Superstorm Sandy's toll: Mounting deaths, historic destruction, stranded residents

Live blog: Superstorm Sandy's aftermath
The aftermath of Superstorm Sandy focused on searches for the missing and restoration of power.
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  • Superstorm Sandy's toll: Mounting deaths, historic destruction, stranded residents
    Taxis sit in a flooded lot in Hoboken, New Jersey, on Tuesday.
    October 30th, 2012
    11:02 PM ET

    Superstorm Sandy's toll: Mounting deaths, historic destruction, stranded residents

    Editor's Note: Superstorm Sandy smashed ashore last night, triggering floods, fires and devastation. At least 33 people are known to have died in the United States and one in Canada, adding to the storm’s earlier toll of 67. Millions are without power. Floods have hit homes and the New York subway system. Here is the full story and below is the latest news as we learn it.
    Are you there? Send your stories and photos to CNN iReport but stay safe.
    [Update 11:02 p.m.]  Superstorm Sandy continues to weaken over Pennsylvania. It is some 50 miles east-northeast of Pittsburgh, according to an 11 p.m. advisory from the National Hurricane Center. The storm is expected to move northward into Canada on Wednesday.
    [Update 10:57 p.m.]  About 6.6 million customers are without power in 15 states and the District of Columbia, according to figures compiled by CNN from power companies. That's about 300,000 less than the tally roughly 2 1/2 hours ago.
    [Update 10:47 p.m.]  Halloween activities at the White House have been canceled because of the storm, according to the official schedule.
    [Update 10:29 p.m.]  Even residents used to storms were struck by the severity of Superstorm Sandy.
    “You would not believe the amount of ocean water that has pushed through onto the shore, down blocks. It has downed trees, power poles. People are just heartbroken here,” said Jon Daniel, who lives two blocks away from the ocean in Deal, New Jersey.
    “Everything is different now. We doubt anything will ever be the same again here.”
    [Update 9:41 p.m.]  New York public transportation all but ground to halt with the storm. It is slowly coming back. Buses are on the road now for limited service, and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority expects to know more about service restorations tomorrow.

    [Update 9:19 p.m.]  New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport will be open tomorrow, as will Newark Liberty International in New Jersey. However, carriers will be providing limited service at both, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Other area airports, LaGuardia and Teterboro, are expected to remain closed.
    [Update 9:03 p.m.]  New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie toured damage in his state today. Here's one of the stunning photographs his office released:
    A bird's-eye view of the flooding.
    [Update 8:31 p.m.]  About 6.9 million customers are without power in 15 states and the District of Columbia, according to figures compiled by CNN from power companies. That's about 1 million less than the tally roughly four hours ago.
    [Update 8:20 p.m.] Six people have died in storm-related incidents in New Jersey, Gov. Chris Christie told reporters Tuesday night.
    His state's figure raises the overall U.S. death toll from Superstorm Sandy to at least 33.
    [Update 8:06 p.m.] Hudson River ferry service will restart at 7 a.m. tomorrow from New Jersey to the World Financial Center in New York, giving commuters an alternative way to get into and out of lower Manhattan, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey says.
    [Update 7:20 p.m.] An off-duty police officer in New York City was found dead this morning in the basement of his flooded home. As Superstorm Sandy struck, he shepherded his family into the attic, according to city police. He then went to the basement, and never returned.
    Police Officer Artur Kasprzak
    Emergency personnel responded to the house last night but were unable to enter it because of downed power lines in the water. The off-duty officer, Artur Kasprzak, 28, was a seven-year veteran of the department.
    [Update 6:17 p.m.] More from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who announced minutes earlier that the city's death toll related to Sandy has risen to 18:
    Bloomberg said he took an aerial tour of the city today, to survey the areas hardest hit. Public schools will remain closed tomorrow, but his understanding – at this point – is that Sunday’s New York City marathon will happen as planned.
    "We have a plan for recovery, and that recovery is already beginning," Bloomberg said. "I’m happy to say it’s the beginning of a process that we all know will take a while, but this is the end of the downside and hopefully from here is going up."
    About 6,400 people remain at the city's 76 evacuation centers, he said.
    "Restoring power and mass transit remain the two biggest challenges in the days ahead," Bloomberg said. "That recovery is a mammoth job."
    [Update 6:13 p.m.] Eighteen people in New York City have died as a result of the storm, Mayor Michael Bloomberg tells reporters.
    At CNN's last count, 15 had been reported dead in all of New York state. We'll have more details about the death toll later.
    [Update 6:04 p.m.] “All things considered,” Atlantic City, New Jersey, “did pretty good,” Mayor Lorenzo Langford told CNN.
    “The property damage … is pretty extensive. But I’m happy to report that the human damage, if your will, has been minimal. And so I think our glass is half full here in Atlantic City.”
