it's 2:00 eastern time. we have our reporters up and down the east coast. >> there's been no hype, no overestimate. the words of garng were valuable as damage is estimated to be in the billions. sandy is big and powerful, a killer. 13 people reported dead, five in new york, 5.5 million people right now are without power. 23 states under high wind warnings and advisories. cnn estimates not from the water, not from the surge, just the wind. the wind damage will top $3 billion. remember, it's already killed 67 in the caribbean. >> it's become a fairly. cal scene in places hit hard. the roads flooded, water rising almost above the cars, approximately five hours ago this historic superstorm made landfall over the most populated areas of the united states. wind damage, power outages, storm surges, inland flooding,

even snowstorms are threatening the lives and homes of 16 million people from virginia to massachusetts. >> we to want go back to new york and show you this crane that is just swinging above west 57th street. it's connected to a skyscraper. it's not complete. it's the 70th floor so far, going up to 90. one57. it snapped earlier today and now the boom is just swinging over that community. some areas have been evacuated, fearing it could fall. nobody knows if that's going to happen and when. let's go to meteorologist ivan cabrera with us now on this superstorm. the worst is over for new jersey and new york, is that safe to say? and who's getting the brunt of this right now? >> i don't think it is safe to say at this point. i think for the remainder of the night we'll have dangerous winds out there. the winds so high that if you have to go out and rescue folks, it's simply not able to be done because winds are gusting over 40 miles an hour. power lines are down and crews will not be able to get out

there until they go below 40 miles an hour, which is not going to happen throughout today. we'll have very gusty wind. i want to bring you up to date on the latest here on sandy. we are now calling this a superstorm. it's no longer a hurricane. lost that characteristic yesterday. the national hurricane center wrote last advisory, 11 p.m. advisory last night. it is now inland. necessity have relegated that to local national weather service offices. take a look at the radar. very impressive. heavy rain bands will be coming in, and this is why we're still dealing with the dangerous part of the storm here dealing with gusty winds, heavy rainfall and of course the tide cycles still coming in. we have high tide coming up at 9:00. that could cause additional coastal flooding as we get closer to that. on the back side of this, we have blizzard warnings flying for the mountains of west virginia into tennessee.

virginia getting in on that. parts of kentucky. still gusting anywhere from 45 to 50 mile an hour. that's dangerous stuff. you do not want to be out when winds are gusting that high because there are going to be flying projectiles coming at you with wind speeds that high. we're not talking this. this, absolutely. this part is done. we're not going to be seeing 94-mile-per-hour winds. that was clokd at eatons neck yesterday. for the remainder of the night, this is impressive stuff. southern virginia, high wind warnings in effect from southern georgia through the ohio valley, into the northeast corridor, extending into canada. the breadth of this storm is unbelievable here. of course, we had water in the atlantic but we also had water inland. we are going to be dealing with storm conditions here and the potential for flooding right along the lake's shore lines

over the next couple of days as a result of those gusty winds. these are some tallies as far as what we have fallen, 6 to 12 inches. that water has gotten into the ground. it saturated the ground. it has loosened up those roots and the trees have been coming down. you've got loose ground and then the wind on top of that pushing the trees over. the combination has been -- well, you've seen it. look at snowshoe, the other side of the story here, upwards of 16 inches of snowfall. we'll be getting in on that a little later as well and show you what we'll be expecting over the next couple of days. incredible event here. high wind warnings, hurricane watches, hurricane warnings, blizzard warnings all from the same storm. impressive stuff. >> impressive. and very dangerous, too, potentially. appreciate that. thanks so much. at this point, there are an awful lot of people who are in the dark. 6.5 million customers are now without power. those numbers are climbing by

the hour, including tens of thousands of people in lower manhattan and staten island after a transformer exploded at a con edison plant on 14th street. extraordinary images. con edison vice president says workers don't know what caused the massive blowout, but it's pretty significant, causing a lot of power outages. it's not just in new york city. this is a glimpse of the situation, utility companies are dealing with right now, up and down the eastern seaboard, the northeast particularly, from virginia to d.c. to maine. nearly 3 million people in new york, new jersey alone have lost power. >> the superstorm slammed into the jersey coast just as it made landfall a few hours ago. and sandy has been adding to the death toll. extreme winds and dangerous surge of floodwaters continues right now. police say at least three people have died and two or more of those deaths in mennen township,

