Ship Bottom (US): Governors from North Carolina to Connecticut declared states of emergency and Delaware ordered mandatory evacuations for coastal communities as Hurricane Sandy lumbered north from the Caribbean where it left nearly 60 dead to threaten the eastern US with sheets of rain, high winds and heavy snow. Officials warned millions in coastal areas to get out of the way of the massive storm.
Sandy was expected to affect up to 60 million people when it meets two other powerful winter storms. Experts said it didn't matter how strong the storm was when it hit land: The rare hybrid that follows will cause havoc over 1,300 kilometres from the East Coast to the Great Lakes.
President Barack Obama was monitoring the storm and working with state and locals governments to make sure they get the resources needed to prepare, administration officials said. Craig Fugate, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said the storm was a threat to the region's interior, not just coastal areas: "This is a very large area," he said.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie declared a state of emergency Saturday as hundreds of coastal residents started moving inland and the state was set to close its casinos. New York's governor was considering shutting down the subways to avoid flooding and half a dozen states warned residents to prepare for several days of lost power.
Sandy was at Category 1 strength, packing 120 kph winds, about 418 kilometres southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and moving northeast at 16 kph as of 8 am Sunday, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. It was about 636 kilometres south of New York City.
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