Sandy’s Destruction: Live Updates on the Superstorm’s Aftermath

Editor’s note: Thank you for reading TIME’s live blog on Hurricane Sandy. This page is no longer being updated. Please visit TIME.com and TIME NewsFeed for up-to-the-minute news about the storm’s aftermath and relief and rescue efforts.

Nov. 1, 5:10 p.m.: The total death toll from the storm in the United States and Canada has climbed to 93, according to the New York Times. New York state experienced the most deaths, with 46 residents perishing in the superstorm.

Nov. 1, 4:50 p.m.: FEMA has agreed to pick up the tab for the cost of restoring power and providing emergency transportation relief to the entire Tri-state area. According to Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the Washington-based agency will fully reimburse New York, New Jersey and Connecticut for the cost of repairing power substations and downed lines, as well as the overtime wages for bus drivers and transit repair crews. Usually the federal government is only required to pay between 75 and 90 percent of costs.

Nov. 1, 3:30 p.m.: New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, amid dealing with the destruction of Hurricane Sandy, has given President Obama his endorsement. Writing in an op-ed piece for his company’s website, Bloomberg praised Obama for steps taken to benefit the environment, particularly because of linkage to extreme weather events and climate change. He also credited the president on issues like education reform, marriage equality, and abortion rights. — by Madison Gray

Nov. 1, 3:00 p.m.: Just as we’re drying off from Sandy, the National Weather Service is hitting where it hurts. An update just posted reads: …NOR’EASTER POSSIBLE FOR MID-ATLANTIC/NEW ENGLAND STATES BY ELECTION DAY INTO NEXT THURSDAY… It’s not expected to be nearly as bad as Sandy, but it’s still a storm that could cause a wintery mess for communities who haven’t yet cleaned up from Sandy’s destruction.

Nov. 1, 2:45 p.m.: Power will be (hopefully) restored to lower and midtown Manhattan by this Saturday, November 3, according to a statement Thursday by Con Edison. The power company, the primary electrical provider for Manhattan and the city’s boroughs, still has 650,000 customers out of power.

Nov. 1, 2:20 p.m.: The bodies of two Staten Island brothers, ages 2 and 4, have been recovered from the storm debris, NYC police commissioner Ray Kelly reported on Thursday. The two boys were separated from their mother Monday night when their car became stuck in the floodwaters. The mother got her sons out of the car, but a wave came and swept the children away. Also on Staten Island, an elderly couple was found dead in their partially submerged car Thursday. Commissioner Kelly fears that the death toll will continue to rise as more of the debris is cleared away.

Nov. 1, 1:45 p.m.: As New York City slowly gets back to normal, Mayor Bloomberg announced Thursday afternoon that exterior construction can resume, and a plan has been put into motion to secure the crane that has been dangling from the One57 building since Monday. Additionally, parks and playgrounds are expected to reopen by 8 a.m. on Saturday, while the city’s beaches will remain closed.

[tweet https://twitter.com/MikeBloomberg/status/264056972805033984%5D

Nov. 1, 1:00 p.m.: TIME’s Nate Rawlings and Jacob Templin visited the devastated community of Breezy Point, Queens on Wednesday to see how residents were coping with the flooding and fire that delivered a one-two punch to the neighborhood. An enclave on the ocean that was once the “perfect spot” for beach-going according to one resident is now a mess of charred houses and floating remnants of life. Now: “The debris and the carnage, it’s unbelievable,” Rich Hennessy, a Breezy Point resident, told TIME. The resilience of the close-knit community was evident, as was their shock. See their report, with video, here.

Nov. 1, 11:10 a.m.: Flooding has wiped out masterpieces at art galleries in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood, the New York Times‘s art section reports this morning. Owners have been sorting out pieces that may be able to be restored and the ones that are unsalvageable. At Churner & Churner, a gallery on 10th Avenue between 22nd and 23rd Streets, owner Rachel Churner told the Times that “water rushed so violently into her basement storage that it tore shelves and cabinets from the walls and piled them up at one end of the space, destroying work that had been put in waterproof boxes and bags and put on high shelves.” Art book store Printed Matter has even appealed to its loyal customers on Facebook to help clean up its flooded basement.

When cell phone towers are overloaded during natural disasters and major power outages, the best way to make phone calls is via pay phone. The Wall Street Journal features an ode to the “retro devices,” which have helped New Yorkers call loved ones during September 11th, the blackout of 2003, and now, in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. Two decades ago, as many as 35,000 pay phones lined the streets of Manhattan; now there are only 12,000. During a crisis like Sandy, however, pay phones can rack up as much as $50 a day compared to the $2 a day they typically make in the age of the iPhone. There are long lines outside the telephone booths, so when city slickers finally get to the front, they have been documenting the moment by holding the receiver in one hand and taking an Instagram photo of themselves with the other. — by Olivia B. Waxman

Nov. 1, 10:45 a.m.: The death toll continues to rise in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. The superstorm has now left 75 dead in the U.S. alone after sweeping through the eastern seaboard and mid-Atlantic. Power is still out at 4.6 million homes and businesses, down from 8.5 million at the height of the storm.

As New York begins to grind back to normalcy, 1.6 million people remain without power. Officials say 34 have died, including 22 in New York City. In New Jersey, a day after President Obama toured the devastation along coastal areas, 1.76 million have no power, and the death toll stands at 14. Wind rather than water did the most damage in Pennsylvania, leaving 525,000 power outages remaining. Authorities have counted 12 deaths there. In West Virginia, snow continued to fall on the second day after Sandy, with 154,000 power outages and six dead.

Virginia has wound down most of its recovery efforts. About 9,300 people were still without power. with two dead. Ohio saw wind gusts and rain that lead to flooding near Lake Erie. Power outages totaled about 100,000 and two people died. North Carolina officials are still continuing the search for the captain of the HMS Bounty that sank as Sandy barreled through. Most power has been restored, and two have also died in that state. New Hampshire received a surprise “microburst” from the storm, leaving one dead and 16,000 still without power. — by Madison Gray

Nov. 1, 10:05 a.m.: Looters have started to hit Coney Island, the landmark, beachfront community at the south end of Brooklyn, as the waters have started to recede. According to the New York Daily News, a Rent-A-Center and a Rite-Aid were the primary targets of thievery Tuesday, as looters ransacked the rental store of its flat-screen TVs and the pharmacy of its diapers. “It was complete lawlessness,” said the owner of a nearby liquor store, who saw his top-shelf booze snatched from the shelves.

Nov. 1, 9:15 a.m.: As a result of power outages and flooding at waste treatment stations in New York City, untreated wastewater has been released into some waterways in the city. According to a Wednesday evening statement from the Department of Health & Mental Hygiene, many of the main bodies of water around New York, including the Hudson and East Rivers, have been contaminated with raw sewage after the storm began. The department advises that New Yorkers stay away from these waterways for all recreational activities that include direct water contact, including swimming and boating.

Nov. 1, 6:55 a.m.: There were 19,000 power outages at 6 a.m. left in Massachusetts, MEMA says.

Nov. 1, 6:51 a.m.: The Red Cross had to cancel 300 blood donation drives due to Hurricane Sandy, it says on its website. The cancellations have resulted in a shortfall of more than 10,700 blood and platelet donations across 14 states. An average of 44,000 blood donations are needed every day.

Nov. 1, 6:48 a.m.: Some banks are waiving fees due to Hurricane Sandy, the Morning Call reports.

Nov. 1, 6:24 a.m.: Long Island Power Authority has a map of power outages on its website. As of 6:19 am., 744,522 customers were affected.

[tweet https://twitter.com/MTAInsider/status/263943777570410496%5D

Nov. 1, 5:51 a.m.: Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency reports 21,000 power outages in Massachusetts as of 5 a.m.

Nov. 1, 5:05 a.m.: Here is a map of MTA services in New York City starting at 6 a.m.

Nov. 1, 4:38 a.m.: Below is another amateur video with eerie footage showing flooded Manhattan.

[youtube http://youtu.be/abawK4JRT2w%5D

Nov. 1, 4:22 a.m.: PSE&G says it has restored electricity to about 920,000 customers.  At 3.30 a.m. about 780,000 customers are without power. Power will be restored for “virtually all” customers within the next seven to 10 days, the New Jersey-based utility provider said.

Nov. 1, 1:25 a.m.: Connecticut Light & Power says more than 254,000 customers, 20 percent, are still without power. Here is a list of affected towns.

[tweet https://twitter.com/jeffstoecker/status/263864817893404672]

Nov. 1, 12:40 a.m.: New York City volunteers use bicycle-powered pumps to drain basements, charge cellphones, Cyclelicio.us writes.

[tweet https://twitter.com/usembassyottawa/status/263693836440715264]

[tweet https://twitter.com/AmbHarryThomas/status/263588459648778240]

Nov. 1, 12:10 a.m.: The United Nations has an overview of the situation in the Caribbean:

• Haiti: 54 confirmed deaths, 20 injured, 20 missing. 12,947 people evacuated to 102 shelters.
• Cuba: 11 reported deaths, 820,000 people lack running water supply.
• Bahamas: 2 reported deaths.
• Jamaica: 1,900 people evacuated to 136 shelters.

Nov. 1, 12:00 a.m.: Sandy’s U.S. death toll stands at 74, according to an updated overview by USA Today. Damage could be as high as $55 billion. Power outages have affected about 6 million customers in at least 15 states and Washington, D.C.

Oct. 31, 11:55 p.m.: Here is a map of subway routes running on Thursday as published by MTA on its website in the last hour.