30 miles west of new york city. governor chris christie of new jersey, over and over reported -- repeatedly tried to tell people to get out of that area. >> i'm very disappointed in the fact that some decided to disregard my instruction, my order. i'm concerned it might lead to the loss of life. >> tonight reports of homes flooded under several feet of water and we've seen floodwaters, atlantic city where ali velshi was all night. several rescues under way, including people stranded in their cars, trying to get away from all of this. >> i'm scared to death. so many people are going to die today. >> authorities are working to get people from west atlantic city. hundreds of them out of the area where waters are dangerously high. >> let's bring in senior medical correspondent, elizabeth cohen. she has information on the evacuation of the nyu medical center.

i understand that many have been evacuated because they lost power, generator failed, is that the story? >> reporter: that is basically the story. they are in the middle of evacuating 260 patients approximately. at around 7:00 they went from having no water in their buildings to 45 minutes later having more than 10 feet of water. they are now carrying patients down 15 flights of stairs, sometimes only with flashlights to illuminate the way. this evacuation includes an intensive care unit, neonatal intensive care unit and pediatric intensive care unit. we're told those patients are all out. now, four of those newborn babies were on respirators that were not working because there was no power. the whole time they were taken down about nine flights of stairs, a nurse had to do what's called bagging. a nurse would manl usually pump

oxygen so the child could brooelt, the baby could breathe. they anticipate this evacuation will take another five hours. >> that's incredible. majority of the patients going to one particular hospital or fanned out to several? >> reporter: sounds like they're being fanned out to several different hospitals. one of the big problems at nyu is that their phones are not working well, so they can't even call families to say, hey, we're sending your grandfather, baby, whoever, to such and such a hospital. the families have to wait to hear from the receiving hospital where their loved one went. >> incredible. a lot of loved ones thinking that being at the hospital is the safest place to be, the place where the generators would most likely work in a storm like this. now for this to happen. elizabeth cohen, thanks for keeping us posted on that. >> let's stay in new york where flooding has been confirmed in parts of the subway system. cnn is learning that seven new york subway tunnels are flooded, which is why we have the metro

transit authority spokesperson kevin ortiz on the phone with us now. we're looking at these photographs. for people on this system every day, rely on it to get around the city, startling to see. can you tell us which stations are flooded and how severe all this is. >> sure. hurricane sandy has wrecked havoc on our entire transportation system and pretty much impacting every borough and every county. in the region as a result of downed trees and loss of power and obviously you can see he veer flooding in tunnels, rail yards and bus depots as well. the seven subway tunnels you refer to that we've seen serious water infiltration are under the river tubes in the east river that essentially carry a large number of riders to and from manhattan in brooklyn.

so, we're in the process of trying to assess the extent of the damage down there just to begin the recovery process. >> i'd imagine there are pumps trying to get water out. i'm sure it may be too early to say when things will be up and running but no sooner than date that you know of? >> no. it really is difficult to predict the amount of time it's going to take to pump water from flooded tunnels, bring the equipment as well as adjoining stations back into service. it really does depend on what with see down there with regard to the height of the storm surge and how rapidly, you know, we can pump water out of there. we've got pump rooms. we've got portable pumps, but that being said it's going to take time to get the water out of there. depending on what we see, they can range anywhere from 14 hours to four days just to get water from these tunnels. >> four days. have you millions of people who rely on this every day.

kevin ortiz with new york city transit authority. thank you very much. >> our team coverage continues on superstorm sandy. straight through the evening. >> live reports, new details, new tracking of the storm. we'll have it all. stay with us. energy is being produced to power our lives. while energy development comes with some risk, north america's natural gas producers are committed to safely and responsibly providing generations of cleaner-burning energy for our country, drilling thousands of feet below fresh water sources

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new york city, mayor, michael bloomberg is calling it once in a long time storm. thousands remain without power as floodwaters continue to pour into lower manhattan. that's where we also find chris welsh. last we spoke you were at east houston and avenue d. is that about the area where you are right now? >> reporter: yeah, you got it, fred, i'm still where i was last time. actually, if anything, i've moved a little closer toward the east river, which is directly behind me. i think the last time we spoke last hour, you didn't really see a whole lot of water by my feet. now comes up to my ankles. that's not because it's moving in further, this water.

