Hurricane Sandy paralyzes New York, city flooded by 13 foot wall of water

New York, Oct 31: The deadly superstorm Hurrican Sandy struck New York and New Jersey paralyzing the entire power system and throwing the megacity into darkness. A 13-foot wall of water smashed into the eastern US coast, as strong hurricane winds lashed out at the megapolis. Mass transit system, schools, New York stock exchange and Broadway were shut, as water overflowed NYC's historic waterfront.New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said: 'We knew this was going to be very dangerous. This is a once-in-a-long-time storm' Bloomberg said, city's 911 dispatchers were receiving 20,000 calls per hour and area without power is south of 34th Street.A record 13ft high wall of water surge threatened lower Manhattan and howling winds left crane hanging from high-rise buildings.At least 5.7 million power customers across US East have lost power, including hundreds of thousands in New York City .NYU Hospital lost backup power and evacuated its patients in an emergency operation. 19 workers were repted trapped inside Consolidated Edison power station. A rough estimate said, the damage caused by Hurrican Sandy was projected at £12 billion. New York City was plunged into darkness as water overflowed its historic waterfront, flooding the financial district and subway tunnels and cut power to hundreds of thousands of people. The city had shut its mass transit system, schools, the stock exchange and Broadway and ordered hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers to leave home to get out of the way. Thirteen deaths were reported in New Jersey, New York, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Connecticut, with five of these in New York. Some of the victims were killed by falling trees, including one in Queens, New York. At least one death was blamed on the storm in Canada. Storm damage was projected at up to £12 billion, meaning it could be one of the costliest natural disasters in US history. Nineteen workers were trapped inside a Consolidated Edison power station in east Manhattan by rising floodwaters, with a rescue worker saying it had suffered an explosion inside.Residents in New York City spent much of yesterday trying to salvage normal routines, jogging and snapping pictures of the water while officials warned the worst of the storm had not hit. By yesterday evening, a record 13ft storm surge was threatening Manhattan's southern tip, howling winds had left a crane hanging from a high-rise block, and utilities deliberately darkened part of downtown Manhattan to avoid storm damage. ‘It's really a complete ghost town now,' said Stephen Weisbrot, from a powerless 10th-floor apartment in lower Manhattan. Mayor Bloomberg said the area without power in Manhattan is roughly south of 34th Street.Water lapped over the seawall in Battery Park City, flooding rail yards, subway tracks, tunnels and roads. Rescue workers floated bright orange rafts down flooded downtown streets, while police officers rolled slowly down the street with loudspeakers telling people to go home. ‘Now it's really turning into something,' said Brian Damianakes, taking shelter in an ATM vestibule and watching a rubbish bin blow down the street in Battery Park before the storm surge. Mayor Bloomberg said last night that the surge was expected to recede by midnight, after exceeding an original expectation of 11ft. 'We knew that this was going to be a very dangerous storm and the storm has met our expectations,' he said. ‘This is a once-in-a-long-time storm.Shortly after the massive storm made landfall in southern New Jersey, Consolidated Edison cut power deliberately to about 6,500 customers in downtown Manhattan to avert further damage. Then, huge swaths of the city went dark, losing power to 250,000 customers in Manhattan, Con Ed spokesman Chris Olert said. The New York University Langone Medical Center in midtown Manhattan was this morning evacuating 215 patients to local hospitals by ambulance after their backup power generator failed following the power outage.Late last night, a bright orange explosion lit up the night sky on the east side of lower Manhattan, near a Con Ed substation. ‘It sounded like the Fourth of July,' said Mr Weisbrot. Another 1 million customers lost power earlier on Monday in New York City, the northern suburbs and coastal Long Island, where floodwaters swamped cars, downed trees and put neighbourhoods under water.