Oct. 31, 11:50 p.m.: Many gas stations in New York and New Jersey are running out of fuel. ABC News reports customers are queuing for hours to fuel cars and generators.

Oct. 31, 11:45 p.m.: National Guard aerial footage shows flooding damage in Connecticut.

[youtube http://youtu.be/hYWhP6P3OAA]

Oct. 31, 11:38 p.m.: AT&T and T-Mobile are sharing their networks in New York and New Jersey to compensate for spotty coverage due to the Hurricane, the Huffington Post reported citing a press release.

Oct. 31, 11:36 p.m.: According to the latest count by flight-tracking service FlightAware, over 19,500 flights have been cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy: 1,300 on Sunday, 7,884 on Monday, 7,074 on Tuesday, 2,870 cancellations as of 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. At least 530 cancellations are expected on Thursday.

Oct. 31, 11:25 p.m.:  Commuter rail service between Stamford and New York’s Grand Central Terminal will resume Thursday morning, Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy says in a press release. Fares for the Metro-North rail service are waived on Thursday and Friday. Shore Line East commuter rail service, between New Haven and New London, will also resume Thursday morning.

Oct. 31, 11:16 p.m.: 300,000 gallons of diesel were spilled as Sandy damaged two tanks at a diesel terminal in Sewaren, New Jersey, across from States Island, CNN reported citing a U.S. Coast Guard spokesman.

Oct. 31, 11:10 p.m.: United Illuminating says in a tweet its power outages are down to 100,000 from a peak of more than 200,000. The company serves 324,000 customers in southeastern Connecticut.

[tweet https://twitter.com/GovMalloyOffice/status/263837926528516096]

[tweet https://twitter.com/MTAInsider/status/263836240376373248]

Oct. 31, 10:55 p.m.: Below is a time lapse video showing New York City braving the storm and power outages through Tuesday night and here is a link to the time lapse video of the New York Times webcam.

[youtube http://youtu.be/PyohW9rYEKc%5D

Oct. 31, 10:45 p.m.: The President of New York City’s Health and Hospitals Corporation Alan Aviles said he hoped the Bellevue Hospital Center will be operating again in two to three weeks, according to the New York Times.

Oct. 31, 10:20 p.m.: Power has been restored to 209,000 customers in Central and Eastern Pennsylvania, PPL Electric says in it a tweet.

Oct. 31, 10:15 p.m.: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo says in a press conference that the state is focussing on restoring power and transportation. High traffic today created “an intolerable and dangerous situation.” To encourage people taking public transit, the governor says he authorized the MTA to waive fares for commuter rails, subways and busses Thursday and Friday.

Cuomo said the state requested one million meals from FEMA after reports of senior citizens running out of food and are stuck in their homes. These meals will be supplied by Thursday, he says.

“We will not just rebuild, we will rebuild better,” the governor says.

Oct. 31, 10:11 p.m.: “The President couldn’t have been better today”, says Republican New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in a Wednesday evening press briefing. 2,036,823 households are without power in New Jersey, the Governor said, adding that power has been restored for about half a million people since the peak of the outage. The governor says he issued mandatory state-wide water use restrictions. State offices will be open on Thursday, Chrstie tweeted later.

Oct. 31, 10:02 p.m.: Con Edison issues an update on power outages in the wider New York area. As of 8 p.m., 719,000 of its customers were out of service:  227,000 in Manhattan, 113,000 in Queens, 74,000 in Brooklyn, 100,000 in Staten Island, 38,000 in the Bronx and 168,000 in Westchester County. The company previously said in a tweet that it has so far restored power supply for 200,000 customers.

Oct. 31, 9:56 p.m.: FEMA has passed on more than 305,000 liters of water and more than 185,000 meals to states to supplement their existing inventory, the federal agency says in a press release summarizing federal assistance. The U.S. Navy is assisting rescue operations in New York and New Jersey with three helicopter carrier ships. 11,800 National Guard are on duty in 11 states. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has 400 staff assisting in rescue operations. More than 9,000 people spent Tuesday night in 171 Red Cross shelters across 13 states. The Red Cross has shipped 230,000 meals and snacks and served more than 25,000.

Oct. 31, 9:42 p.m.: Canada reports a second casualty. A hydro-worker died after being electrocuted while trying to fix downed power lines in Sarnia, Ontario, CBC News reported.

Oct. 31, 9:36 p.m.: CNN reports an updated count of U.S. casualties. At least 56 people died due to Hurricane Sandy in the U.S.: 28 in New York, nine in Pennsylvania, six in New Jersey, five in West Virginia, two in Maryland, two in Connecticut, one in North Carolina and one on the HMS Bounty in U.S. waters in the Atlantic.

Oct. 31, 5:55 p.m.: All three New York City area airports will be open as of Thursday morning. Governor Cuomo announced Wednesday that LaGuardia, which saw massive flooding in the aftermath of Sandy, will reopen at 7 a.m. Thursday.

The flooding previously looked like:

[tweet https://twitter.com/JetBlue/status/263316302062579712%5D

Oct. 31, 5:15 p.m.: Fuel supplies in the New York and New Jersey areas are half of what they normally are today, Reuters reports. The aftermath of the storm has knocked out power to many service stations, and the others were so swamped with demand that supply was quickly depleted. In New Jersey, 80% of gas stations remain out of power, ramping up demand at the few open stations. And demand in New York City was at an unforeseeable high because of shuttered public transit systems across the city.

Oct. 31, 4:55 p.m.: N.J. Governor Chris Christie and President Barack Obama continued their strikingly collaborative relationship Wednesday while visiting devastated shore towns along the Jersey Shore. During a stop in Brigantine, N.J. just north of Atlantic City, Christie and Obama met people stranded due to the storm, residents “who disregarded [our] admonition [to] ‘get the hell out of here,’” and surveyed the storm damage. After the tour, the two spoke to the media, where the Republican governor delivered more effusive praise toward the Democratic president: “I cannot thank the president enough for personal concern and compassion for our state and the people of our state,” Christie said. But the governor’s thoughts focused primarily on the residents impacted by Sandy’s wrath. “We cannot permit that sorrow to replace the resilience that I know all New Jerseyans have.”

Obama thanked the N.J. governor for his “responsive and aggressive” attitude toward storm preparations. “I think the people of N.J. recognize he’s put his heart and soul into making sure the people of N.J. bounce back even stronger than before,” Obama said. They spoke after an hour-long helicopter tour over the flattened, torn up towns along the Atlantic shoreline of New Jersey.

Oct. 31, 4:10 p.m.: Pop culture fans, breathe a sigh of relief. The famous Jersey Shore house in Seaside Heights, N.J., suffered no damage in the storm, according to E! News. The house backed up to the boardwalk on the Atlantic Ocean and was used in four out of six seasons of the show. Some of the other Seaside landmarks visited on the show, including hot-dog joint Bubba’s Dog House and the Lucky Arcade, were destroyed in Sandy’s wake, Jersey Shore star Jenny “JWoww” Farley wrote in a tweet.

Oct. 31, 3:55 p.m.: The MTA has released a PDF map of the limited subway service that will begin Thursday morning before rush hour.

Oct. 31, 3:45 p.m.: As offers of humanitarian aid come pouring in from many sources both national and international, one of the oddest offers has emerged: from the Iranian government. Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency reports the Iranian Red Crescent, the equivalent of the Red Cross in the U.S., has pledged its aid to the American communities affected by the storm. “Given its preparedness and ample experience in rescuing storms and floods victims, Iran’s Red Crescent can provide relief assistance for those affected in New York,” Mahmoud Mozaffar, head of the Iranian Red Crescent, said, noting that his country was prepared to send rescue squads to the United States.

But it’s an offer to which there may be more than meets the eye. According to the New York Times, some Iranian Red Crescent workers have been accused of acting as spies while operating in other countries.

Oct. 31, 3:25 p.m.: Millions across the northeast and mid-Atlantic are struggling to place phone calls, with cell towers already crippled by the storm now facing overwhelming demand. AT&T and T-Mobile revealed Wednesday afternoon that they have created “an agreement to enable roaming on their networks to customers of both companies in the heavily impacted areas.” That means people on either network will be able to place calls using whichever network is best available at the time. Both companies say there will be no extra charges for users for the duration of this agreement.

Oct. 31, 2:55 p.m.: Given Wednesday’s extreme traffic that has utterly snarled Manhattan, Mayor Bloomberg has announced a plan to cut down on the number of cars allowed in the city. Cars crossing into Manhattan on the four East River bridges from Brooklyn and Queens will be “restricted to high-occupancy vehicles only,” he said, “meaning three or more people.” Between 6 a.m. and midnight on Thursday and Friday, vehicles will have to abide by the high-occupancy limit over the Queensboro, Manhattan, Williamsburg and Brooklyn Bridges while the city attempts to get its public transit system back up to speed. Buses will be receiving a dedicated lane over the four bridges, as well, to encourage that mode of transportation, because “the streets just cannot handle the number of cars that are trying to come in.”

Bloomberg said the same rules will be in effect for the Hudson River crossings except for the George Washington Bridge, where only cars with three or more people inside will be able to cross in from New Jersey.

Also announced Wednesday afternoon was that New York City public schools will be closed on both Thursday and Friday.

