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Sandy brings death and darkness to US
NYSE, Nasdaq shut for second day
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Storm claims ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ ship
N-plants hit, oldest declares rare alert
Construction crane dangles over New York street
Megastorm slows N-plants, oldest declares rare alert
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Sandy brings death and darkness to US
Megastorm Sandy hit the US east coast with fierce force on Tuesday, killing at least 20 persons across seven states, plunging millions of homes into darkness and leaving the New York Stock Exchange shut for two straight days for the first time since 1888. More than 7.5 million people are believed to be without electricity since last night. One of the biggest storms to hit the US, Sandy brought strong winds and heavy rains, and left at least 10 persons dead in New York itself. The trail of destruction left by the monster storm prompted President Barack Obama to declare it a "major disaster" in New York and New Jersey. During an emergency meeting, Obama told his team that their top priority is to make sure all available resources are being provided to state and local responders as quickly as possible. He also expressed his sadness over deaths from the storm. New York mayor Michael Bloomberg said at least 10 persons were killed as the city stood paralysed by the monster of a storm. The fatalities included a man crushed by a tree in Queens. Quite a number of Indian-Americans, particularly in New Jersey, had to leave their homes and had to be evacuated after their houses were flooded. Sandy slammed the coastline of New Jersey with 80 mph winds pushing seawater up by an unprecedented 13-feet in New York City, and bringing the presidential campaign to a halt a week before polls. John F Kennedy airport in New York City and other airports in the region have been shut down with more than 13,000 flights being cancelled in the storm affected areas. Storm damage was projected at $10 billion to $20 billion, meaning it could prove to be one of the costliest natural disasters in US history. At least 18 deaths were reported from across seven states-New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Maryland, North Carolina and West Virginia. According to CBS news three of the victims were children, one just eight years old. (With inputs from PTI)
NYSE, Nasdaq shut for second day
New
York: New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Nasdaq remained closed for the second consecutive day, the first time since 9/11, as superstorm Sandy swept across New York City, leaving the Wall Street powerless.
NYSE Euronext and Nasdq OMX Group said they made their decision in consultation with industry executives and regulators, and intend to reopen on Wednesday, conditions permitting. This is the first time since 1888 that the exchange has been closed for two consecutive days because of weather. US stock exchange operators are preparing to test a new contingency plan to ensure domestic equity trading restarts this week. The plan was described as "precautionary" given the unpredictability of the storm that has caused a power plant explosion, besides uprooting trees.
Storm claims ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ ship
Washington: The famous ship HMS Bounty which appeared in Hollywood movies like 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest' has gone down with huge waves churned up by megastorm Sandy off the North Carolina coast.
Only 13 of the 16 persons aboard got off the ship safely, initially, and only one of the three washed overboard made it into a raft, Coast Guard Vice Admiral Robert Parker said. The Bounty's longtime captain, Robin Walbridge remained missing as night approached, CNN quoted Lt Mike Patterson, a Coast Guard spokesman as saying. The body of the second, deckhand Claudine Christian, was found on Monday. The 180-foot, three-masted ship, a replica of the famous British vessel, foundered about 144 km off North Carolina as Sandy's fury churned the Atlantic into 18-foot seas, its owner, Bob Hansen, said.
N-plants hit, oldest declares rare alert
Washington: Hurricane Sandy slowed or shut a half-dozen US nuclear power plants, while the nation's oldest facility declared a rare "alert" after the record storm surge pushed flood waters high enough to endanger a key cooling system.
Exelon Corp's 43-year-old New Jersey Oyster Creek plant remains on "alert" status, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said early Tuesday. It is only the third time this year that the second-lowest of four emergency action levels was triggered. The alert came after water levels at the plant rose by more than 6.5 feet above normal, potentially affecting the "water intake structure" that pumps cooling water through the plant, an NRC spokesman said. Those pumps are not essential since the reactor has been shut for planned refuelling since October 22.
