US President, Obama declares 'major disaster' in New York as 17 people die in Superstorm Sandy and swathes of the city wake up under water

When Nigerians are just getting out from the recent flood that ravaged several parts of the country  the US are had just gone into another disaster. Following the super storm that swept across the states, President Obama has declared a 'major disaster' in New York and Long Island as swathes of the city woke up under water after a night of being battered by Superstorm Sandy.

This morning millions of people on the East Coast are facing flooded homes, fallen trees and widespread power outages caused by the giant storm, which swamped New York City's subway system and submerged streets in Manhattan's financial district.

Sandy, one of the biggest storms to ever descend on the country, hit the mainland at 6.30pm local time yesterday having laid waste to large parts of the coast during the day. 

The storm that made landfall in New Jersey yesterday evening with 80 mph sustained winds killed at least 17 people in seven states, cut power to more than 7.4 million homes and businesses from the Carolinas to Ohio, caused scares at two nuclear power plants and stopped the presidential campaign cold.

New York was among the hardest hit, with its financial heart in Lower Manhattan shuttered for a second day and seawater cascading into the still-gaping construction pit at the World Trade Center.

Among the dead in New York were two children killed instantly by a falling tree in Westchester County, a woman electrocuted to death by falling wires in Manhattan and a 29-year-old man killed in a car crash in Queens. A 30-year-old man was also killed when a tree fell on his house in Flushing, Queens

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2225108/Hurricane-Sandy-2012-Superstorm-batters-US-coast-Manhattan-goes-dark-7-5m-power-17-dead.html#ixzz2ApBPP8AL