Oct. 31, 2:25 p.m.: Bellevue Hospital Center, located in the Kips Bay section of Manhattan, is evacuating about 500 patients. Bellevue is one of the most prestigious medical centers in New York and calls itself the the oldest continuously-operating hospital in the U.S. The New York Times reports: “The health department has authorized ‘surge capacity plans,’ hospital officials said. Appeals for other hospitals to take Bellevue patients have been marked “URGENT” and “ASAP.” Officials at other hospitals said that they were being asked to accept patients above their normal capacity, under rules put in place for catastrophic events.” CNN reported on Oct. 29 that Bellevue’s basement has been flooded, and the hospital has been powered on backup generators. — by Olivia B. Waxman

Oct. 31, 2:15 p.m.: Is your subway line reopening in the morning? Governor Cuomo’s office has released a list of the subway lines that will be reopening, effective “prior to rush hour” Thursday morning. Currently the Metropolitan Transit Authority is testing some of the lines, with the expectation that limited service will be restored early in the morning. Here are the lines that are running, with the caveat that no trains will run between Brooklyn to Manhattan (that service will be replaced by “bus bridges”), and no trains will head south of Grand Central on the east side and Penn Station on the west side.

There will be partial service on the 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, A, D, F, J, L, M, N, and R trains.

There is no service on the 3, 7, B, C, E, G, and Q trains.

Click here for the full list of service restorations on the NYC subway.

Oct. 31, 2:01 p.m.: As of 11 a.m. Wednesday, the National Hurricane Center has issued its last advisory on Sandy, now listed simply as a “storm.” The storm seems to have effectively broken up, with multiple centers of circulation across the lower Great Lakes. Sandy may still produce gale-force winds in the Great Lakes region and snow in the Appalachian regions of West Virginia and Pennsylvania. As the storm drags up through Michigan and into Canada, the tail will dump rain on the Cleveland area and leave cloudy and cool conditions in the northeast. — by Nick Carbone

Oct. 31, 1:51 p.m.: A press release from New Jersey governor Chris Christie’s office highlights the difficulties getting the state’s rail system up and running again. Crews inspecting the rails are hampered by continued power outages in some areas as well as “hundreds” of downed trees on the tracks; several stations suffered flooding including Hoboken terminal. Finally, according to the press release, NJ TRANSIT’s Rail Operations Center—the central nervous system of the railroad—was flooded, damaging its emergency generator, backup power supply and the computer system that controls the movement of trains. To sum up, the statement noted, “There is no estimated time for the resumption of service.  Service will remain suspended until further notice.”

Oct. 31, 1:11 p.m.: MTA chairman Joseph Lhota addressed the steps that New York City would take to restore transit service. “We’re going switch by switch, signal by signal to make sure everything’s up and running,” MTA Chairman Joe Lhota said at a Wednesday press conference. “Every day get the service back to normal, back to the situation we were at last week.”

New York governor Andrew Cuomo added, that there’s no timetable for restoration of PATH train service from New York City to Hoboken. The Army Corps of Engineers’ “dewatering team” is on hand to help pump out the tunnels, but the problem appears extensive, at least from New York City’s purview. “In the PATH tubes, the water is up to platform, and we believe that stretches to New Jersey. That means there’s five miles of tunnel filled right up to the platform, so you can imagine the volume of water that has to be removed.” — by Nick Carbone

Oct. 31, 1:06 p.m.: New York’s NY1 cable news channel clarifies the city’s subway situation further: service will be restored at 42nd street on the East Side and 34th street on the West Side and points north, allowing connection at Grand Central Station and Penn Station. The R, A/C, L and 7 train tunnels into Manhattan remain unusable.

Oct. 31, 1:04 p.m.: The reported nuclear alert at the Oyster Creek power plant in Lacey Township, N.J., along the Jersey Shore has been canceled as of 3:52 a.m. Wednesday morning after water levels returned to normal. According to a press release from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the water levels are currently at three feet and still receding, down from the six-foot level that triggers the alert notification. Inspectors said the nuclear power plant was in “safe condition.” — by Nick Carbone

Oct 31, 12:58 p.m.: The office of Brooklyn borough president Marty Markowitz clarified the schedule for restoring Manhattan to Brooklyn subway service via Twitter:

[tweet https://twitter.com/MartyMarkowitz/status/263682238670057472%5D

Oct. 31, 12:54 p.m.: Governor Andrew Cuomo again underscored the need for better extreme-weather planning in the New York City area. “Given the frequency of the extreme weather events we’ve been having, to sit here today and say this is a once-in-a-generation, and it’s not going to happen again, I think would be short sighted,” he said at a press conference. He called on agencies to “work on modifying infrastructure” to ensure that transit and electrical systems can hold up to future storms. Now more than ever, he said, “this region is very susceptible to coastal flooding.” — by Nick Carbone

Oct. 31, 12:40 p.m.: A federal de-watering team is traveling in from Illinois to clear flooded areas in lower Manhattan, including the World Trade Center site and the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, beginning Thursday, according to Sen. Schumer — a comment which prompted Gov. Cuomo to say that if anybody wanted to know what he wanted for Christmas, “I want my own de-watering team and 24 12-inch pumps.”

Oct. 31, 12:34 p.m.: Senator Charles Schumer, now speaking to the press, says that Hurricane Sandy is not “just a New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut disaster; it is a national disaster, and it should be treated as such.”

Oct. 31, 12:29 p.m.: The twitter account of Governor Cuomo clarified the New York City subway situation:

[tweet https://twitter.com/NYGovCuomo/status/263677284102316032%5D

But Cuomo announced at a Wednesday press conference that service will not extend south of 34th Street in Manhattan, as that area is still out of power. UPDATE: Per NY1, subway service will not be restored south of 42nd Street on the East Side and south of 34th Street on the West Side.

Oct. 31, 12:25 p.m.: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said at a press conference that some New York City area transit services will be restored over the next 24 hours. Buses in New York City are at full service; the Metro North and Long Island Rail Road commuter rails will begin limited service at 2 p.m. Limited New York City subway service will begin Thursday, with what the governor called a “bus bridge” connecting trains in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Three out of the seven subway tunnels flooded by Hurricane Sandy have been pumped clear. The press conference is ongoing.

Oct. 31, 12:09 p.m.: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has officially rescheduled Halloween for Nov. 5. Here’s a statement by the Governor, as quoted by FOX News Insider:

“In too many communities in our state, the damage and losses from this storm are still being sorted out, and dangerous conditions abound even as our emergency management and response officials continue their work. As Governor, it is my responsibility to use all available resources of the state government to protect against the emergency created by Hurricane Sandy – postponing Halloween celebrations by five days is a commonsense and necessary step to accomplish that.”

Oct. 31, 11:54 a.m.: Sandy by the numbers, according to the Washington Post: The storm set a record low for barometric pressure at many places along its path, recording just 943 millibars off the Jersey coast. Only the Long Island Express hurricane of 1938 has recorded a lower pressure, at 941 mb. Sandy also set records for peak storm surge, including a mark of 13.88 feet above normal low tide in the Battery area of Manhattan, beating a record of 10.02 feet set during Hurricane Donna in 1960.

Oct. 31, 8:40 a.m.: There have been 13 arrests in New York, mainly to do with charges of looting on Tuesday, according to WABC. Much of the activity (one witness said that people were taking “waters, sodas, cigarettes, TV’s – anything you could think of, they were getting it”) took place in Coney Island.

Oct. 31, 7:38 a.m.: As things currently stand on Wednesday morning, there are at least 6.2 million customers across the eastern U.S. who remain in the dark due to Sandy.

Oct. 31, 7:20 a.m.: The updated death toll: 108 people have died, 40 of which are in the U.S.

Oct. 31, 7:00 a.m.: Time Out New York features an overview of Broadway performances this week.

Oct. 31, 6:51 a.m. : The Washington Post has an overview of the transport situation for commuters in the Washington D.C. area. WYNC tracks the public transport situation in New York City.

[tweet https://twitter.com/FAureli/status/263592921998168064]

Oct. 31, 6:40 a.m.: New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg will ring the stock exchange opening bell on Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. The two-day closure was Wall Street’s longest weather-related break since 1888, the New York Times writes.

Oct. 31, 6:30 a.m.: The New York Post reports that 111 houses have been destroyed and another 20 have been damaged in a fire in Breezy Point, Queens. There were no reports of serious injuries or people missing, the Post said citing firefighters.

Oct. 31, 6:05 a.m.: New York electricity supplier Consolidated Edison warns of employee impostors in tweet:

[tweet https://twitter.com/ConEdison/status/263579089552687104%5D

Oct. 31, 5:35 a.m.: At 5 a.m., Massachusetts had 108,000 electricity outages, the state’s Emergency Management Agency says in a tweet. That’s 2,000 less than an hour earlier.

Oct. 31, 5:30 a.m.: The latest advisory from the National Weather Service says remnants of Sandy continue to weaken over Pennsylvania.

Oct. 31, 5:22 a.m.: The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority says all its subway, bus and commuter rail routes are operating regularly except for one subway line.

Oct. 31, 5:20 a.m.: According to the latest count by flight-tracking service FlightAware, over 18,100 flights have been cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy: 1,300 on Sunday, 7,885 on Monday, at least 7,043 on Tuesday. At least 1,875 cancellations are expected on Wednesday.

Oct. 31, 5:03 a.m.: Amtrak says it resumes operations on a limited number of routes on Wednesday.

