Hurricane Sandy churned toward the New Jersey shore Monday, with Connecticut, New York and Rhode Island in line for historic storm surges, wind damage and toppled trees.
President Barack Obama approved Gov. Dannel P. Malloy”™s request for a pre-landfall state of emergency, with the National Guard on notice to provide assistance.
“This is the most catastrophic event that we have faced and been able to plan for in any of our lifetimes,” Malloy said Monday morning. “We’re still expecting the very worst of this storm to play out later today and tonight.”
On Monday morning, the storm packed sustained winds of 85 miles an hour near its center with hurricane force winds extending 175 miles outward in every direction. The National Weather Service said the storm could intensify just prior to landfall.
Malloy said Connecticut cities and towns along Long Island Sound face a storm surge of anywhere from seven to 11 feet, with a high tide Monday night particularly worrisome. Hurricane Sandy is expected to last multiple high tides. Malloy singled out Bridgeport and Stamford as face dangerous circumstances, with both cities having announced mandatory evacuations of areas most vulnerable to flooding as have other coastal towns.
A Connecticut Light & Power substation in Stamford’s South End is at risk in any storm surge in Long Island Sound. On Monday, CL&P was working to build a six-foot-tall concrete enclosure in an effort to protect the substation from any floodwaters.
“We are talking about twice as much water being in the Sound as was in (Tropical Storm) Irene,” Malloy said. “As that wind continues to push water ‘down’ Sound … there is insufficient time (between tides) for that water to (recede).”
Connecticut’s mass transit lines are shut down Monday, and Malloy ordered closures for all state highways Monday morning, with trucks prohibited from operating on limited-access highways beginning 11 a.m., and state highways closed to most vehicles as of 1 p.m.
NYSE Euronext and the Nasdaq closed markets for the day.
