and a potentially lethal storm surge along the east coast of the US.

The hurricane, which has claimed 65 lives in the Caribbean, is also likely to play havoc with the US election, introducing a fresh element of uncertainty and disruption in the final days of the closely contested campaign.

Although Sandy is not expected to make landfall until late on Monday, gale-force winds were on Sunday night already buffeting Virginia and North Carolina. The "super-storm" is expected to veer left towards the east coast, colliding with wintry weather moving in from the west and cold air streaming down from the Arctic.

"It's a very, very large system," Rick Knabb, director of the National Hurricane Center, told Reuters. "The storm is going to carve a pretty large swath of bad weather, both water and wind."

New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Baltimore and Boston all lie in the target zone, but Sandy is likely to cause disruption across much of the US and officials warned it could cause power cuts lasting for days. "The time for preparing and talking is about over," warned Craig Fugate, federal emergency management administrator. "People need to be acting now."

Barack Obama and Mitt Romney have both been forced to cancel events scheduled for Sunday and Monday, and the Obama campaign's "early vote" strategy is in danger of being thrown into disarray. Instead, the president had more pressing matters at hand, as he signed emergency declarations for the states of New York, Massachusetts and the District of Columbia.

New York's mayor, Michael Bloomberg, ordered the evacuation of some 375,000 people from low-lying areas and public schools were told to close on Monday. For only the second time in the city's history, the subway system is to be closed. "If you don't evacuate, you are not only endangering your life, you are also endangering the lives of the first responders who are going in to rescue you," Bloomberg said. "This is a serious and dangerous storm."Although similar warnings of serious damage in New York last year turned out to be empty, people are taking few chances. Supermarkets were packed as customers stocked up, businesses closed early and nursing homes were being evacuated.

Airlines cancelled more than 5,000 flights and Amtrak began suspending passenger train services across the northeast. Philadelphia also shut down its subways, buses and commuter trains and announced that schools would be closed on Monday. Boston, Washington and Baltimore also called off school.

Surely the Subway is one of the few things that wouldn't be affected?

Doug Barotra managed to carry more than 50 cans of beer out of his local supermarket after waiting 45 minutes to get to the cashier. He is expecting the worst from Hurricane Sandy.

‘‘As long as the power doesn’t go, I think I’ll survive,’’ Barotra said as he struggled with his load on New York’s Third Avenue back to his Midtown apartment.

‘‘I live on the 18th floor, if it gets bad I’m just going to stay there for the next three days.’’

I bet Hurricane Sandy can't wait to be like Snooki, blowing the whole east coast.

Surely the Subway is one of the few things that wouldn't be affected?

Three things:

1. Great thread title.
2. Does anyone have a good stream of the thing going off?
3. Didn't the same thing happen last year and it was all blown out of proportion and New York was fine?

Here's a feed of a webcam stuck on the top of the New York Times building - http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/10/28/nyregion/nyt-webcam.html

Only a still picture every 30 seconds but decent enough.

Respect to the soldier still there despite the storm. Its been constantly watched since 1948

Respect to the soldier still there despite the storm. Its been constantly watched since 1948

The moving photo purporting to show soldiers standing guard at the Arlington National Cemetery monument during Hurricane Sandy quickly spread on the social web. But the Old Guard pointed out that the photo was actually a shot taken in September. (Twitter.com/The_Old_Guard)