Hurricane Sandy struck the northeast coast on October 29, 2012. Here’s the growing collection of pictures, video, and other interesting tidbits surrounding the infamous “Frankenstorm” event.
Timeline (Eastern Time)
October 29, 2012
9:00 AM: New York Stock Exchange closed for the first time since 1888. Will remain closed through Tuesday.
9:20 AM: Reports that supplies in cities are already running out.
10:40 AM CNN reports that 80 MPH winds on the ground will be well over 100 MPH above the 30th story on skyscrapers.
1:48 PM: Hurricane Sandy is a category 1 storm with 90 MPH sustained winds located 110 miles from Atlantic City.
1:49 PM: Partial crane collapse on top of 75-story New York City skyscraper. Crane dangling over West 57th Street. Streets around the building evacuated.
3:09 PM: 300,000 customers without power. Hurricane winds extending up 10 150 miles from center of storm.
3:24 PM: West Virginia declares state of emergency as blizzard slides into their state.
3:33 PM: New York City begins closing bridges as city nears complete, grinding halt.
3:34 PM: CT, D.C. MD, ME, NY, PA, RI, and WA have all declared “state of emergency”
3:39 PM Hurricane Sandy speeds up and now predicted to arrive 3 hours earlier than expected. This means it will not arrive during high tide as originally feared.
3:55 PM: Water level reaches New Jersey boardwalk as it begins to flood.
4:05 PM: Reports of trees down on houses in Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island.
4:08 PM: Reports released indicating that much of Atlantic City, New Jersey is now under water.
4:25 PM: 725,000 customers now without power.
4:44 PM: 14,000 flights cancelled.
4:45 PM: More tunnels closed in New York City – Holland, Brooklyn-Battery Park tunnels closed.
4:54 PM: Hurricane Sandy continues to pick up speed. Should make landfall within an hour or so.
5:01 PM: Winds clocked at +90 MPH. Hurricane Sandy will make landfall as a “hurricane”. Hurricane speed winds generated up to 100 miles away from core, tropical storm strength winds up to 1,000 miles away from storm’s center.
5:03 PM: Reports of trees and power lines down in Vermont and New York.
5:05 PM: Nuclear reactors in storm’s path announce they may shut down or reduce power.
5:09 PM: 765, 000 customers now without power.
5:20 PM: Power goes out in Atlantic City.
5:25 PM: Hurricane Sandy approaches land 40 miles south of Atlantic City, New Jersey.
5:26 PM: Virginia Beach reports nearly 10 inches of rain.
5:32 PM: Firefighters say they feel with 100% certainty that the collapsed crane will fall from the 75-story building in New York City. 15 buildings around the crane site are evacuated.
5:40 PM: Officials announce that famed ship, HMS Bounty, has sunk off the coast of North Carolina. 14 of 16 crewman were rescued.
6:01 PM: Sandy to make landshore any moment near Cape May, New Jersey.
6:03 PM: Storm surge plus high tide expected to put Atlantic City even further underwater.
6:10 PM: One of the HMS Bounty missing crewman is found but is “unresponsive”.
6:13 PM: Water level at Battery Park reaches 9.6 feet putting it above the water level it reached during Hurricane Irene. Still 2 hours until high tide.
6:15 PM: 1.6 million customers now without power.
6:17 PM: It’s reported that looters are using Twitter to plan heists to take advantage of Hurricane Sandy.
6:19 PM: First Hurricane Sandy joke rolls in: “What do Snooki and Hurricane Sandy have in common? They’ll both blow the entire East Coast to get media attention.”
6:26 PM: Highest gust on land reported – 94 mph on Long Island.
6:30 PM: BBC reporter describes 20-30 foot waves hitting the shoreline.
6:31 PM: Reports that Atlantic City Boardwalk is nearly 100% destroyed.
6:59 PM: Apartment building collapses at 8th and 14th.
7:00 PM: Atlantic City under curfew. No travelling in nor out of the city.
7:06 PM: Sandy is now a post-tropical cyclone with winds up to 86 mph. Storm surge still rising.
Hurricane Sandy Pictures