it's because i've moved closer to the river. i want to make sure that's clear from the get go. let me give you a scene-setter. east houston and avenue d on the lower east side and we're about a quarter of a mile, maybe a little less than that away from the east river. this is an area that has seen -- con edison, the power company, has preemptively shut down a lot of the power for extremely hit areas in evacuation zone "a" here in the city. another thing i wanted to mention, this was also a power plant transformer that had an explosion. folks in the area described a lot of several loud booms. saw flashes in the air. for those who did have power before the flashes and the booms, the explosion happened. they did not are power after that. i spoke to a man walking home from dinner. as soon as he saw that in the air, everything pitch black. we have folks who had lost their power preemptively, that was on purpose. con edison shut it down. folks who lost it as a result of

this explosion. really about everything south from about 34th street and south. that's pretty good chunk of the lower east side is all without power. we were driving down here very carefully and slowly because things were ominous. people were kind of -- onlookers were taking pictures, just kind of -- this is not something that people in new york see very often, a blackout in this part of the city, fred. >> all right. as far as you know, there are no emergency situations in that general vicinity, no one who feels like they need assistance? >> reporter: we've seen various flashing lights and police come but from this location we don't see signs that people are in trouble and emergency crews are trying to get through to us. on that note, we talked earlier about the hospitals that have had situations here. nyu hospital, about 20 blocks north of here is moving -- or had to move about 200 patients,

as you're well aware, to various hospitals in the area. that was as a result of the storm, obviously. bellevue hospital next door had an issue with flooding in the basement. they needed some generator help and pumping out water. we've got hospitals dealing with situations. those seem to be the most pressing at the moment. >> chris welsh, thank you in lower manhattan. >> in new york alone, more than 1.7 million customers are without power right now. we just showed the video but we want to show it again. look at this flash. green flash means a transformer has blown. that's what happened at con edison plant on 14th street. we've got con ed spokeswoman on the phone with us. we appreciate you speaking with us at this late hour. first, you say this is the biggest outage in the company's history as it relates to a storm. what do we know about this explosion? >> i would like to let your

viewers know we've been in an assessment mode for a large portion of this storm. we have noted this video has taken off on its own. there has been a transformer situation at the plant there but luckily no workers trapped in or on top of the building. that's the first primary concern no one was injured as a result of this. we're still in the midst of a storm. this is actually the storm of the century for us. it's one of the largest storm related outages in the history of this company. we don't know the exact cause of the incident. we're monitoring that. we're trying to find out whether there was debris airborne from the storm surge we received here. as your reporter was stating earlier about water up to his ankles, that's the lower portion of manhattan. that's one of the hardest areas that hit and flooded out a large portion of our equipment, which we had to preemptively shut down

some equipment in advance of the higher floods we received here. wh we were anticipating 10 to 12 feet of water but we have over 14 feet. completely inundated our systems and trying to make every effort to restore to customers as quickly as possible. >> you're able to start now. the storm is not preventing your workers to try to restore power. how long will it take to get power back on for your customers? >> first thing, we have 3.2 million customers in new york city. that's the five boroughs in westchester county. 650,000 of those customers are out of service. so, the last few days, we've been warning your viewers that to be prepared and to also be patient. this is a storm that's still in the process of happening. it's pretty dynamic and those numbers could easily go up. what we're warning them, as we say, we have to go through an assessment process first, to figure out what is actually

wrong with the equipment, set out about making the repairs and we have to do it in a safe way. we cannot allow our employees to be out if the winds are still surging and the bucket trucks we can't have them up in the air if wind surges are still strong. we have to have safety first. once we do that, the crews will be augmented by crews we've contacted from around the country to assist us as they are assisting other utilities along the eastern seaboard because of this storm. >> deidre with con edison, a long week for your workers. so many people sitting in the dark in new york and might be for a while. >> that's amazing, 600,000 con edison in that area, as well as the 5.5 million overall. uncomfortable for so many people. new jersey, another area that got seriously pounded.

