Unless you have been living under a rock for the last 24 hours, you will now know the massive extent to which the US East Coast has been battered by ‘frankenstorm’ or ‘Superstorm’ Sandy. I was up late last night watching the pictures and video come in of the damage and the scale is just vast. This is a one in a one hundred year event so I thought it deserved a mention on here. Rather than make this all text, this post is just going to list some of the amazing stats coming out of this storm, some of the latest developments and some of the staggering images and video that is coming our of America.

To all those living in the affected areas, myself and the readers of this blog wish you all well and hope that your recovery from this is quick and safe!

Super Stats:

  • Upon landfall, the storm was nearly 1000 miles long. The whole of the USA is 3000 miles across!
  • Sandy has been churning around the Caribbean and the Atlantic for a staggering 11 days – it became a named storm back on October 19th.
  • Over 12,500 flights worldwide have been canceled due to the monster storm.
  • The storm produced a storm surge of 14 feet in New York. This is the highest storm surge ever recorded there. Records began in 1821!
  • So far, over 18 inches of snow has fallen in parts of west Virginia as the Hurricane merged with a powerful winter storm.
  • 95% of Newark is without power.
  • 2.4 million people in New York are without power.
  • Sky News reporting that 6.2 million people across the Eastern Seaboard are without power.
  • BBC News reporting that over 7 million people across the Eastern Seaboard are without power.
  • At it’s worst, the storm low pressure system was being measured at 951 millibars.
  • First time in history that the NYSE has been shut for more than one day.

Latest:

  • Sadly, over 50 homes have been destroyed in the Queens area of New York due to downed power lines.
  • 7 Subway stations are flooded and it is expected to take at least 4 days to completely clear the flood water out.
  • A levee in New Jersey has burst, forcing the evacuation of 3 towns and 1000 residents.
  • Up to 85 people across the Caribbean, US and Canada are known to have died to the the storm.
  • A crane that has partially collapsed near Columbus Circle, near Central Park, is still dangling dangerously 65 stories high. Area around it still cordoned off.

Images and video:

I’ve had a look around the internet for some of the most telling pictures and video:

A transformer explodes in spectacular fashion:

[youtube_video id=”fYC7sV1Kj9o”]

A staggering image from space of the sheer size of Superstorm Sandy

Before battering the US, Hurricane Sandy did extensive damage to the Caribbean, including Cuba.

New Jersey has suffered some of the worst flooding. This image comes right out of a disaster movie as flood water engulfs a subway station.

Atlantic City was hit almost head on. Parts of the city are now parts of the sea.

Winter Wonderland. As Sandy approached, it combined with a big winter storm on the western edge. So far it has dumped over 18 inches of snow in places like West Virginia – with more to come!

High winds have badly damaged this crane, 65 storied high. The area around the crane has been totally shut off over fears it will collapse and drop to the ground soon.

Battered buildings. This 4 storey high apartment building had the front of it totally ripped off as possible the biggest storm ever to hit the US makes landfall.

These are just some of the stats, images and videos that have come out of this storm. As daylights comes, more images of devastation and destruction, as well as some truly mind-bending stats will be produced. As I said up top, I wish everyone in America who is being affected by this storm all the luck in the world. Stay safe, listen to your emergency services and we all hope that you recover as soon as possible! I’m coming to New York at the end of December!