US braces for ‘Frankenstorm’

WASHINGTON—Residents on Saturday rushed to moor boats, harvest crops and sandbag boardwalks as the US Eastern Seaboard braced for a “Frankenstorm,” a rare megastorm that experts said would wreak havoc for several days.

Meteorologists expected Hurricane “Sandy” to pack high winds, heavy rain, extreme tides and maybe snow beginning early Sunday, peaking with the storm’s arrival on Tuesday.

Forecasters dubbed Sandy “Frankenstorm” because it would combine elements of a tropical cyclone and a winter storm. Forecast models show it will have all the ingredients to morph into a massive and potentially catastrophic “superstorm.”

Meteorologists picked “Frankenstorm” because Sandy would hit right before Halloween on Oct. 31, and is composed of parts from different sources, as was Frankenstein’s Monster.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the city was ready for anything Sandy could throw at the city, and cautioned against panic.

Earlier on Saturday, the US National Weather Service downgraded Sandy from a hurricane to a tropical storm, but the howler revved back up to hurricane strength later in the day as it churned toward the US northeast coast where it threatened to become one of the worst storms in decades.

The weather service warned that “widespread impacts” were expected into next week for America’s East Coast.

The storm was expected to increase in speed and move away from the Bahamas and parallel to the southeast coast of the United States later this weekend.

At 8 a.m. EDT (1200 GMT) on Saturday, Sandy was about 540 kilometers southeast of Charleston, South Carolina, and packing top sustained winds of 120 km per hour, the US National Hurricane Center said.

“It’s looking like a very serious storm that could be historic,” said Jeff Masters, meteorology director of the forecasting service Weather Underground.

Experts predict at least $1 billion in damage.

Large, large storm

“We’re expecting a large, large storm,” said Louis Uccellini, director of the Center for Environmental Prediction of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). “The circulation of this storm as it approaches the coast could cover about the eastern third of the United States.”

Uccellini said the danger of coastal flooding was high because Sandy would strike during a full moon, when tides are already at their highest.

Sandy could last through several tidal cycles and cause repeated flooding.

States of emergency

Governors up and down the East Coast declared states of emergency, as municipal authorities urged residents to stock up on food, water and batteries in case the storm lives up to forecasters’ worst fears.

The US Navy ordered all ships in the Norfolk, Virginia area, including a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, out to sea to ride out the approaching storm.

From the Carolinas to Maine, municipal authorities kept a close watch on forecasts tracking the shifting path of the storm.

In New York City, officials were considering closing down bus and subway lines next week, a step taken only once before—when Hurricane “Irene” slammed the city in 2011.

New York, North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland declared states of emergency to free up resources. The District of Columbia also declared a state of emergency as the US capital prepared for a possible hit.

Prepare to evacuate

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell urged residents in coastal areas to prepare to evacuate before the storm hits and advised others in the state to stock up on provisions needed to get through any disaster.

“I encourage all Virginians to gather batteries, blankets, water, canned goods and other necessities prior to the anticipated onset of storm conditions,” McDonnell said in a statement. “We could see severe weather lasting for 48 hours or more in the state.”

Oil refineries along the Atlantic Seaboard also braced for the arrival of Sandy, putting in place emergency plans ahead of the storm’s expected landfall in the Northeast early next week.

Six East Coast oil refineries representing 1.19 million barrels per day, or 7 percent of total US capacity, could potentially be hit by the storm.

Some forecasters said Sandy had the potential to be a multibillion-dollar disaster, wreaking greater damage than last year’s Hurricane Irene, but it was too soon to tell its actual trajectory and refiners were taking early steps to prepare.

Death toll

Sandy, having blown through Haiti and Cuba and leaving 43 dead across the Caribbean, barreled north  Friday as the lowest category hurricane.

A wintry storm was moving across the United States from the west. And frigid air was streaming south from Canada.

If they meet on Tuesday morning around New York or New Jersey, as forecasters predict, they could create a big, wet mess that settles over the nation’s most heavily populated corridor and reaches as far west as Ohio.

The storm was expected to crawl northward on Saturday and Sunday and then turn toward the US East Coast.

Uncertain landfall

On its current projected track, Sandy could make landfall on Monday night or Tuesday somewhere between North Carolina and southern New England, forecasters said.

Government weather forecasters said there was a 90-percent chance—up from 60 percent two days earlier—that the East Coast would get pounded.

“It is going to be a challenging storm,” Federal Emergency Management Agency  administrator Craig Fugate said, as officials warned it was too early to say when and where the storm will make its initial landfall.

“We know somebody is going to be hit. We just cannot say who that somebody is going to be,” said James Franklin, branch chief of the Miami-based National Hurricane Center, during a telephone press conference on Friday.

The storm could make a direct hit on New York, according to some forecasts.

By the time Sandy arrives in the crowded New York metro region, it would likely be reduced to a tropical storm or even regular storm in terms of wind strength, but accompanied by heavy rain starting Monday and into Tuesday, forecasters said.

That could snarl the busy JFK, LaGuardia and Newark airports, cripple mass transit and flood densely populated low-lying areas, as happened when the remnants of Hurricane Irene struck in 2011.

Perfect Storm

The NOAA said on Friday that wherever the storm comes ashore, there will be 254 millimeters of rain and extreme storm surges. Up to 0.6 meters (2 feet) of snow should fall on West Virginia, with lighter snow in parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania.

“It’s going to be a long-lasting event, two to three days of impact for a lot of people,” Franklin said.

In the northeastern state of New Jersey, officials told people to be prepared for several days without electricity. Jersey Shore beach towns began issuing voluntary evacuations and protecting boardwalks. Atlantic City casinos made contingency plans to close, and officials advised residents of flood-prone areas to stay with family or be ready to leave. Airlines said to expect cancellations and waived change fees for passengers who want to reschedule.

Some have compared Sandy to the so-called Perfect Storm that struck off the coast of New England in 1991, but that one hit a less-populated area.

“The Perfect Storm only did $200 million of damage and I’m thinking a billion [this time],” Masters of Weather Underground said. “Yeah, it will be worse.”

Challenge to campaigns

The storm, coming in the final weeks before the US presidential election on Nov. 6, was presenting a challenge to the campaigns of US President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

Romney canceled a rally scheduled for Sunday evening in Virginia Beach, Virginia. President Obama’s reelection campaign announced that Vice President Joe Biden also canceled a Saturday trip to Virginia Beach.

Ahead of the election, millions of Americans are taking advantage of early voting arrangements to cast their ballots. State officials said they had put in place contingency plans in case Sandy caused extended power outages or other problems that could disrupt voting.  With a report from Reuters