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we just had an update from lower east side of manhattan.

sandy is being blamed from the deaths of at least five people. >> a spokesman from governor cuomo's office says one victim died when a tree fell on his home in queens. also in queens, another situation where a woman was electrocuted when she stepped into a puddle. >> jason carroll has a look now at how things are going in long island. >> reporter: it's well after midnight, the wind has picked up but the water has at least receded. about an hour ago i could not have stood in this section of the montauk highway not being at least up to knee-level. it's receded. if you stare into the blackness to my right, this is one street that still feeds into the montauk highway and those streets are still flooded. again, the water has started to recede. some of the issues they've been dealing with here in lindenhurst is not just flooding but fires.

we've reported several house fires in the area. electrical fires sparked by the floodwaters. they have to deal with that, putting out fires throughout the -- worked throughout the day, evening the evening. they'll be working into tomorrow morning as well, assessing the damage here. we're expecting, when we see the light of day tomorrow, that there are going to be dozens of homes here in the south shore that are dealing with flood damage as residents who were under a mandatory evacuation and heeded the warning, finally start to return to their homes tomorrow. as you can see, some emergency crews now still coming through here, assessing the area, trying to keep people out. and picking up those last minute folks who decided they were not going to evacuate, trying to help them as well. so, it's been a long night for the residents here in lindenhurst. it's going to be a long morning tomorrow as well. back to you. >> jason carroll in lindenhurst, long island. thank you for that. >> it's going to be a long few days.

>> for a lot of people. >> none of this is going to be wiped away instantaneously. it's going to be the long haul. all because of torrential downpours, whipping winds and those flooded roads. >> and the snow. and sandy is dumping a lot of snow. these pictures, every time i see them, they're unbelievable. in virginia, blizzard-like conditions. live coverage of super storm sandy continues. folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico sure are happy. i'd say happier than a slinky on an escalator. get happy. get geico. melons!!! oh yeah!! well that was uncalled for. folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico sure are happy. how happy, ronny? happier than gallagher at a farmers' market. get happy. get geico.

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that's ocean city, new jersey, there. if you're not sure what it means with the storm surge, this is great evidence of it. clearly, this was an area that was under that mandatory evacuation but every now and then you hear of cases where people decide to ride out the storm. this is exactly why you don't want to do that. why you want to heed the warnings when there's an emergency declaration and when you're asked to evacuate. >> that will be the only warning you get in some situations. when that goes behind the houses and rushes behind yours, there is no warning. it's just coming and have you to

get out of the way. there are been lots of warnings before that happened. the experts have said sandy is going to be a big, powerful storm and they were right. because the damage is estimated to be in the billions. it's also been a killer. 13 people reported dead, five in new york alone. the number of people without power, up to 6.5 million customers. 23 states still under high wind warnings or advisories. here at cnn we estimate the damage from the wind alone could be above $3 billion. it's also killed 67 people in the caribbean. >> and then take a look at this right here. images we're seeing over over and over again. flooded roads. the water keeps rising in some parts. approximately five hours ago, give or take six or seven hours ago, the historic superstorm made landfall over the most populated areas of the united states.

wind damage, power outages, storm surges, inland flooding, you name it. even snowstorms in some parts. now threatening the lives and homes of 60 million people from virginia all the way to massachusetts. >> another live look at that crane on west 57th street, one57, a luxury high rise. that crane snapped this afternoon and the boom is swaying. we'll continue to watch this until it's secured. it's just swinging in the wind. how long it can hold up f it falls if it will be able to be secured, no one knows right now. let's get to meteorologist ivan cabrera joining us with the latest on this storm. you told us last hour that the wind at that height, 70 stories up at west 57th where that crane is, the gusts are getting above 60 miles an hour? >> absolutely. we could see anywhere from 20 to 30% wind speeds than what we're looking at at the ground level here. we're going to watch that very closely. of course, they're not going to be able to get that secured until those winds subside.

