Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy turned out to be a vicious storm leaving millions without power, many injured, thousands homeless and many deasd. Warnings were given daily on Facebook by friends who live near or in the area. Meanwhile in Perth today, or should I write Kelmscott, we suffered from gale force winds coming from the north and a cold and cloudy day. Some places reported thunderstorms. Elsewhere in the USA in West Virginia they were suffering from snow storms while in places of new Yorks floods occurred and so did devwstating fires. Why do I always post such things? Because the Lord has warned us and forewarned us time and again about the calamities that will beset the world in the last days before the Saviour comes and every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that He is the Christ. In those warnings he told us to prepare for such things, spiritually and temporaly. But at the end of it all, He provided hope with aid givers including Mitt Romney, and a rainbow, a perfect arc in the sky. The information about Hurricane Sandy is posted below and taken from Perth Now. Americans seem to take such weather horrors in their stride. I worry about my family, who do not know as much as I do and don't really want to know. How would they cope in a severe weather condition, whether it be floods, fires, gales, cyclones or a deep freeze!
31st October 2012 Perth Now
8.15pm: The Twitter troll who became an online villain after several false tweets about the destruction of Hurricane Sandy has apologised and resigned from a Republican congressional campaign.
Twitterati had heaped criticism on ComfortablySmug after the micro-blogger claimed the New York Stock Exchange was flooded and that Consolidated Edison was shutting off all power to New York City during the storm.

Both "breaking" news posts were refuted by authorities, but not before being retweeted hundreds of times, sparking panic as the massive storm devastated the US east coast and claimed dozens of lives.

After going silent for several hours, ComfortablySmug offered "the people of New York a sincere, humble and unconditional apology".
The Buzzfeed online news site had earlier identified ComfortablySmug as a 29-year-old hedge fund analyst and the campaign manager of New York Republican congressional candidate Christopher Wright.
6.25pm: NYC will be open for business on Wednesday. ''The financial markets will resume, as will businesses in all 5 boros,'' New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg tweeted. He also urged New Yorkers to share cabs with 4000 yellow cabs the first to hit the streets as of 4.30pm on Tuesday.
Superstorm Sandy

 

A car is upended on a mailbox on Surf Avenue in Coney Island, New York, in the aftermath of Sandy. Picture: APSource: AP

6.15pm: Buses returned back on the road for limited service from 5pm Tuesday, and are expected to be almost at normal strength by Wednesday morning, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York tweeted.

Superstorm Sandy

This photo provided by Metropolitan Transportation Authority shows people boarding a bus, as partial bus service was restored on Tuesday. Picture: APSource: AP

6pm: Limited air travel is expected to return to the New York City metro area on Wednesday. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey says John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and Newark International Airport in New Jersey will open at 7am with limited service, CBS News reports

5.45pm: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has spoken of his devastation over the destruction caused by super storm Sandy. "The Jersey Shore of my youth is gone," he tweeted. "It was an emotionally overwhelming afternoon for me as a son of this state."
"We will rebuild the Shore," he said. "It may not be the same, but we will rebuild."
"Tomorrow we start recovery. We can be sad but, sorrow should not replace resilience."
 Chris Christie

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie holds a media briefing on damage and recovery efforts. High winds and a massive storm surge caused major destruction to the Jersey Shore and throughout the Garden State.Source: Getty Images

5.30pm: Eight young Aboriginal athletes from the Northern Territory, far north Queensland and regional NSW are pushing ahead with plans to run the New York marathon on Sunday. The marathon is going ahead despite devastation left by super storm Sandy.

The squad - Korey Summers, Justin Gaykamangu, Marius Clarke, Kieren De Santis, Grace Eather, Emma Cameron, Jurgean Tabuai, Nat Heath and Amber Parker - were in Sydney today ahead of their flight to the US tomorrow morning.
Runners

Indigenous marathon runners Nat Heath, Marius Clarke, Kieren De Santis, Grace Eather, Korey Summers, Justin Gaykamangu and Amber Parker go for a jog at Bondi Beach in preparation for their trip to New York. Picture: Katrina TepperSource: News Limited

5.20pm: These taxis aren't going anywhere anytime soon, overwhelmed by floodwaters in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Flooded cabs

Taxis sit in a flooded lot after Hurricane Sandy in Hoboken, New Jersey Picture: AFPSource: AFP

5.15pm: A man smiles relieved to find a free charging station offered by a 7-Eleven store in an area with power in Manhattan.

