Sandy: 50 deaths, more than 8 million without power

NEW YORK (AP) - Officials say the death toll from Superstorm Sandy has reached 50.

Many of the victims were killed by trees toppled by the storm, including a New Yorker killed in bed by a tree that fell onto an apartment.

More than 8 million, from Maine to the Carolinas, are waiting for the power to return. There are widespread outages in lower Manhattan. Utility officials say it could be days before power is restored and the subway system is running again.

The extent of the damage in New Jersey, where the storm roared ashore with hurricane-force winds of 80 mph, is still coming into focus. Powerful winds and ocean surge knocked houses off their foundations, demolished boardwalks and wrecked amusement pier rides. President Barack Obama will tour New Jersey Wednesday with Gov. Chris Christie. The Republican has been a harsh Obama critic but praised him for his response to the storm.

A financial forecasting firm predicts Sandy will end up causing about $20 billion in property damage and $10 billion to $30 billion more in lost business. According to HIS Global Insight, Sandy will be one of the costliest natural disasters on record in the U.S.

The storm has moved east into Pennsylvania and was expected to turn into New York State. And while it has weakened, forecasters say it will continue to bring heavy rain and flooding.

National Guard comes to aid of flooded Hoboken, NJ

The New Jersey National Guard has come to Hoboken to help residents of the heavily flooded city on the Hudson River across from New York City.

Officials announced the Guard's arrival in messages posted late Tuesday on the city's Twitter and Facebook accounts. It says Guard members will use high-wheeled vehicles to assist in evacuating residents and delivering supplies to flooded areas in the mile-square city.

Hoboken was hard hit by Superstorm Sandy, which flooded roughly half the town.

Mayor Dawn Zimmer had asked for the guard's help late Monday, noting that many residents were stuck in their homes due to the floods, which also hampered emergency response.

Mayor: Storm may be worst ever for New York

New York's mayor calls it a "devastating storm" -- possibly the worst the city has ever experienced.

The superstorm that was born when Hurricane Sandy came ashore killed at least 10 people in New York City. A wall of seawater and high winds slammed the city, destroying buildings and flooding tunnels.

The city was left with no running trains, a darkened business district and neighborhoods under water. Mayor Michael Bloomberg is giving no firm timeline on when basic services will be fully restored. The city had been left nearly isolated -- its bridges and tunnels closed, its subways and airports shut down. But Gov. Andrew Cuomo said most of the bridges were reopening Tuesday afternoon.

All of the subway tunnels between Manhattan and Brooklyn were flooded, as were two major commuter tunnels -- the Brooklyn Battery and the Queens Midtown. The head of the city's transit agency says the subway system has never faced a disaster like this one.

Amtrak to resume some service in the Northeast

Amtrak says it will resume some service in the Northeast on Wednesday, but flooded train tunnels continue to prevent service to and from New York's Penn Station.

The railroad said late Tuesday that modified service between Newark, N.J., and points south will resume on Wednesday. That includes restoring Virginia service to Lynchburg, Richmond and Newport News, Keystone trains in Pennsylvania and Downeaster service between Boston and Portland, Maine.

However, Amtrak said in a statement that the amount of water in train tunnels under the Hudson and East rivers is unprecedented, preventing service to New York. There will be no Northeast Regional service between New York and Boston and no Acela Express service for the entire length of the Northeast Corridor. No date has been set for resumption of service.

Associated Press

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