they'll get better today but we're still looking at gusty winds. this is fascinating stuff. if i had been taking a nap, let's say, for the entire week and i didn't know what was going on, you showed me this radar and asked me, what is this, i would tell you obviously the north eyes, mid-atlantic states are getting hit by a nor'easter. no, that's a hurricane. what do you mean it's a hurricane? that is a hurricane meeting a snowstorm and the combination of which has developed into what we're calling a superstorm. we've got everything here. we've got blizzard warnings from the virginias. heavy rain event that extends up into new york. the coastal flooding ongoing as a result of nasty winds coming off the shore. that's getting better as the tide goes out. take a look at the last couple hours in maine. this dynamic system heading into the northeast and tomorrow we

could be seeing the threat for even tornadoes up north. we'll be covering this from all the way down in atlanta into the northeast. just an incredible sized storm with all the dynamics here. you name a warning, you name a watch, it has been posted pretty much across the eastern seaboard and mid-atlantic of the united states. take a look at this. wind speed 25 to 35 miles an hour. this is no longer 70 to 80, which is what we had been seeing earlier in the day. we're no longer going to see that for the remainder of the duration of this event. so, the worst as far as the wind is done. but the wind speeds are still going to be dangerous enough where we'll have to be paying close enough attention throughout the remainder of today. the winds anywhere from 40 to 60 miles an hour where you see it shaded in yellow and orange. extending from maine down into atlanta and into the ohio valley. a lot of folks asking, where is this going next. it's moving west. if you're watching us from the ohio valley, you'll be getting in on the heavy rain and gusty winds throughout today. take a look at high tide cycle

coming in. this is for the morning. my concern is because winds are coming out of the same direction, they're going to be gusty. we could be looking at flooding as well as you see the times there. there's battery where we had the record at 13.3. we'll have enough where we could see additional flooding as a result of seawater coming in at 9:07. then i think we'll be done as far as that's concerned. we'll be talking about the snow, the other aspect as well, anywhere from 6 to 16 inches. take a look at that. a january event here with what is supposed to be a hurricane that is not supposed to be producing snow but we have it and we'll continue to get a lot of snow. it will be snowing, slipping and sliding. that extends down south, almost into georgia. look at this. that's how cold it will be.

>> as we talk about the convergence of the three systems, the hurricane, this nor'easter, this cold front and jet stream, it all kind of comes together and becomes one big system and then dissipates or does one overtake the other, et cetera? >> it became one big system. the hurricane part is over now. what we're talking about is essentially what you would get in the middle of the century, a nor'easter here. so, the effects of which can be very devastating. we've had nor'easter that have caused billions in damage across this part of the country here. this, obviously, is going to be one of the ones that's going to be remembered for quite some time. we're estimating 12 to $16 billion in damage here. we'll have snow damage, wind damage, we'll have flood damage. you name it, it's going to be on the books here. >> appreciate that. no halloween for an awful lot of kids who are very disappointed at this. >> i know there are kids who have their costumes and trick-or-treat bags ready.

>> not going to happen this year. because in large part many are in the dark. at least 6.5 million people without power. those numbers are climbing by the hour. that includes tens of thousands in lower manhattan and staten island after that happened right there, a transformer exploding at a con edison plant on 14th street. it's pretty remarkable video caught, catching that moment. con edison vice president says workers don't know what caused the massive blowout. but we're not just talking about new york city. this is a glimpse of the situation in community and utility companies all over. power outages all up and down the east coast from virginia to d.c. to maine. nearly 3 million people in new york and new jersey alone have lost power. >> and new york city firefighters are dealing with more than sandy. also a massive fire in queens. our affiliate wabc was on the scene when almost an entire city block caught fire.

i spoke with jeff earlier. thanks for being with us. tell us exactly where you are and what you saw as this all started. >> reporter: i'm in a place called rockaway park, part of queens, an island between jamaica bay and the atlantic ocean. it's south of brooklyn, south of manhattan. and with the storm at high tide tonight, both jamaica bay and the atlantic ocean converged. and there was water -- it seemed like the water was everywhere. another problem popped up. that was a major fire. there was a fire in this area of rockaway park that was consuming not only businesses but apartment buildings as well. this is a flood-prone area. yet, there were still residents here. they hadn't heeded the calls to evacuate. they were here. they were going to ride out the storm. and then this fire happened.

