Category 1 storm Sandy rises to be a huuricane, President Barack Obama declares hurricane Sandy- hit New York major disaster area.

New York City / NationalTurk – Superstorm Sandy has battered parts of the eastern United States and Canada, flooding major cities and killing at least 16 people.

The US National Hurricane Centre, which reclassified the storm as “post-tropical”, stated torrential rains and wind made landfall in enormous amounts along the New Jersey coast near Atlantic City at around 8pm EDT (12am UK time).

US President Barack Obama has declared a major disaster in New York and Lond Island, which felt the fury of hurricane Sandy at 18.30 local time, freeing up government funding to people in the area.

Sandy brought gusts of more than 85mph (135kph) and a record-breaking 13ft surge of seawater in Manhattan, submerging seven subway tunnels and many roads.

At Breezy Point in the New York borough of Queens, 190 firefighters are tackling a huge fire that has destroyed more than 50 homes.

New York University hospital was forced to move patients to other hospitals after it lost power and its back-up generator broke down. Among them were 20 babies from neonatal intensive care – some on respirators operating on battery power.

Firefighters said one man had been killed by a falling tree, while two people were also killed when a tree fell onto a vehicle in New Jersey.

Some 670,000 New York homes have been left without power by the storm, with electricity knocked out to more than six million Americans. Amateur footage captured a large explosion at a power station near East 14th Street.

United States and Canada, flooding in major cities and killing at least 16 people.

A total of 12 people were reported dead by local officials in New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, West Virginia and North Carolina, while in Toronto, Canadian police said a woman died after being hit by flying debris.

New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg said the worst of the storm had passed and officials expected the tidal surge to recede by Wednesday.

But thousands of flights have been cancelled at airports in cities up and down the coast, causing widespread travel chaos.

Storm Sandy suspends all flights to New York City

British Airways axed all of its flights to and from New York, Newark, Baltimore, Washington DC, Boston and Philadelphia, and 11 of today’s return flights to and from the East Coast have been cancelled.

It had been feared the surge of seawater could damage the underground electrical and communications lines in lower Manhattan that are vital to the nation’s financial centre.

The New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq suspended trading for a weather event for the first time since Hurricane Gloria in 1985.

Sandy killed 69 people in the Caribbean, where many islands were left devastated by the extreme weather conditions.

Haiti was worst-hit, with 52 confirmed dead and many more still missing. Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe described the storm as a “disaster of major proportions”.

Residents of Cuba’s second-largest city of Santiago were left without power and running water for four days.

After battering the Caribbean, Sandy then made its way up the Atlantic. As it made its way toward land, it converged with a cold-weather system that turned into a hybrid consisting not only of rain, high wind and snow.

Subways, buses, trains and schools were closed across a region of more than 50 million people from Washington to Boston.

President Barack Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney suspended their campaigning as the fury of Sandy storm hit USA

Earlier, a US sailor on board a replica of the HMS Bounty was recovered from the sea in an “unresponsive” condition and later died. The captain was missing, feared dead after the tall ship went down off the Carolinas.

President Barack Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney suspended their campaigning with just over a week to go before election day.

Obama urges New York vity dwellers to listen to officials

At the White House, Mr Obama had made a direct appeal to those at risk. “Please listen to what your state and local officials are saying,” he said.

“When they tell you to evacuate, you need to evacuate. Don’t delay, don’t pause, don’t question the instructions that are being given, because this is a powerful storm.”

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