    All the major roadways into the city remain closed, Langford said, and some 13,000 customers are still without power.
    [Update 5:42 p.m.] Sandy and its aftermath continue to wreak havoc on air travel. At Chicago O’Hare International Airport, airlines have canceled close to 500 flights to and from the East Coast. Locally, some local flights are experiencing delays because of strong winds.
    [Update 5:31 p.m.] Keith Paul, owner of a restaurant in Toms River, New Jersey, says he escaped nearby Seaside Heights – on a barrier island across a bay from Toms River – just minutes before the storm disabled a bridge on Monday afternoon.
    Paul was one of the last people to leave the island, which was under an evacuation order, before the storm hit. Police and rescue teams have been working to evacuate about 200 people who are stranded on New Jersey's barrier islands, including the one containing Seaside Heights.
    "Within two minutes of leaving, light poles came across the bridge, so if we didn’t leave when we did, we would have been stuck there," Paul told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Wednesday.
    Water washed over Seaside Heights and other barrier island locations, tearing apart some structures and leaving sand and debris all over the area (see the National Guard's video of the area, above). Paul said he say Seaside Heights' Berkeley Sweet Shop get torn apart in the storm. He says that, according to pictures he's seen and information from friends, that half of the rids at FunTown Amusement Pier in nearby Seaside Park "are in the ocean."
    Toms River, on the mainland, also is a mess, Paul said. His restaurant will be closed for days, he said, and some people in that city need rescuing from homes surrounded by floodwater.
    "You really can’t drive anywhere around this town," Paul said. "I’ve never, ever seen anything like it.”
    [Update 4:56 p.m.] One of the 60 people stranded on Fire Island, New York, says she and her husband are doing OK in their home and doesn't regret riding out the storm there.
    Karen Boss and other Fire Island residents disregarded a pre-storm evacuation order and now are, for the moment, stuck there with contaminated water and no electric service. She told CNN by phone that a generator is powering her house now. There is floodwater under her house, but the interior is not flooded, she said.
    "The winds were wild," she said of the storm. "My house was rocking. ... We did head up toward the ocean - the waves were extremely, extremely high. When the high tide came into the bay ... water gushed over the boardwalk."
    Rescuers had helped 14 people off the island – south of Long Island – by Tuesday morning, said Vanessa Baird-Streeter, director of communications for Suffolk County.
    [Update 4:23 p.m.] About 7.915 million customers are without power in 15 states and the District of Columbia, according to figures compiled by CNN from power companies. That's about 68,000 lower than the tally about two hours ago.
    [Update 4:18 p.m.] Federal agencies in Washington will be open tomorrow. They were closed Monday and Tuesday because of the storm.
    [Update 3:59 p.m.] The U.S. death toll from Superstorm Sandy has risen to 30, with a death just reported in North Carolina.
    The toll includes 15 in New York; three in New Jersey; three in Pennsylvania; two in Maryland; two in Connecticut; two in Virginia, one in West Virginia, one in North Carolina, and one on the HMS Bounty.
    One person was killed in Canada, and 67 were killed in the Caribbean, including 51 in Haiti. The overall death toll stands at 98.
    [Update 3:26 p.m.] Police and rescue teams have assisted evacuating about 200 people stranded on New Jersey's barrier islands, CNN's Michael Holmes and Roger Clark report from outside Toms River, just west of the islands.
    People on the islands had been ordered to evacuate ahead of the storm, but many stayed. Though many people need rescuing, no deaths on the islands have been reported. Emergency evacuations for the day have been suspended, however, because of the coming darkness.
    [Update 3:12 p.m.] JetBlue Airways has posted a few flooding pictures from New York's LaGuardia Airport, which is closed because of the storm.
    LaGuardia is not expected to open Wednesday either because of extensive damage, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said during a news conference this morning. New York's JFK International Airport probably will be reopened tomorrow, he said.
    [Update 3:04 p.m.] President Barack Obama said he wants no excuses from anyone in the federal government when it comes to providing resources to those who need it because of the storm.
    "My message to the federal government: no bureaucracy, no red tape, get resources where they’re needed as fast as possible, as hard as possible, and for the duration," Obama said at the Red Cross headquarters in Washington.
    He added: "My message to the governors and the mayors, and through them to the communities that were hit so hard, is that we'll do everything we can to get resources to you and (get) any unmet need identified."
    Obama also warned that the storm is still moving north, and encouraged Americans to stay alert.
    The White House has said Obama will travel to New Jersey on Wednesday "where he will join Gov. Christie in viewing the storm damage, talking with citizens who are recovering from the storm and thanking first responders who put their lives at risk to protect their communities."
