Eastern US in lockdown ahead of huge storm | Bangkok Post: news

NEW YORK: Much of the eastern United States was in lockdown mode on Monday awaiting the arrival of a hurricane dubbed "Frankenstorm" that threatened to wreak havoc on the area with storm surges, driving rain and gale-force winds.

The storm is forecast to make landfall just south of New York City early Tuesday, Thailand time.New York authorities ordered the evacuation Sunday of 375,000 people from low-lying coastal areas as the imminent arrival of Hurricane Sandy forced the entire eastern seaboard into lockdown mode. More than 7,400 flights out of east coast hubs were cancelled and ground transport was due to grind to a halt on as non-essential government staff were told not to show up for work and public schools were shuttered.Amtrak train services suspended all buses and trains up and down the coast. Subway services, buses and commuter trains were also shut down in New York, Philadelphia and Washington.The New York Stock Exchange said it will be completely closed on Monday, and possibly on Tuesday, US time.Hundreds of thousands of residents in low-lying coastal areas were under orders to clear out and a reporter said the beach resort of Rehoboth in Delaware was a ghost town as the deadline passed for mandatory evacuation.The storm made its presence felt on the knife-edge US presidential race as President Barack Obama's jittery campaign voiced fears about turnout on Nov 6 and both candidates pulled out of rallies in must-win states."My first message is to all people across the eastern seaboard, mid-Atlantic going north. You need to take this very seriously," Obama said, urging 50 million Americans across the region to heed the advice of local authorities.The president, who spoke after being briefed at the headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), cautioned that Sandy was a slow-moving storm that certain areas would take a long time to recover from."The time for preparing and talking is about over," FEMA administrator Craig Fugate warned. "People need to be acting now."As some defiant New Yorkers stocked up on beer and laughed off the evacuation orders saying they intended to ride out the storm, the National Weather Service office in neighbouring New Jersey held no punches in its warning to residents."If you are reluctant to evacuate, and you know someone who rode out the '62 storm on the Barrier Islands, ask them if they could do it again," a bulletin said, referring to the notorious Ash Wednesday storm of 1962."If you are reluctant, think about your loved ones, think about the emergency responders who will be unable to reach you when you make the panicked phone call to be rescued, think...