and then members of this specialized new york fire department unit had to go in and rescue them. i saw these guys. about five to ten of them. they were wading through high water. they had zodiac boat with them. they had to scale some of these buildings to get to some of the people who were draped in their apartment building. because of the high water, the fire department couldn't get their hoses and any water on these fires. just because it was at the height of the storm. so members of the spernlized unit had to go in without all that, wade through the high water, still some of -- scale some of these buildings, break windows, usher residents down into the water and walk them through the water to higher ground. there wasn't a lot of high ground to find. but they were able to find some

and they got these people out. we're talking as many as 30 to 40 people rescued over the course of three or four hours. right now, as the water has receded, the fire department has been able to get water on this fire. they're hoping it doesn't spread further. one firefighter was telling me they think as many as four, five buildings have already been consumed by this fire. >> you say they're trying to get water on the fire. that leads me to believe it's still burning right now. is that true? >> reporter: it is still burning. the danger, of course, is that it will continue to spread with embers blowing in the wind. there are some other fires popping up in the area. and the concern is that if they don't get this thing under control, and soon, it could spread causing even more damage. >> it might be too soon to know this because all this is still going on, but about the 30 to 40

people pulled out, are there any other people still missing and the condition -- the conditions of those people who were pulled out, have you gotten any information about that? >> reporter: as far as the rescuers that i've spoken with, they think they've been able to get everyone out who was in the path of the fire. i've seen folks come out. there don't appear to be any serious injuries. maybe minor injuries. nothing too serious. so, firefighters believe they were able to get to these people before it was too late. >> any idea yet how this fire started? >> reporter: well, at the height of the storm it was high tide about 8:00 here. the water was coming up. the wind was howling, it was blowing, maybe sustained winds around 70 to 80 miles an hour, according to some of our meteorologistless. as a result of that, you know, there were power lines that were

popping. some of these firefighters that i spoke with suspect that maybe it was electrical, maybe it had something to do with the power lines in the area getting blown around as a result of the storm. >> jeff pegues with wabc in rockaway park where that block in queens is on fire. thank you. >> it's been destructive and also been very deadly, this storm. >> new reports continue to come in. cnn crews are stationed up and down the east coast, bringing you live updates on superstorm sandy. ally bank. why they're always there to talk. i love you, james. don't you love me? i'm a robot. i know. i know you're a robot! but there's more in you than just circuits and wires! uhhh. (cries) a machine can't give you what a person can. that's why ally has knowledgeable people there for you, night and day. ally bank.

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so i brought it to mike at meineke. we gave her car a free road handling check. i like free. free is good. my money. my choice. my meineke. we've been talking a lot about new york city. and we're taking a look at some pictures now from new york. in is the west side. first it's eerie to see that area with nobody there. then the water all over the roads and you can see just how severe sandy has been for new york city, also new jersey and many other states dealing with the rain and snow and wind. and it continues. that's, of course, the highest populated area, new york, affected by the storm.

give you a visual picture of what's happening right now. facing commuters in just a few hours. a lot of the subways are down due to flooding. the water gushing in. the bridges and tunnels, the outer boroughs there. many are closed across the city. few details are available right now about the morning commute or even how many businesses will be able to open. >> along with the flooding, also fires. and the new york subways. now we understand they could take at least 14 hours to dry out because so much of that water made its way underground. the worst disaster according to chairman of the subway's 108-year history. it's difficult to know just how long the subway system will be shut down. commuting will be a real nightmare especially as they try to pump out a lot of that water in the areas that have seen the greatest deluge of water.

the financial impact overall of sandy is extending beyond property damage and beyond new york city, now affecting the international community stwl. for the second straight day, the new york stock exchange will be closed for trading. in september average daily volume, a whopping 1.7 billion shares exchanged hands. and weather closures are a rare occurrence at new york stock exchange. the last major event to force a market closure, hurricane gloria in 1985. a snowstorm back in 1969. now adding to the significance here, earning season. next week's presidential election and uncertainty over when trading will resume, all that being compounded here. as of now, officials expect to reopen for a normal trading day, possibly wednesday, but say they will provide updates along the way to know for sure. sandy is crippling not only new

england but wrereeking havoc al the mid-atlantic states. especially along delaware's coast where can gary tuchman is on the ground in rehoboth beach. it looks almost placid at nightfall for you. >> reporter: i wouldn't have a picnic out here right now because it's really cold. it's amazing with all the years we've covered hurricanes, i've never been frozen before. it's really -- it feels like a winter storm. indeed, that's what it's turned out to be in west virginia, virginia. feels like it could snow here, that's how cold it is. that's the sad part. that's something we must stress. in the aftermath of all this, usually we have power failures and usually in the heat of the summer and people are very hot in their apartments, so their homes, they have to find a mall that's air conditioned or draw a cold bath and take a cold bath but this is a serious situation because you have thousands of people here in delaware, nearby,