    [Update 2:55 p.m.] U.S. Rep. Bob Turner, R-New York, is one of people who lost a home in a massive fire that happened during the storm early Tuesday in the Breezy Point neighborhood of Queens, New York. More than 80 homes were destroyed in the blaze.
    "I, along with many other Breezy Point residents, lost our homes last night and I am grateful that my family and I are safe after this destructive storm," Turner said in a statement released Tuesday. "I hope you will join me in lending a hand to those who were less fortunate and keep everyone impacted by this storm in your thoughts and prayers."
    Turner said his "thoughts and prayers are with all of my fellow New Yorkers and the many others who are experiencing loss as a result of Hurricane Sandy."
    "Last night's storm showed once again that the professionalism and bravery of our first responders is second to none. I want to commend the men and women who put their lives on the line everyday in order to keep others safe," he said.
    Turner was elected last year in a special election to replace former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner.
    [Update 2:43 p.m.] Though the remnants of Sandy are now centered over western Pennsylvania, the large storm still will affect the East Coast this afternoon, and during high tide some more coastal flooding – in the range of 2 to 4 feet – is possible, said the National Hurricane Center's director, Rick Knabb.
    Some minor shoreline flooding also could happen at the Great Lakes, Knabb said. The storm's center is expected to be north of the Great Lakes, in Canada, on Wednesday, he said. A couple of hours ago, the storm's maximum sustained winds were at 45 mph.
    "I don't want people to (think) that the weather event is anywhere near over," Knabb said.
    [Update 2:31 p.m.] About 8 million customers are without power in 15 states and the District of Columbia, according to numbers compiled by CNN from local power providers. Our previous count, around 10 a.m., was about 7.5 million customers.
    [Update 2:09 p.m.] From Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley:
    [Update 1:56 p.m.] Restoration of power to all customers in areas served by overhead power lines could take at least a week; restoring underground lines will take four days, according to Con Edison, which provides power in most of New York City and Westchester County, New York.
    [Update 1:49 p.m.] Half of Hoboken, New Jersey, is flooded, Mayor Dawn Zimmer told CNN.
    "The Hudson River came in and filled half of Hoboken like a bathtub," she said.  Pump stations are flooded, and much of the city will not be able to get power back until that flooding is gone.
    There's "major concern" about people walking in the streets, because live wires could be in there, Zimmer said.
    [Update 1:39 p.m.] CNN has video of a crane's partial collapse in New York City today.
    [Update 1:19 p.m.] New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg tweets:
    [Update 1:05 p.m.] The U.S. death toll from Superstorm Sandy has risen to 29, with another death reported in Pennsylvania and two in Virginia.
    The toll includes 15 in New York; three in New Jersey; three in Pennsylvania; two in Maryland; two in Connecticut; two in Virginia, one in West Virginia, and one on the HMS Bounty.
    One person was killed in Canada, and 67 were killed in the Caribbean, including 51 in Haiti.  The overall death toll stands at 97.
    [Update 12:56 p.m.] In the Breezy Point neighborhood of Queens, New York, where the storm has damaged many houses and fire is believed to have destroyed 80 homes, T.J. Gilmartin told CNN that a three-block area is a place of “total destruction.”
    “There is nothing in this one cluster of homes,” Gilmartin said. “And every house along the side that’s still up is damaged. Every one, they’re off their foundations. … Even the sidewalk is ripped up.”
    He was checking the area for his brother, who lives in the area but isn’t there today.
    “I walked up, took a few pictures, and I’m going to e-mail them to my brother,” he said.
    [Update 12:53 p.m.] The New York Stock Exchange says it will reopen Wednesday morning after being closed for two days due to Superstorm Sandy.
    [Update 12:30 p.m.] About 60 people are stranded on New York's Fire Island with contaminated water and no electricity after they did not obey mandatory evacuation orders over the weekend, officials say.
    "We were able on Monday morning to rescue about 14 people" from the island, said Vanessa Baird-Streeter, director of communications for Suffolk County.
    Now, officials are working to make sure those left on the island are safe.  The Coast Guard is flying over the area.
    Long Island Power Authority had "de-energized" the area after the mandatory evacuation, Baird-Streeter said.
    [Update 12:20 p.m.] New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority says it will resume limited bus service today at 5 p.m.  Fares will be waived for the time being, the MTA said on Twitter.
    [Update 12:16 p.m. ET] About 300 blood drives across the country had to be canceled because of the superstorm, leaving a shortfall of almost 9,000 units, the Red Cross says.
    One way to help people: donate blood, the organization tweeted.
    For other ways to help, visit CNN.com/Impact.
    [Update 12:07 p.m. ET] Want to help New Yorkers? The mayor's office says this is one way to do it.
    		 COPY http://edition.cnn.com/
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