Oct. 31, 4:45 a.m.: The New York Police Department uploaded a four-part video of a dramatic aerial rescue operation on its YouTube channel, showing flooded parts of Staten Island.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcLIGZGTq04&feature=share&list=UUfJJ9vqyUPRkyUvnGSB-56Q%5D

Oct. 31, 3:55 a.m.: There have been no reports of opportunistic crime connected to the storm in New York City, the New York Times says citing police. The New York Post previously reported more than a dozen arrests of looters, also citing police.

[tweet https://twitter.com/NWSBoston/status/263558033567797249]

Oct. 31, 3:30 a.m.: The New York State Unified Courts system has updated its list of closed courts for Wednesday.

Oct. 31, 2:55 a.m.: New York University says it will resume operations on Nov. 5, according to a press release.

[tweet https://twitter.com/PhotograTom/status/263394781533716481%5D

Oct. 31, 2:25 a.m.: The National Weather Service issues a minor flood warning for Piscataquis River, Maine.

Oct. 31, 2:20 a.m.: 38,000 people have been affected by Hurricane Sandy across Haiti, CARE says citing the Haitian National Emergency Center. CARE staff members on the ground report 14 casualties and 2,955 homes destroyed or damaged in Grande Anse province. 300 cases of cholera and six deaths have so far been reported throughout Haiti. Read TIME’s report from the capital Port-au-Prince.

PHOTOS: Hurricane Sandy Wreaks Havoc in Caribbean

Oct. 31, 1:30 a.m.: President Obama will visit hard-hit areas of New Jersey on Wednesday, USA Today reports.

Oct. 31, 1:20 a.m.: The National Weather Service renews its flood warnings for Saco River affecting Carroll County, N.H., and Kennebec River affecting Somerset County, Maine.

[tweet https://twitter.com/monaeltahawy/status/263520223716601857%5D

Oct. 31, 12:25 a.m.: New York Waterway says it will resume ferry and bus services this morning on a limited basis, including service from Port Imperial to 39th Street in Midtown, Lincoln Harbor/No. Hoboken to Midtown and Paulus Hook to the World Financial Center in Lower Manhattan. Service will resume at 7:00 a.m. and last until 6:30 p.m.

Oct. 30, 11:35 p.m.: WNYC has the latest info on transportation systems in New York and New Jersey. Check the status here.

Oct. 30, 11:oo p.m.: The latest advisory from the National Weather Service’s Hydrometeorological Prediction Center (HPC) says Sandy is located in northwestern Pennsylvania, moving at a top speed of 40 m.p.h. (64km/h). The post-tropical cyclone is expected to move across western New York or Lake Erie and head northward into Canada on Wednesday. HPC will issue the next advisory at 5:00 a.m. Wednesday morning.

Oct. 30, 10:30 p.m.: As of now, the Weather Channel reports that Sandy has killed 45 people in the U.S. and left 6.6 million people without power. Watch the channel’s live coverage of the storm here.

Oct. 30, 10:10 p.m.: New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport will reopen Wednesday, CNN reports, as will Newark Liberty International in New Jersey. However both airports will only offer limited service as carriers slowly come back online following Superstorm Sandy.

Oct. 30, 8:35 p.m.: A video has surfaced showing the moment of the crane collapse at the One57 luxury apartment building in midtown Manhattan during Superstorm Sandy. The building, which is expected to top out at 90 stories and feature some of the city’s most expensive residences, has had a history of construction complaints, as TIME previously reported.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/yP0zWbY29iY]

Oct. 30, 8:10 p.m.: A spokeswoman for the Wildlife Conservation Society told the Associated Press earlier today that all 14 acres of the New York Aquarium on Coney Island were under water. But the aquarium’s executive vice president Jim Breheny told local news site The New York World that its newest resident, at least, is safe: aquarium staffers stayed overnight to monitor their new 236-pound baby walrus, Mitik, because he had been “experiencing some health issues” since he arrived from Alaska earlier in October. —by Olivia B. Waxman

Oct. 30, 7:35 p.m.: Amtrak announced it will restore some services in storm-stricken areas, the Associated Press reported, although New York City’s Penn Station remained too flooded for trains to pass. More from the AP:

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.

Oct. 30, 7:28 p.m.: Superstorm Sandy will not stop the NBA or the NFL; both sports leagues plan to continue their schedules, according to the Associated Press. NBA spokesman Tim Frank tweeted that season-opening games Tuesday night in Miami, Los Angeles and Cleveland are set to tip off on time. (However, the storm still might affect scheduled opening games for the Philadelphia 76ers and the Brooklyn Nets — making their home debut — scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday respectively.)

The NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers say they’re ready for their tilt against the New York Giants on Sunday, and will prepare to play unless they hear otherwise from league officials. NFL offices were closed Monday and Tuesday.

Oct. 30, 6:45 p.m.: Halloween may be postponed, but New York City’s great race will go on. Mayor Bloomberg said this Sunday’s marathon will take place as scheduled — a sentiment echoed by the New York Road Runners, the organization that’s in charge of planning the annual road race. “We will keep all options open with regard to making any accommodations and adjustments necessary to race day and race weekend events,” Mary Wittenberg, the chief executive of NYRR, told the New York Times. But not everyone was as rosy about the outcome: “I don’t know how many thousands of people will run it, but I will say with confidence that 47,000 people will not be the number,” Norman Goluskin, a board member at New York Road Runners, told the Times.

Oct. 30, 5:55 p.m.: The MTA has given the public a glimpse of just how devastated parts of the subway system is. The transit authority posted a video of a Tuesday afternoon walk through the South Ferry and Whitehall Street station on the 1 and R lines in lower Manhattan. Sandbags and barricades at the entrance appear to have been blown over by the storm, and water down by the station’s entrance appears to be at least knee-high. All power has been cut to the station and the stations are waterlogged — it certainly appears the MTA will need the four or five days, at least, to bail out, as Mayor Bloomberg has previously predicted.

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In a Tuesday evening press conference, Mayor Bloomberg said 6,400 people remain in the 76 evacuation centers around the city, with 2,900 people helping to staff the centers. The evacuation for Zone A remains in effect for tonight, as well. Bloomberg said that the death toll in New York City had increased to 18 throughout the day. — by Nick Carbone

Oct. 30, 5:30 p.m.: The annual Village Halloween Parade has been canceled in New York City tomorrow. Due to the extensive damage in Lower Manhattan, the NYPD and the Mayor’s Office of Emergency Management have announced that the yearly parade will not go on — for the first time in its 39-year history, according to the parade’s website. It’s been rescheduled for a later date, to be determined later. “We hope that everyone who would have come to the Parade is safe and that those who can volunteer to help out at one of the Emergency Outreach Centers near you,” the site says. The theme of the parade was going to be “Tick! Tock!”, counting down to the December 2012 apocalypse, as foretold by the Mayan calendar. — by Olivia B. Waxman

Oct. 30, 5:10 p.m.: New York City is getting moving again — at least above ground. Gov. Andrew Cuomo and MTA Chair Joe Lhota announced Tuesday afternoon that limited bus service (basically a weekend schedule) resumed this evening at 5 p.m. with no charge to passengers. Lhota stated that so far they have found no damage to the buses or subway cars — all damage to the system has taken place on the tracks. While this news is certainly welcomed by city residents, Lhota followed up with some not-so-good news. Because of the immense damage to the subway system, service reinstatement might “take a little longer than we had thought.” Instead of focusing on getting the whole system running again, officials are trying to determine sections in which service can resume. Gov. Cuomo also noted that JFK Airport is expected to be reopen tomorrow, while massive flooding at LaGuardia Airport will force the hub to remain closed.

Oct. 30, 4:35 p.m.: Although residents of the coastal cities in New Jersey have yet to be allowed to visit their homes and businesses, the New Jersey National Guard has released a video that shows an aerial view of Seaside Heights. The town, which was made famous as the location of MTV’s The Jersey Shore, has seen devastating flooding and destruction in the wake of Sandy, with the boardwalk being washed away by the tide and the famed Star Jet rollercoaster falling into the ocean. Take a look at the National Guard’s video, shot by Master Sgt. Mark C. Olsen:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRAdgh9VH0o]

Oct. 30, 3:55 p.m.: President Obama will tour the Sandy-stricken state of New Jersey with Governor Chris Christie on Wednesday, the White House has announced. The Republican governor has offered effusive praise for Obama’s efforts and responsiveness regarding the storm. “The President has been outstanding in this and so have the folks at FEMA,” Christie said Tuesday morning on the Today show. Obama has canceled planned campaign events in Ohio to be in New Jersey assessing the storm damage.

Obama appeared at a news conference at a Red Cross center in Washington D.C. on Tuesday afternoon, telling victims of the storm that “America is with you.” He promised that state officials would have all the federal resources they need in order to move forward with the recovery efforts that are already underway. “My message to the federal government is no bureaucracy, no red tape. Get resources where they are needed as fast as possible, as hard as possible, and for the duration.” He also praised the local officials and first responders saying, “During the darkness of the storm, I think we also saw what’s brightest in America.”

As Obama heads out of D.C., millions of federal workers in the District will be expected at work on Wednesday. All employees are expected to be at work tomorrow, according to the government, as regular Metro service resumed Tuesday afternoon.

Oct. 30, 3:40 p.m.: All three major airports in the New York area remain closed, with officials from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey still assessing damage. All airports reported flooding and debris on runways, but LaGuardia Airport, right on Flushing Bay and fed by both the East River and the Long Island Sound, is perhaps among the worst off. JetBlue tweeted this harrowing photo Tuesday of flooding at LaGuardia (and posted other unbelievable photos on its blog).