maryland, virginia, who don't have power. it's a very cold evening and they'll be very cold. that's a concern. we can tell you here in rehoboth beach, right now it's a ghost town because people listened and decided to evacuate. as we see, as what happened in new jersey and new york, which appear to be the hardest hit, there was reason to evacuate. here they are luckier than they thought they would be. for a 24-hour period we are incredible waves in the atlantic ocean. some of the biggest waves i've seen in the atlantic from a hurricane. torrential rain, hurricane-force winds, damage in the town, flooded streets, flooded homes, flooded apartments, cars under water. but for the most part, the destruction has been minimal. most importantly, after what you guys have talked about all day, the casualties, it appears here the delmarva peninsula, it appears as of notice absolutely no casualties, no injuries, no

deaths. that's very good news. >> that is good news. we're glad to hear that. so, the biggest headache is the thousands of people who are in the dark. last count it was something like 84,000 people in the dark in delaware. is that number still about right? >> reporter: yeah, that certainly is. that's the ballpark right now. it is a concern. i mean, obviously, i mean, it's not zero degrees but the windchill is in the 30s. it will be a very cold night who don't have power. >> what about rescues, is that something that pertained to that area once the storm kind of calmed? >> reporter: police have been going around rehoboth beach and fenwick beach, bethany beach, they have been looking but there haven't been any reports of anybody missing or anybody needing to be rescued. that's the major thing about this storm, is that 40 -- about 50 miles as the crow flies to

the north is where atlantic city, new jersey, is. that's where the center of the storm passed. it's not far from here but the weaker part of the storm is the left side of the storm and that's the part of the storm that hit here. it was still powerful, hurricane-force winds, but not nearly as bad as it could have been. >> gary tuchman in rehoboth beach, delaware. the prediction from sandy, it did come in pretty fast in terms of wind, waves, storm surges, all of that. >> unfortunately, as it continues to snow, that number of the damage estimates will increase. the rescuers, when they could get out. look at this picture. when the rescuers could get out. they quickly responded. more live coverage next. transitions® lenses automatically filter just the right amount of light. so you see everything the way it's meant to be seen. maybe even a little better. vsp members can save on all authentic transitions lenses,

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we're going to have to wait until sunrise, until daylight to really get a complete picture of what hurricane sandy has meant for so many people. we're getting every hour new details of the damages and the power outages and, unfortunately, more deaths. so far we know 13 people are dead. numbers from the tri-state are on the screen now. five in new york, three in new

jersey, one in connecticut. the other three lives lost were in west virginia, pennsylvania and one off the coast of north carolina on the "hms bounty." remember, this storm has already killed 67 people in the caribbean. let's go to new york. sandy is being blamed for the death of five people there. a spokesperson for governor cuomo says one victim died when a tree fell on his house in queens. right now mandatory evacuations are still in place for parts of the city. mayor bloomberg warned that new york is well in the danger zone as expected. >> we knew this was going to be a very dangerous storm and the storm has met our expectations. the worst of the weather has coming and the city certainly is feeling the impacts. at the battery we've seen record surge levels, extraordinary amount of water throughout lower manhattan. there are trees down throughout the city. the bad news is con ed is experiencing power outages on an

extremely wide basis. >> mayor bloomberg added that some low lying areas in manhattan could, as we've seen, actually did get extraordinary amounts of water. that includes the city's public transit system. look at pictures of the water flooding into at least seven subway tunnels. we've confirmed that under the east river. we spoke with the metro transit authority spokesperson earlier who said it will take anywhere from 14 hours to maybe four days to pump that water out. imagine how many people rely on that system to get to and from work every day. the chairman says, quote, the new york city subway system is 108 years old but it has never faced a disaster as devastating as what we experienced last night. so, just clearly how unprecedented this storm is. turning to the economy, where sandy could delay the release of the monthly jobs report. it comes at a critical time. as it's the final snapshot of the nation's job market before the presidential election.