A police officer directs traffic as a line of motorists stretches down Frenchtown Road Thursday morning, Nov. 1, 2012 as customers wait to enter a gas station in Milford Borough, N.J.
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 This page is no longer being updated.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.
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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.