[tweet https://twitter.com/JetBlue/status/263316302062579712%5D

The airline says it’s planning to reopen its operations in Boston and Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, but New York’s airports will take greater cleanup.

Oct. 30, 3:20 p.m.: As Sandy continues moving inland, Michigan is feeling the impact of the storm. MLive reports that wind gusts struck up 20-foot waves on Lake Huron Tuesday morning and wind gusts of 74 mph. More than 56,000 southeast Michigan residents were out of power in the morning, a number that grew to 140,000 at the height of the storm, according to DTE Energy.

Oct. 30, 2:40 p.m.: A New York University Hospital building on East 32nd St. has lost “years” of scientific research due to the storm, one researcher told the New York Daily News. Thousands of genetically-modified mice drowned in a flood, and the hospital may have lost various special enzymes, antibodies, and DNA strands that were stored at very specific temperatures. The Daily News writes: “In one case, scientists were rolling a big freezer — the size of a big refrigerator — to an area of the hospital with emergency power.”

Further downtown, looters raided the upscale gadget store Brookstone in the South Street Seaport around 3:45 a.m., security guard Maurice Alinton told Gothamist. He saw people snatching headphones and when he shined his flashlight on them, they “scattered.” Police told Gothamist that the storm broke the store’s windows, which allowed the looters inside. — by Olivia B. Waxman

Oct. 30, 2:25 p.m.: Massive flooding washed away much of Atlantic City’s iconic boardwalk, ripping the massive wooden boards from their pylons and washing them into the city’s streets, smashing storefronts and blocking roads. The casinos are stable but were shut down for the duration of the storm, which made landfall just south of Atlantic City around 8 p.m. Monday night.

Officials estimated that as much as 80% of Atlantic City was under water at high tide on Monday. A dispute between Gov. Chris Christie and Atlantic City Mayor Lorenzo Langford over evacuation orders escalated on Tuesday morning, as state and federal rescue teams attempted to reach residents who were stranded in their homes.

Oct. 30, 2:10 p.m.: In Ocean City, Md., water levels reached up to seven feet higher than normal during the storm. While flooding remained on Tuesday morning, some roads were able to reopen, including the Route 90 bridge. Near the coastline, it was reported that 100 feet of a fishing pier was destroyed and debris from nearby homes and businesses scattered the boardwalk. Officials estimate that residents can return to the town on Wednesday, the Baltimore Sun reports.

Power outages across Maryland reached about 300,000 at the height of the storm. Baltimore’s subway resumed operations at noon on Tuesday, with limited service on Maryland’s mass-transit system expected to restart on Tuesday afternoon. — by Erin Skarda

Oct. 30, 2:05 p.m.: When the WABC-TV crew arrived at the scene on Staten Island, N.Y. on Monday evening, it seemed like something “out of a movie.” A 168-foot tanker had washed ashore, propelled by the waves of Hurricane Sandy. The huge tanker, carrying water, was moored a mile out into the Atlantic but was washed onto the devastated shorefront of Staten Island south of Manhattan.
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Oct. 30, 1:55 p.m.: The Queens home of New York congressman Bob Turner (R) was “obliterated” in the wake of the storm, NY1 reports. Turner’s home was located in the Breezy Point section of Queens that was flooded and subsequently burned to the ground. Turner and his wife were fortunately reported safe. Turner won the Congressional seat vacated in 2011 by Anthony Weiner.

Oct. 30, 1:40 p.m.: As the financial and political hubs of the U.S. evaluate the storm damage, the international destruction has taken a backseat in the public consciousness. But before it hit the U.S., Sandy pounded both Cuba and Haiti, the latter country reporting at least 52 deaths from the hurricane, Reuters reports. The Caribbean nation is still reeling from the effects of Hurricane Isaac in late August and, of course, the devastating earthquake that crippled the nation back in 2010. “The economy took a huge hit,” Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe told Reuters. Authorities said 18,000 families were left homeless after Sandy swept through.

Oct. 30, 1:10 p.m.: As millions across the nation clamored to get information about Hurricane Sandy, Google launched a new project called Public Alerts. Tied to the search terms we all use most in the face of disasters both natural and unpredictable, Google will show the most crucial details about evacuation routes and shelter locations. Going forward, during emergency situations like extreme weather or disasters, Google search results will show first and foremost safety information provided by a list of public affairs partners like NOAA and the USGS. If you type Hurricane Sandy into Google now, the primary result displayed is federal emergency information from ready.gov, flanked by links to state emergency management websites. — by Nick Carbone

Oct. 30, 1:00 p.m.: The New York Stock Exchange will reopen Wednesday, according to CEO Duncan Neiderauer. The financial market has been closed both Monday and Tuesday to mitigate storm damage.

Oct. 30, 12:50 p.m.: Of the 15 New York City deaths related to Hurricane Sandy, one of the most tragic is that of a 22-year-old woman in Queens, who was killed last night. The New York Post reports the yet-unidentified woman left her home in the Richmond Hill section to snap photos, but got too close to a downed power line and was electrocuted. Her neighbor told the Post what happened:

“I looked out my window and I saw the girl across the street taking pictures of the live wire sparking near my car, so I ran outside to move my car,”  said Mahendra Chetram, 35.

“I jumped in [the car]. She was still taking pictures and as I backed down the street, [then] I heard a loud shriek and it looks just like how it does in the movies. Her body was gyrating, smoke was coming from her and within 25 seconds she was out, No movement.” — by Madison Gray

Oct. 30, 12:30 p.m.: Facebook has published a list of the “Top-10 Shared Terms by U.S. Users.”  As of 10 a.m. ET, the top three are:
1. we are ok
2. power – lost power, have power, no power
3. damage

Oct. 30, 11:50 a.m.: Sandy brought excessive water to many towns in its path, but in West Virginia and parts of western North Carolina, residents are experiencing a chillier reception from Sandy. More than a foot of snow has fallen in West Virginia’s most populous cities, with two feet falling in the less-populous mountainous regions. A blizzard warning was in effect for parts of the state, with the snowy conditions expected to last until Wednesday. More than 45 miles of Interstate 68 was closed due to hazardous conditions, and 205,000 people remained without power, according to the Associated Press.

To see other states experiencing power issues, visit our up-to-the-minute outages page.

Oct. 30, 11:35 a.m.: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said that all bridges will be re-opening at noon. The Brooklyn Battery and Holland Tunnels will remain closed until further notice due to extensive flooding. MTA chairman Joe Lhota said that “every single borough and every single county served by the MTA” has suffered damage and flooding in the wake of the storm. At least 5 subway tunnels between Brooklyn and Manhattan are flooded.

Oct. 30: 11:30 a.m.: New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg just wrapped up a press conference with updates about how the city fared in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. He said that at least 10 people have died as the storm swept through the city. Aside from ongoing rescue missions, the biggest challenges going forward are to restore public transportation service and to repair the power grid. Con Edison reports that the damage to the power systems in the city is “unprecedented in scope,” and the Mayor said his administration “will move heaven and Earth to help them so we can get back up and running as soon as humanly possible.”

There is extensive flooding in MTA subway tunnels. MTA chairman Joseph J. Lhota released a statement Tuesday morning about the state of New York City’s transportation system. Seven subway tunnels under the East River were flooded, the Metro-North has lost power on multiple lines, the Long Island Railroad evacuated its West Side Yards and suffered flooding. “The New York City subway system is 108 years old, but it has never faced a disaster as devastating as what we experienced last night,” he said. The country’s largest transit system is expected to remain closed for at least four days.  The city hopes to restore limited bus service by Tuesday afternoon and have bus service running normally by Wednesday — and fares will be free for the day. — by Erin Skarda

Bloomberg signed an executive order allowing cab drivers to pick up multiple passengers at a time, and livery cabs can pick up anyone in the city.  The three main airports in the New York City area remain closed due to runway flooding. The crane at One57 in midtown Manhattan is still hanging on this morning, but nothing can be done about it until the wind dies down.

The Mayor reported that 911 is functioning normally; the biggest delay reported was five minutes. — by Olivia B. Waxman

Oct. 30: 11:15 a.m.: New York City public schools will also be closed on Wednesday, Mayor Bloomberg announced Tuesday morning.

Oct. 30, 11:00 a.m.: WCBS Radio reports that the Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg Bridges have reopened, as well as the Tappan Zee which connects the Greater New York area with Upstate. Each were closed during the majority of Hurricane Sandy’s onslaught due to high winds.

Other river crossings in New York including the Triboro, George Washington, and Queensboro Bridges remain closed. Tunnel crossings also remain closed including the Holland Tunnel and Brooklyn Battery tunnel. The Lincoln Tunnel has remained open.

However, MTA transit officials have no idea when New York City subways will be operational again. In a Tuesday morning press conference, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said there’s “no firm timeline for reactivation.” Gov. Chris Christie says the PATH train will take 10 days to get up and running. — by Madison Gray

Oct. 30, 10:30 a.m.: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said at a press conference that the damage to his state from Hurricane Sandy is “beyond anything I ever thought I’d see.” He says all of the major rail lines in the state are damaged and that a number of water supply issues are arising throughout the state.

