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Hurricane Sandy hit Cuba as a Category 2 storm and will head up the east coast, affecting coastal states including NY.
It’s too soon to know if Hurricane Sandy will hit New York City, according to the Hurricane Center at the National Weather Service. “If I knew the answer to that, Trump would have nothing on me,” said Miami-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) spokesman Dennis Feltgen.
“Right now, the New York City area is in the cone,” said Feltgen, meaning that the storm is on track to visit the city.
In the four or five days it would take the storm to travel to the cooler waters off the northeastern United States, “it will lose its tropical characteristics,” according to Feltgen.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at an Oct. 25 press conference, “We saw that hurricanes like Irene can really do damage and we have to take them seriously. But we don’t expect, based on current forecasts, to have anything like that, but we’re going to make sure we’re prepared.”
According to Bloomberg, the city has opened its Emergency Management Situation Room and activated the NYC Coastal Storm Plan.
“There’s no reason to panic. We’re going to do what we have to do,” said Bloomberg.
Everyone remembers that the transit system was shut down for Irene in August 2011. “Right now we’re monitoring the storm but we’ll secure loose material—inspect pump rooms and pump trains. No decision on service yet,” said Kevin Ortiz, Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman, in an email.
It is possible that Sandy could merge with a system of colder air moving down the Ohio Valley and create what meteorologist Alex Sosnowski called an “atmospheric bomb,” with high winds, rain, power outages, and snow. The storm could also move harmlessly into the Atlantic and dissipate.
Dangerous rip currents, winds, rain, and potential flooding will affect the Atlantic coasts of Florida and the Carolinas on Friday, according to an email from Sosnowski, expert senior meteorologist for AccuWeather.com.
Sandy made landfall on the southeastern cost of Cuba as a Category 2 storm.
As it reaches the northern coast, Sandy could become a nor’easter with strong, cold winds and heavy rains. People from the coastal states into Nova Scotia, Canada, should prepare for severe weather, according to NOAA.
Sandy, the 18th named storm of the 2012 season, sustained winds above 105 mph on Oct. 25, according to the Hurricane Center, while Tropical Storm Tony formed in the Atlantic.
So far, two people have died. A falling boulder killed a man in Jamaica, and a woman drowned in Haiti, Voice of America reported.
With additional reporting by Kristen Meriwether.
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