Hurricane Sandy liveblog: Obama says government will respond 'big and fast' (+video)

A general 2 to 4 inches of rain will fall with locally higher amounts on the Eastern Shore and in the mountains to the west. Enough rain will fall in the local area to bring flash, urban and small stream flooding.

The full moon Monday will amplify tide levels, but the track of and wind flow around Sandy will not push water northward up the Chesapeake Bay like Isabel did.

Sandy is forecast by AccuWeather.com to make landfall in New Jersey. However, since this will be such a large storm in terms of surface area, effects will be more than a hurricane hitting a small area.

There will be major impact due to wind and flooding, not only in the Washington-Baltimore, area, but as far north as New York City into portions of New England and as far south as eastern North Carolina.

It is possible the New York metro area experiences the worst of the storm in terms of storm surge flooding and wind damage, because of the angle and location of the storm striking the coast.

Sunday Oct. 28 9:00 a.m.

From WNYC in New York:

As Hurricane Sandy spun up the East Coast, residents of some flood-prone areas in the tri-state region were told Saturday to evacuate and transit officials in New York City prepared for the unusual step of shutting down service.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo issued an order telling the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to prepare for possibly shutting down all service on subways, buses and commuter rail lines. A decision on whether to cut off service is to be made Sunday.

"Suspending the largest transportation system in North America is a monumental effort, and it is imperative that we start the process before we make a final decision, and before the worst of Hurricane Sandy reaches us," MTA Chairman and CEO Joseph J. Lhota said in a statement.

When the MTA halted service during Hurricane Irene in August 2011 it was the first such weather-related shutdown in the agency's history.

RECOMMENDED: Hurricane preparedness: 5 things you can do to keep safe

Hurricane Sandy has been making its way toward the eastern seaboard, and could combine with a storm system from the west and cold air from Canada to bring heavy rains and strong winds Monday and Tuesday. The severity of this rare convergence was unclear Saturday.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said there were no evacuation orders in effect for the city. But he said shelters will be opened in 65 public schools on Sunday for residents of low-lying areas who are concerned that their homes may be affected by flooding or power outages.

"Although we are expecting a large surge of water, it’s not expected to be a tropical storm or hurricane type surge. With this storm we’ll most likely see a slow pile up of water rather than a sudden surge,” he explained. “So it will be less dangerous, but make no mistake about it there will be a lot of water and low lying areas will experience flooding.”

Previous

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Next