In comparison to Hurricane Irene, he said it took 8 days to restore power to affected areas, for this he expects it to take longer. The most affected area is along the Jersey Shore stretching down to the Cape May area. “The level of devastation at Jersey Shore is unthinkable.” — by Madison Gray

Oct. 30, 9:45 a.m.: Multiple disasters collided Monday in the Breezy Point neighborhood in Queens, where 80 to 100 already-flooded homes were destroyed by a fire that broke out around 11 p.m. More than 190 firefighters rushed to the scene to fight the blaze, in the area where water already filled the streets chest-high, according to WABC-TV. Firefighters rescued 25 people trapped upstairs in an apartment, with flames lapping at the apartment next door. Breezy Point, located on the far tip of Rockaway Point, which juts out into the Atlantic Ocean, looked like a virtual wasteland of waterlogged debris Tuesday morning.

Oct. 30, 9:30 a.m.: CNN is reporting that more than 5 million people across wide swath of Sandy’s path are without power this morning as cleanup from the storm begins.

Oct. 30, 08:38 a.m.: Websites haven’t been entirely able to fend off Sandy, with the likes of Gawker, Buzzfeed and The Huffington Post temporarily going offline due to the power outage.

Oct. 30, 08:33 a.m.: Could this be one of the images of the day (as can be seen in the below tweet)? A tanker has washed up on Staten Island, yet another example of Sandy’s impact.

[tweet https://twitter.com/BBCBreaking/status/263254813851148288%5D

Oct. 30, 08:15 a.m.: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has been giving interviews — where he praised President Obama for his assistance, calling his help “outstanding” — and is constantly updating his Twitter account. Two takeaways: “The devastation on the Jersey Shore is some of the worst we’ve ever seen,” and then he added that “New Jersey is a tough place. We will dig out from under and we will be back.”

Oct. 30, 07:54 a.m.: It’s estimated that over seven million people in the Northeast are without power.

Oct. 30, 07:42 a.m.: New Jersey Mayor, Cory Booker, said Tuesday that it will take days before power is restored in Newark. What’s more, the majority of the city is without electricity.

Oct. 30, 07:35 a.m.: Metropolitan Transportation Authority (M.T.A.) chairman, Joseph J. Lhota, has called the storm the worst disaster in the history of its subway system. “The New York City subway system is 108 years old, but it has never faced a disaster as devastating as what we experienced last night,” he said in a statement. “All of us at the M.T.A. are committed to restoring the system as quickly as we can to help bring New York back to normal.”

Oct. 30, 07:15 a.m.: The death toll in the U.S. has risen to 16. Five of the deaths were in New York, three in New Jersey, two in Maryland, two in Connecticut, two in Pennsylvania, one in West Virginia, and one from the HMS Bounty replica. One death has also been confirmed in Canada. Before Sandy made its way to the U.S., there were 67 people killed in the Caribbean, which included 51 in Haiti. The overall death toll is now at least 84.

Oct. 30, 07:07 a.m.: According to the West Virginia Department of Emergency Management, 11 counties are under a blizzard warning until 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Oct. 30, 07:00 a.m.: Away from New York, and the Mayor of Philadelphia, Michael Nutter, told CNN that his city “got through it.” Nutter said their emergency plans worked well, though there are reports of flooding and downed trees. Unsurprisingly, schools are shut and there’s no mass transit Tuesday.

Oct. 30, 06:55 a.m.: Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office sends out the following Tuesday morning tweet…

[tweet https://twitter.com/NYCMayorsOffice/status/263221447739199488%5D

Oct. 30, 06:45 a.m.: According to the Howard County Emergency Management Department, a leak at a water plant in Maryland is causing roughly 2 million gallons of raw sewage to rush out every hour. The cause? An overflow caused by power loss.

Oct. 30, 06:18 a.m.: Further news is emerging on the levee breaking in New Jersey. The towns of Moonachie, Little Ferrie and Carlstadt have been flooded with 4-5ft (1.2m to 1.5m) of water. It’s possible that up to 1,000 people are affected. Ralph Verdi, the chief of police in Little Ferrie told CNN that four to six feet of water is covering 75% of the town.

Oct. 30, 05:47 a.m.: President Obama has declared a “major disaster” in New York state and orders federal aid be made available in the counties of Bronx, Kings, Nassau, New York, Richmond, Suffolk and Queens, according to the AFP.

Oct. 30, 05:40 a.m.: Reuters is reporting that there’s been a levee break in the borough of Moonachie, New Jersey. A rescue operation is underway for residents.

Oct. 30, 05:30 a.m.: A fire has razed at least 50 homes in the New York City borough of Queens, reports the Washington Post. More than 190 firefighters have been dispatched to the flooded neighborhood to contain the fire, and two people have been injured, said a fire-department spokesperson.

Oct. 30, 05:00 a.m.: Sandy is now moving westward across southern Pennsylvania, according to the latest advisory from the National Weather Service’s Hydrometeorological Prediction Center. As of now, the post-tropical cyclone is near Millersburg, Pa., moving at a top speed of 45.6 m.p.h. (73 km/h). Tonight it will move into western New York and into Canada on Wednesday. Sandy is forecast to weaken steadily during the next 48 hours. The next advisory will be issued at 11:00 a.m.

At least 13 people in the U.S. have died from Sandy and more than 6.5 million people in storm-affected areas are without power, reports CNN.

Oct. 30, 04:40 a.m.: Check out the Google Crisis Map of the superstorm to see affected areas, storm track, electricity status and more.

[tweet https://twitter.com/ConEdison/status/263198166759899136%5D

Oct. 30, 03:35 a.m.: Red Cross chapters in storm-stricken areas are taking donations for relief efforts. If you wish to donate to the American Red Cross, South Central New York Chapter, you can do so here.

Oct. 30, 03:30 a.m.: Experts say Sandy is going to make history for its sheer size and scale of destruction, especially at the Jersey Shore, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Oct. 30, 2:40 a.m.: Sandy is located near Lancaster, Pa., according to the latest advisory from the National Weather Service. The next advisory is scheduled for 5 a.m.

[tweet https://twitter.com/RedCross/status/263146868920434688%5D

Oct. 30, 2:30 a.m.: CNN updates its power-outage figure: 6,535,896 are without electricity across 13 states and Washington D.C.

[tweet https://twitter.com/FDNY/status/263182607108427776%5D

[tweet https://twitter.com/NewsGunner/status/263158987728490496%5D

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Oct. 30, 2:05 a.m.: New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority says the city subway system “has never faced a disaster as devastating” as Sandy in its 108-year history. Several subway tunnels and bus garages have been flooded. Power outages have also affected operations. No timeline has been announced for the resumption of services.

Oct. 30, 2:05 a.m.: The mayor of Hoboken, N.J., has called in the National Guard to help rescue 50 to 60 people stuck in shelters, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Oct. 30, 1:45 a.m.: Sandy threatens to cause $20 billion in economic damage, Bloomberg Businessweek estimates.

[tweet https://twitter.com/ConEdison/status/263153864017072128%5D

Oct. 30, 1:15 a.m.: Nearly 5.8 million people nationwide are suffering through power outages, the Washington Post reports, citing the Associated Press and the Maryland Public Service Commission. CNN estimates 5.5 million customers in 13 states and Washington D.C. are affected. Weather.com says nearly 6 million people are without power.

[tweet https://twitter.com/USCG/status/263110989485047808%5D

[tweet https://twitter.com/marclavorgna/status/263124814766686208%5D

Oct. 30, 12:00 a.m.: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued an alert for the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant, in New Jersey, at 8:45 p.m. because of high water levels. The alert is the second lowest of four NRC action levels.

Oct. 29, 11:45 p.m.: Power outages reached nearly 400,000 by 11 p.m. in the Washington-Baltimore area and are still expected to climb, the Washington Post reports.

[tweet https://twitter.com/NYGovCuomo/status/263117559375724544%5D

Oct. 29, 11:15 p.m.: States of emergency have been declared in North Carolina and West Virginia as both states are bracing themselves for heavy snowstorms, USA Today reports.

Oct. 29, 11:00 p.m.: Patients are being evacuated from the New York University hospital after power outage, the Associated Press reports, citing Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Oct. 29, 10:50 p.m.: Video shows explosion at the Con Edison power plant on Manhattan Island. Con Edison denies reports of workers trapped in the power plant.

Oct. 29, 10:10 p.m.: Sandy is blamed for at least 10 deaths in the U.S., CNN reports.

Oct. 29, 10:10 p.m.: 3.6 million people are without power because of Sandy, according to the Department of Energy.

[tweet https://twitter.com/MikeBloomberg/status/263095529968373761%5D

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Oct. 29, 10:00 p.m.: One woman is killed by flying debris in Toronto, CBC News reports. The search for one missing H.M.S. Bounty crew member is still ongoing.

Oct. 29, 9:50 p.m.: Here is a video showing the collapsed building facade on Eighth Avenue, New York City.

Oct. 29, 9:30 p.m.: President Obama signed further emergency declarations for Rhode Island and Delaware, the White House said.

Oct. 29, 8:53 p.m.: According to the New York Times, a 30-year-old man was killed in Queens when a tree fell on his house at around 7 p.m. this evening. This is the first fatality in New York City that is attributed to Sandy.

[tweet https://twitter.com/passantino/status/263091522503856128]

Oct. 29, 8:35 p.m.: A four-story building collapsed in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood, near the corner of 14th Street and Eighth Avenue. Here is a picture of the scene from Patti Sonntag of the New York Times: [tweet https://twitter.com/PattiSonntag/status/263053884354859009/%5D

And here’s a video.

Oct. 29, 8:05 p.m.: The center of Sandy has made landfall on the New Jersey coastline near Atlantic City, according to the Associated Press. The storm has sustained winds of 85 m.p.h. (137 km/h). More than 1.5 million people are already without power.

