Sandy leaves over 8 million powerless; Obama declares storm ‘major disaster’

Washington, DC, United States (4E) – The United States government Tuesday said that super storm Sandy left more than 8.1 million homes and businesses without power in the eastern parts of the country with 2.5 million outages in most-affected region of New Jersey.

According to the Department of Energy, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania reported the massive and most extensive outage, plunging millions of people into darkness. “As of 9:00 am EDT October 30, the impacted states report a total of 8,114,433 customers without power in the affected areas,” the department said in a statement.

Meanwhile, President Barack Obama has released federal aid to displaced people, who lost homes and businesses, in the wake of Sandy. He also declared the super storm as ‘major disaster’ to New York and coastal New Jersey. The massive storm hit the US East Coast and flooded lower Manhattan.

There are reports of 12 deaths due to falling trees and other hazards in Manhattan. There are reports that super storm Sandy has already claimed 40 casualties in the U.S. and Canada. The figures are expected to rise as all states of Connecticut, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia reported deaths.

According to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, at least 18 people died in Big Apple alone. A total of 23 are reported to have died due to the hurricane. “Tragically we expect that number to go up,” Bloomberg warned.

Later on Tuesday, Obama warned that crisis would continue for few more days, adding, “This storm is not yet over.”

His comments came during his visit to the American Red Cross headquarters in Washington. He said that northern states should expect high winds and floods later this week. He also announced his plans to visit disaster-affected areas in New Jersey on Wednesday.

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