Phone recharge

People charge their devices at a free charging station offered by a 7-Eleven store in an area with power in Manhattan. Picture: AFPSource: AFP

5.05pm: The super storm has forced the American Red Cross to cancel more than 300 blood drives, causing a shortfall of more than 9000 blood and platelet donations across 14 states that would otherwise be available for those needing transfusions.

4.55pm: The toxic stew of raw sewage, industrial chemicals and floating debris that has filled flooded waterways around New York may threaten the health of residents, the Huffington Post reports.
"Normally, sewer overflows are just discharged into waterways and humans that generate the sewage can avoid the consequences by avoiding the water," said John Lipscomb of the clean water advocacy group Riverkeeper. "But in this case, that waste has come back into our communities."
4.15pm: For the second night in a row, superstorm Sandy and its aftermath forced David Letterman to live out that performer's nightmare: Telling jokes to a vacant theatre, or as he called it, "a big ol' empty barn''.
Letterman hosting the Late Show to an unpeopled Ed Sullivan Theatre on Tuesday, as he did on Monday, says the Associated Press, was the oddest sight of the continuing cultural fallout of the hurricane.
4.00pm: One clever thinking individual hooked his bicycle to generate electricity for people to charge their mobile phones.
bike

A man rides a bicycle to generate electricity so residents can charge their cell phones after Hurricane Sandy left them without power. Picture: AFPSource: AFP

power

A man rides a bicycle to generate electricity so residents can charge their phones. Picture: AFPSource: AFP

Others took the opportunity to have a party.

party

Residents have a party on the sidewalk during the blackout after Hurricane Sandy. OuctyreL AFPSource: AFP

3.55pm: Employees of the restaurant 'Zum Schneider' enjoy food and beers in the empty dark dining room

dark

Employees of the restaurant "Zum Schneider" enjoy food and beers in the empty dining room during a power outage caused by Hurricane Sandy. Picture: AFPSource: AFP

3.53pm: It's night in New York, and many areas are still without power.

blackout

Cars drive down a darkened 2nd Avenue after Hurricane Sandy. Picture: AFPSource: AFP

3.40pm: 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, the Associated Press reports.

Officials announced the Guard's arrival in messages posted late on 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 2.6-square-kilometre city.
Hoboken

A resident walks through floodwaters in the aftermath of superstorm Sandy in Hoboken, New Jersey.Source: AP

3.20pm: New York University Hospital lost years of scientific research after the Smilow building lost power during the superstorm, destroying precious enzymes, antibodies, DNA and thousands of mice, the Daily News reports.

2:48pm: The death toll for super storm Sandy has now risen to 50, according to the Associated Press.
A weakening Sandy, the hurricane turned fearsome super storm, has killed at least 50 people, many hit by falling trees, and still isn't finished.
As it inched inland across Pennsylvania, it was ready to dump more of its water and likely cause more havoc. Behind it: a dazed, inundated New York City, a waterlogged Atlantic Coast and a moonscape of disarray and debris - from unmoored shore-town boardwalks to submerged mass-transit systems to delicate presidential politics.
 2:18pm: An off-duty New York police officer has drowned in Staten Island trying to rescue his family from super storm Sandy, CBS News reports.
Artur Kasprzak

NYPD officer Artur Kasprzak, who died during the storm helping family. Picture: Facebook http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=378116695598452&l=35e4131a99Source: Facebook

Officer Artur Kasprzak, 28, reportedly died after pulling six members of his family into his attic so they could escape the rising waters.

 2:12pm: As residents in America's northeast endure the wind and rain from super storm Sandy, the state of Georgia now faces a higher risk of dangerous wildfires.
 The Georgia Forestry Commission said the dry conditions, mixed with the high winds from the storm, creates a huge hazard, as WRCB TV reports.
 2:10pm: A 13-year-old girl was killed when a catastrophic wave destroyed her family home on Staten Island, the Daily Mail reports.
Angela Dresch

Angela Dresch, 13, died when her Staten Island home was hit by the storm surge during Superstorm Sandy. Picture: FacebookSource: Supplied

Angela Dresch, whose house was in the mandatory evacuation zone, was found dead, her mother is in a critical condition and her father is still missing.

 Neighbours said the family refused to leave their house as it was looted during Tropical Storm Irene last year.
2:03pm: The man behind a US-based Twitter account which yesterday posted misinformation about the storm that many American news organisations re-tweeted has resigned from his post as a Congressional aid for a Republican candidate, BuzzFeed reports.

The Twitter handle- Comfortably Numb- yesterday began a rumour that the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange had flooded and that a power company was cutting off power to customers before the storm hit. Read his full resignation statement here.