Oct. 29, 7:40 p.m.: The New York Times reports that Sandy was downgraded to a post-tropical storm because it is no longer powered by warm temperatures.

Oct. 29, 7:20 p.m.: The Associated Press reported that Sandy has been downgraded to a post-tropical storm from a hurricane. It was losing strength but still had sustained winds of 85 m.p.h. (137 km/h) as it made landfall at Atlantic City, N.J.

Oct. 29, 7:10 p.m.: Hurricane Sandy has made landfall at Atlantic City, N.J., NBC News reported, quoting the National Hurricane Center. The massive storm system came ashore at approximately 6:45 p.m. Already some 700,000 homes and businesses are without power.

Oct. 29, 6:50 p.m.: The New York City Fire Department reports that a four-story building has collapsed in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. Initial reports say there are no injuries or trapped residents at the building, located at 92 Eighth Avenue and 14th Street.

Oct. 29, 6:40 p.m.: The Associated Press reports that the Coast Guard has found Claudene Christian, 42, one of the missing crew members from the H.M.S. Bounty, which sank off the coast of North Carolina earlier this morning. She is reportedly unresponsive.

Oct. 29, 6:35 p.m.: New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in an evening news conference that more than 47,000 people in the city have lost power so far, with the vast majority in Queens and Staten Island. Additionally, Con Edison might be forced to shut down power in lower Manhattan and Brooklyn in order to protect its equipment from serious damage. If that happens, Bloomberg said power will be restored as soon as possible, depending on how much the storm impacts the utility company’s equipment. —by Erin Skarda

Oct. 29, 6:30 p.m.: Cory Booker, mayor of Newark, N.J., helped his constituents brave the great blizzard of 2010 and even saved a woman from a burning building in April 2012. Now he is responding to residents’ concerns about Sandy and their reports about storm damage across the city. One example: [tweet https://twitter.com/CoryBooker/status/263021336790716416%5D

Oct. 29, 6:15 p.m.: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie laid into Atlantic City, N.J., Mayor Lorenzo Langford in a Monday evening press conference. The city has already faced extensive damage and is predicted to be in the eye of the hurricane when it makes landfall in just a few hours. Christie tore into Langford’s call for people to take shelter in the city, as one of the city shelters is a block off the bay and is now flooded and without power.

Christie highlighted that the residents of Atlantic City won’t be able to get emergency help from authorities until 7 a.m., so the people will have to ride it out through the night. As of 5 p.m., the storm was trained on Atlantic City with an expected landfall just after 6 p.m. —by Steven James Snyder

Hoboken, N.J., on the Hudson River across from New York City, is also fearing a huge storm surge and has imposed a 6 p.m. curfew for its residents.

Oct. 29, 6:00 p.m.: According to CNN, Hurricane Sandy isn’t the biggest or fastest-moving storm ever, but it’s already clinched one record: it’s the lowest-pressure storm in history.

Oct. 29, 5:40 p.m.: At 7 p.m., all four bridges over the East River into Manhattan will shut down, according to the New York City Mayor’s Office. This includes the Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg and Ed Koch Queensboro bridges. This means only the Lincoln Tunnel to New Jersey and the Goethals Bridge connecting Staten Island to New Jersey remain open.

Oct. 29, 5:20 p.m.: As the collapsed crane continues to hang precariously over midtown Manhattan, TIME’s Erin Skarda has a report on the overwhelming number of previous complaints against One57, the luxury high-rise apartment building that’s expected to become the tallest residential building in New York City. She writes: “During the course of two years of construction, the building has received a total of 11 partial or complete stop-work orders,” some of which have been because of improperly licensed cranes. See the full list of complaints. Mayor Michael Bloomberg reports that steam has been shut off in the vicinity of the building, and gas and water will be shut off soon, in order to mitigate any issues that may arise if the boom falls 70 stories down.

Oct. 29, 5:10 p.m.: Believe it or not (and the whipping winds and incessant fog certain would indicate otherwise) but Hurricane Sandy hasn’t even made landfall yet. The storm system is currently located 30 miles (48 km) off the coast of Cape May, N.J., and Delaware. In its 5 p.m. update, the National Hurricane Center at the National Weather Service writes that Sandy still has the potential for “life-threatening storm surge and hurricane-force winds.”

And storm damage is already being reported across the Northeast. New York Times reporter Sarah Maslin Nir tweeted this photo of a house crushed by a fallen tree in East Hampton, N.Y., on the far eastern edge of Long Island.

[tweet https://twitter.com/SarahMaslinNir/status/263022446687424513%5D

Oct. 29, 4:50 p.m.: New York Times writer Brian Stelter posted this video of flooding in Lewes, Del.

Oct. 29, 4:33 p.m.: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced the closure of several bridges in the New York City area. The Tappan Zee Bridge across the Hudson River reportedly closed at 4:00 p.m.; the Throgs Neck, Whitestone and George Washington bridges are scheduled to shut to traffic at 7:00 p.m. The Triborough Bridge, the Lincoln Tunnel and the Queens-Midtown Tunnel will remain open.

(MORE: Send Us Your Updates on Hurricane Sandy: Click Here for More)

Oct. 29, 4:15 p.m.: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said at a press conference that Hurricane Sandy’s speed is increasing; the heaviest weather, once expected to hit later this evening, is now expected as early as 6 p.m. “Sandy’s fury is still going to come this evening,” the governor said. “This is the last warning that we’re going to be able to give people to get to a safe place before that coastal surge really hits.”

Oct. 29, 3:39 p.m.: Bloomberg News has live video of the imperiled 57th Street crane in New York City.

Oct. 29, 2:55 p.m.: A crane has partially collapsed atop a construction site in midtown Manhattan, according to numerous sources. Initial reports say the building is the One57 skyscraper on West 57th Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues — which when finished will be the tallest, most expensive residential building in the city. CNN reports the crane is now dangling from the structure. It’s estimated that the crane is about 70 stories high — the building is expected to be 90 stories tall when it’s topped out. Over the weekend, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg stated that all construction cranes throughout the city were inspected, saying, “We have visited every crane site and every construction site in the city, and with the winds that are expected we think they have appropriately tied down all of the equipment. But if there’s a gust that’s a lot more than anybody had counted on, things could start to blow.” —by Erin Skarda

Oct. 29, 2:20 p.m.: In perhaps the greatest bit of hurricane humor to emerge so far, a “Shirtless Horseman” jogger was seen this morning on NBC Washington, providing a nice respite from the seriousness of the storm poised to batter northwest D.C.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=OTO_NsYkqOo]

The jogger, Jimmy Kruyne, told DCist that his 9:30 a.m. jog was just to lighten the mood among the dark storm clouds. “Little spontaneous jogging hopefully put a smile on people’s face before this awful storm,” he said.

Oct. 29, 2:00 p.m.: Though Sandy has yet to make landfall, its wrath has already submerged low-lying parts of New York and New Jersey. Take, for example, the Battery Park City Esplanade near the tip of lower Manhattan, where the Hudson River flows into New York Harbor:

[tweet https://twitter.com/Newyorkist/status/262907424325898240%5D

[tweet https://twitter.com/Newyorkist/status/262886197762863104%5D

And over on the east side of Manhattan, the FDR Drive is already submerged:

[tweet https://twitter.com/mikeryan/status/262932067418005506%5D

Flooding has also hit the Jamaica Bay area of Queens, a few hours before Sandy’s expected landfall:

[tweet https://twitter.com/coreykilgannon/status/262893342113800192/photo/1%5D

So far, though, some of the worst flooding has occurred in Atlantic City, N.J., with parts of the beach town’s boardwalk coursing through the submerged streets:

[tweet https://twitter.com/Hoeboma/status/262901312495161344%5D —by Samantha Grossman

Oct. 29, 1:50 p.m.: At 4 p.m., the New Jersey Turnpike will be closed to traffic. The Turnpike is the state’s primary highway that runs along the Atlantic coast, connecting to many points along the Jersey Shore. American Airlines has announced they’ve canceled all flights at nine airports in Sandy’s path, including the three major airports in New York and the three in Washington, D.C., until midday on Wednesday.

Oct. 29, 1:25 p.m.: All New York financial markets will remain closed for a second day on Tuesday as surge and waves from the storm has started to batter lower Manhattan. The U.N. and Broadway shows are shuttered on Monday, and a decision will be made later about Tuesday for those organizations. Wall Street Journal social-media editor Brian Aguilar tweeted this photo of a very-closed New York Stock Exchange:

[tweet https://twitter.com/brianaguilar/status/262958660005801984%5D

The Goldman Sachs headquarters on West Street in the heart of the financial district is taking a few precautions, as evidenced by this tweet from New York magazine’s Daily Intel blog:

[tweet https://twitter.com/DailyIntel/status/262960960459919360%5D

Oct. 29, 12:45 p.m.: In a press briefing on Monday afternoon, President Obama explained that he’d spoken to all of the governors of states that are predicted to be impacted by Sandy and has mobilized many departments in the federal government, including the departments of Homeland Security, Transportation, and Health and Human Services. He reiterated the message of many of them, saying, “Don’t delay, don’t pause, don’t question the instructions” of authorities if they’re telling you to evacuate. He says he’s not worried about the storm’s impact on the election, but instead the impact on families and first responders. “The election will take care of itself next week,” he said.