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Construction crane dangles over New York street New York, October 30 New York police and fire crews were on the scene, and part of the street had been closed off as a precaution, the New York Police Department said. Authorities have asked all occupants of upper floors in buildings near the site of the collapse to evacuate to lower floors. The evacuation zone expanded later, covering all buildings north and south of 57th Street, between Sixth and Seventh avenues, in addition to buildings on 56th Street, New York Fire Department spokesman Michael Parrella said. One57, the skyscraper under construction, is offering some of the most expensive apartments in New York, with a penthouse there recently closing for a whopping $ 90 million, according to The New York Times. "At approximately 2.35 pm today, the One57 tower crane boom became damaged by the high winds of Hurricane Sandy," according to Mary Costello, senior vice president for Lend Lease, the property group managing the site. "The hurricane storm winds have pushed the crane boom over the cab section of the high-rise crane at One 57th Street," CNN quoted Costello as saying. "We are working with structural engineers and the DOB (New York City's Department of Buildings) on evaluating any additional measures that can be taken to secure the boom and crane structure. Current weather and wind conditions remain very severe," she added. The Department of Buildings on Sunday issued guidance that all cranes needed to be secured ahead of the brunt of superstorm Sandy. It was not immediately clear whether that guidance was followed at One57, CNN reported. Costello said the crane was last inspected on Friday. Upon completion in 2013, the 90-storey One57 structure will stand at 306 meters tall, making it one of the tallest buildings in the city. —
PTI
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Megastorm slows N-plants, oldest declares rare alert New York, October 30 Exelon Corp's 43-year-old New Jersey Oyster Creek plant remains on "alert" status, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said early Tuesday. It is only the third time this year that the second-lowest of four emergency action levels was triggered. The alert came after water levels at the plant rose by more than 6.5 feet above normal, potentially affecting the "water intake structure" that pumps cooling water through the plant, an NRC spokesman said. Those pumps are not essential since the reactor has been shut for planned refuelling since October 22. However, a further rise to 7 feet could submerge the service water pump motor that is used to cool the water in the spent fuel pool, potentially forcing it to use emergency water supplies from the in-house fire suppression system to keep the rods from overheating. The relatively small 636-megawatt (MW) Oyster Creek plant earlier experienced a "power disruption" at its switch yard, causing two backup diesel generators to kick in and maintain a stable source of power, Exelon said. The NRC spokesman said the company could use water from a fire suppression system to cool the pool if necessary. The used uranium rods in the pool could cause the water to boil in about 25 hours without additional coolant; in an extreme scenario the rods could overheat, risking the eventual release of radiation. The concerns over the status of the spent fuel pool at Oyster Creek was reminiscent of the fears that followed the Fukushima disaster last year, when helicopters and fire hoses were enlisted to ensure the pools remained filled with fresh, cool water. —
Reuters
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Washington, October 30 As the deadly storm barreled ashore on the paralyzed East Coast, the presidential campaign went into what amounted to a deep freeze just when Obama and Romney had planned to launch their final push for votes in the November 6 election. Suddenly, the final eight days of what has been a bitter fight for the hearts of voters in a politically divided electorate has become a test of crisis leadership for Obama and a time when harsh political rhetoric seems out of line. Both sides promised to put aside politics to deal with the fallout from the storm. But privately, they fretted about the storm's potential impact on a week of candidate appearances and door-to-door campaigning by volunteers that is so crucial in get-out-the-vote efforts. There also is concern about the impact on early voting, a priority for both campaigns but especially Obama's and election day itself, if predictions that millions of people and their polling precincts could be without power well into next week come true. The crisis gives Obama, who as President is chiefly responsible for the government's response to the storm, an opportunity to show the presidential leadership that Romney frequently accuses him of lacking. If Obama is seen as falling short, the memory of the political damage suffered by then President George W. Bush and his Republicans over the government's botched response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 is a haunting reminder of the consequences. On the other hand, a strong effort by Obama's White House in responding to the storm could provide a positive, lasting image to Americans as they head to the polls next week, assuming polling places will have power and be open. Obama canceled campaign rallies planned for Monday and Tuesday and returned to the White House from Florida to meet with federal emergency officials. Romney's team, after initially making plans to continue campaigning, apparently reconsidered and announced late Monday morning that the former Massachusetts governor would cancel a rally in Wisconsin on Monday night, and its schedule on Tuesday as well. —
Reuters
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After battered by superstorm Sandy, a crane atop a luxury Manhattan skyscraper under construction has partly collapsed, leaving its arm precariously perched and hanging over West 57th Street.