Oct. 29, 12:35 p.m.: The oceanfront town of Atlantic City, N.J. is largely underwater, with the Press of Atlantic City reporting that the flooding from the Monday morning high tide has reached record-breaking levels, approaching 8.3 ft. (2.5 m) in Atlantic City and 8.9 ft. (2.7 m) in Cape May. The city’s Hurricane Sandy flooding has broken the previous record, set by Hurricane Gloria in 1985. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie warns that “this is not a time to be a show-off; this is not a time to be stupid.” Parts of the city are under 5 ft. (1.5 m) of water, and a number of emergency operations are under way to rescue people who didn’t heed evacuation orders. The casinos in the city closed at noon, and the convention center is being used as an emergency shelter.

Oct. 29, 12:05 p.m.: Mitt Romney has canceled a planned campaign rally in Wisconsin on Monday and will remain grounded on Tuesday because of Hurricane Sandy, Politico reports. President Obama has also remained at the White House and will deliver a briefing at 12:45 p.m. He canceled a scheduled appearance in Wisconsin, as well, with press secretary Jay Carney noting: “It’s essential in his view that he be in Washington, one of the areas that will be affected, and where his team is to oversee that effort.”

Oct. 29, 11:20 a.m.: Verizon says all systems are normal as Sandy descends on the Northeast. The storm has had no major effect to their lines. AT&T says they’re adding portable generators to their cell towers to keep everything rolling. —by Madison Gray

Oct. 29, 11:15 a.m.: Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy has declared all highways in the state closed as of 1 p.m. At a Monday morning press conference, Malloy said: “This is the most catastrophic event that we have experienced or had to prepare for in Connecticut in our lifetime,” according to NBC Connecticut.

Oct. 29, 11:05 a.m.: Brooklyn resident Nick Cope posted this photo of the massive flooding that’s already descended on the waterfront neighborhood of Red Hook. Van Brunt Street, just one block from the Upper New York Bay, fed by the Hudson River, appears to be completely flooded.
[tweet https://twitter.com/greenpainting/status/262894932648402944%5D

Oct. 29, 10:40 a.m.: At a 10 a.m. news conference on Monday morning, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that two main in-roads to New York City would be closed by midday on Monday. The Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel and Holland Tunnel will both close to traffic at 2 p.m. because of their propensity for flooding. The Queens-Midtown Tunnel was built to withstand flooding and will remain open.

The bridge crossings to Manhattan, including the George Washington Bridge, will remain open, as they are passable at up to 60 m.p.h. (97 km/h) winds. Cuomo noted, though, that forecasters are calling for up to 90 m.p.h. (145 km/h) winds, so the decision to keep them open will be re-evaluated later today.

New York has been granted a disaster declaration from the federal government in advance of the storm’s landfall, allowing greater access to federal funds and recovery tools. New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C., are among the other areas that have been granted pre-landfall disaster declarations. —by Nick Carbone

Oct. 29, 10:15 a.m.: While much of Sandy’s path prepares for battering winds and rain, at least one state is preparing for blizzard-like conditions. West Virginia is bracing for up to 3 ft. (1 m) of snow in some high-elevation areas, according to the National Weather Service. The majority of the state’s residents, though, who live in West Virginia’s most populated cities in the valleys, will see just a few inches of snow.

Oct. 29, 10:00 a.m.: Consolidated Edison, New York City’s primary electricity supplier, is noting that more than 1,500 people in the borough of Brooklyn are without power already. The power utility is updating its outages in real time using Google Maps on their website. According to ABC7, more than 12,000 people in New Jersey have also lost power.

Oct. 29, 9:00 a.m.: A rescue operation is under way off the coast of North Carolina’s Outer Banks this morning for the 17 crew members aboard the H.M.S. Bounty after it was caught in the storm on Sunday night and started taking on water, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. All 17 crew members were reported safely aboard two lifeboats with life jackets. The 180-ft. (55 m), three-mast ship, which was built for the 1962 Marlon Brando movie Mutiny on the Bounty and also used in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.

Oct. 29, 8:20 a.m.: The likes of American Airlines, United and Delta have canceled their flights in and out of the three area airports in New York. According to flight-tracking service FlightAware, the best part of 7,500 flights won’t be taking place over the next couple of days. And global hubs such as Hong Kong, London, Paris and Tokyo have also been affected.

Oct. 29, 7:25 a.m.: President Obama will not be appearing with former President Clinton at a campaign event in Orlando on Monday. He’ll remain at the White House and keep track on the latest developments with Hurricane Sandy.

Oct. 29, 7:15 a.m.: Reports quote the U.S. Coast Guard stating that more than a dozen people from the replica H.M.S. Bounty have abandoned ship off the coast of North Carolina. The vessel was built in 1962 for the movie Mutiny on the Bounty, which starred Marlon Brando.

Oct. 29, 6:30 a.m.: Domestic transportation is pretty much in lockdown. Megabus canceled many services throughout the Northeast through noon on Tuesday and Amtrak has suspended nearly its entire service on the Eastern Seaboard on Monday.

Oct. 29, 5:20 a.m.: British Airways and Virgin Atlantic canceled all flights to and from New York, Washington and Boston. Baltimore and Philadelphia flights are also disrupted. It means that there are thousands of stranded transatlantic passengers, which happens to coincide with school holidays in the U.K. British Airways is “offering the option to rebook or receive a refund to those customers whose flights are canceled.”

Oct. 29, 3:03 a.m.: Hurricane Sandy is expected to make landfall on Monday with winds strengthening early on Monday to 85 m.p.h. (137 km/h), according to the National Hurricane Center. Track the storm with this infographic map via the Huffington Post.

A computer program predicts that as many as 8 million to 10 million people may lose power in the coming week, says an engineering professor at Johns Hopkins University.

Oct. 29, 3:00 a.m.: President Obama signs emergency declarations for New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland and Washington, D.C. Federal offices will be closed to the public on Monday, and public transport has been suspended in the capital. Mandatory evacuations are ongoing in New Jersey, WABC-TV reports, and 1.2 million college students will stay home on Monday, according to CNN.

Oct. 29, 12:30 a.m.: 5,559 flights are expected to be canceled on Monday because of Hurricane Sandy, according to FlightAware. Philadelphia will be most affected, with 1,084 cancellations. On Sunday, 1,251 flights were canceled.

Oct. 29, 12 a.m.: The view from the top of the New York Times building, from its Twitter feed: @nytimes.

Oct. 28, 11:40 p.m.: The New York Stock Exchange and the New York Mercantile Exchange will close their trading floors on Monday, the Associated Press reports. Electronic trading will continue at regularly scheduled times. Monday will mark the first time the NYSE has traded completely electronically, Reuters reports adding that traders are expecting a light trading day.

Oct. 28, 8 p.m.: Google has launched crisis maps for Hurricane Sandy for the Eastern seaboard and the New York City area. Both maps feature data including hurricane tracking, radar imagery, public alerts and evacuation information.

Oct. 28, 7:38 p.m.: Starbucks closed all its New York City and Long Island locations at 4 p.m., the Wall Street Journal reported. The stores will remain closed on Monday.

Oct. 28, 7:30 p.m.: At a Key Food grocery store in Park Slope, Brooklyn, there was virtually no lunch meat, no milk and absolutely no bottled water. Each register was at least three to four people deep, much busier than a normal Sunday night. A cashier said it had been like that since 7 a.m., when the store opened. A bodega on Seventh Avenue, however, had dozens of gallon jugs of Poland Spring water on prominent display. By 6 p.m., most stores in the area had closed, including a Subway sandwich outlet; Barnes & Noble closed at 7 p.m. But at 6:30 p.m., Talde, an Asian-fusion restaurant, had two big yellow-and-green neon signs reading “Yes We’re Open” and “Frankenstorm Punch: $8.” —by Josh Sanburn

Oct. 28, 5:53 p.m.:  In New York City, all subway lines will shut down as of 7 p.m. on Sunday, with all bus services ending two hours later, CNN reported. (It takes an estimated eight hours to bring the subway system to a complete halt, compared with six hours for buses.) The Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North commuter lines, both operated by the Metropolitan Transit Authority, will also close at 7 p.m. A complete shutdown of the Big Apple’s massive, labyrinthine transportation system — which carries some 8.5 million commuters daily — is, of course, quite rare.

“A situation like this, you don’t want to be overly panicked and overly prepared,” New York Governor Andrew Cuomo told reporters. “But you want to be prudent, and you want to do what is necessary.”

(PHOTOS: Hurricane Sandy Wreaks Havoc in the Caribbean)

In New Jersey, a total transit cessation has also been deemed necessary. A gradual systemwide shutdown of all the state’s public-transportation services has already begun, starting with New Jersey Transit train lines. By 2 a.m. on Monday, all bus services will have been suspended. In anticipation of the storm, New Jersey’s PATH train, which carries commuters into New York City, will shut down as of Monday.

Philadelphians will also face a complete shutdown of all buses, subways and trains, effective late Sunday or early Monday. Philadelphia’s transit shutdown, much like the others in the region, will last indefinitely, depending on the severity of the storm following its landfall. The Maryland Transit Administration has announced a Monday cancellation of MARC commuter trains but hasn’t reached a decision about Tuesday. Washington’s public-transit service, the Metro subway-and-bus system, will be closed Monday as the capital braces for Sandy.

Finally, Amtrak has prepared for Sandy’s wrath by canceling all service on the Northeast corridor — in other words, all trains running between Washington, D.C., and Boston. —by Samantha Grossman

MORE: How Do Weather Reporters Stay Safe in a Hurricane?

LIVE VIDEO: The Weather Channel’s coverage of the severe storm

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXMU2qwCVag&w=200&h=150%5D