>> good morning to you. i am ainsley earhardt. >> i am heather nauert. it is wednesday october the 31st. thanks for getting up with us and watching "fox & friends first". >> we begin with an extreme weather alert after the monster storm devastated so much of the area. >> the devastation she left behind up and down the east coast it is unimaginable. >> now i have nowhere to go. >> the entire new jersey coastline changed forever. portions of the state's iconic boardwalk swallowed up by the

sea. >> thoemotions are overflowing. >> i grew up here. i have been here since i was born. this is absolutely sickening. >> the pictures of devastation te seem never ending. the resilience prevails. a quiet beach front community in new york that became the scene of a horrific destruction now coming to grips with all of the devastation more than 100 already flooded homes in breezy point burned to the ground by this raging fire. as residents there ban together firefighters who responded to the scene are saying it was unlike anything that they have ever seen before. todd starns joins us with the lathes. >> not only before they battling

the flames but but they were battling the water. the homes that weren'ted burned were flooded. we are not talking just homes either we are talking about one church the catholic church was flooded. here's how one firefighters described the scene: you can see the fire. >> we understand that most of the people who lived in breezy point evacuated before the storm

hit. those who were not were able to get out alive. >> amazing to see that mary was left after all of that devastation. they had the massive tornado that struck and what stood was one church with the big cross. >> and 9-11. mean as whole lot. >> gives faith and hope to those affected by all of this. sandy hit new jersey the hardest piling boats on top of one another. just like toys you would see pieing them under water and under p sand. mandy is -- many are saying they will start to rebuild. how are people coping there? >> we are in a tiny town in

southern new jersey on the delaware bay. it is pretty deserted as we pulled in this morning. any one who will be back in their homes will be heartbroken in this tiny little town. there's only one road in and out of this area. evacuation orders were in effect. from what we understand at least half of the residents did heed those warnings. if you take a look at what sandy left behind they will be glad they did. debris is strewn every where. there's a home on the backside here that you can't quite see. it looks like a wall of water slammed into it and blew it open. almost looks like it exploded from the inside. this white house swept off of its foundation. this scene is repeated up and down this road that is muddy and still very wet and people's belongings strewn all over their power lines down propane tanks down. enormous mess. they knew it was going to be a

vulnerable area but as people look back at this it is going to be tough. >> governor crist tat this said yesterday was a day of sorrow today will be a day the building will begin. the sorrow will last for quite a while. super storm sandy bringing blizzard conditions for the past few days over parts of west virginia. at this hour a blizzard warning is in effect for at least a couple counties there. anna kooiman has been following that with the latest. hard to image for those of us not there that there could be snow. >> right around a hurricane. west virginiians are dealing with snow, ice, high water downed trees and power lines as the wrath of super storm sandy stays blamed for one death in west virginia. 300,000 people are without power at this hour and some parts of the state are buried up to 2

feet of snow. west virginia's governor says the state is dealing with a different dilemma than those on the coastline because of the blizzard conditions. >> we are facing a different dilemma those along the coast with damage have moderate temperatures out there. we are hovering around freezing. >> they are warning winter weather can be deadly in the cold industry. u.s. mind safety and health administration wants miners and mine operators cold weather brings to mind. low humidity and low barometric pressures in under ground coal mines have been major factors in explosions. the freezing and falling of high walls and surface means. road closures have been an issue.

roads have been closed and open through out the state as workers fight to stay ahead of that heavy snowfall ladies. >> fox news meteorologist maria molina has been all over this thing since the very beginning. how is the weather looking in that area and others. >> good morning. good to see you. i have some good news the blizzard warning has been allowed to expire within the last hour or so. we are seeing the wind dying down but the snow is still coming down across portions of west virginia and accumulations have already exceeded 2 feet of snow not just in west virginia but in states like virginia, north carolina, portions of tennessee dealing with a lot of heavy snow. we will bring you those shortly. sandy is looking a lot more disorganized stat kerred showers areas of heavier rain across the state of maine. we still do have flood warnings in effect. through the shot of west virginia that snow coming down around the pellston area mainly to the east of that and

especially along the higher elevations. winter storm warnings are in effect across west virginia southwestern portions of the state of west virginia and winter weather advisories into portions of north carolina. incredible the hurricane or what was a hurricane now producing conditions. current wind gusts in the 20s across new york city across philadelphia. if you head westbound we have stronger winds across portions of the great lakes. that's what has been kicking up the waives across the great lakes. lake michigan wave heights as high as 20 feet through out the morning today. we will continue to see the wind dying down 20 mile per hour winds in the chicago area and temperatures heather and ainsley pretty cool on the western end of the storm in the 40s across chicago, cleveland and that's your high temperature. >> maria molina thank you very much. we will check in with you later this morning. >> now quick headlines for you. in a few hours president obama will head to new jersey for a

first-hand look at the devastation from the monster storm sandi. he will tour the damage with governor chris christie and thank the first responders. he visited the american cross headquarters and vowed america will get through this. >> this is a tough time for a lot of people millions of folks across the eastern sea board, but america is tough. and we are tougher because we pull together we leave nobody behind. we make sure that we respond as a nation. >> he wanted to visit new york city but mayor michael bloomberg said thanks but no thanks. he said now is not the time for the president to visit. mitt romney will head to florida with senate candidate ronny mac. he will head to ohio to help those in need. >> we have heavy hearts with major suffering going on in a part of our country. part of the american spirit the

american way to give to people who are in need and your generosity this morning touches my heart and i appreciate what you have done. >> we are in the home stretch less than a week. 6 days left until the election. new developments emerging in the benghazi terror attack. fox news sources confirming a tunisian man arrested in connection with the assault was identified on internal surveillance video. it all was recorded as that attack was happening. katherine herridge is live in washington with more. >> good morning. fox business learned as early as 2 days after the attack in benghazi on september 13th the national terror center hub for threat analysis the evidence supported in al qaeda or al qaeda attacks. it included individuals believed to have participated in the attack were celebrating and there was a claim of responsibility. there was a series of al qaeda training camps outside of the

bengha benghazi. it was a hot camp for terrorists. there was no specific imp sis on the anti islam video. publicly a day after the briefs the white house spokesman suggested terrorism was not part of the calculus. >> these protests are reaction to a video that had spread to the region. we don't know otherwise. we have no information to suggest that it was a preplanned attack. the unrest we have seen around the region -- >> fox news is told also on september 14th. the reason the cia director david petraeus appeared to conflict with the fbi and ntb is they characterized it more consistent with flash mobs militants showed up with prg's. petraeus downplayed the skill needed to successfully fire

mortars. >> there seem to be inconsistencies in intelligence. some of it controverted what was being told to congress and us that was so certain this is exactly what happened. that's what is so concerning about this and why we need to get to the bottom of it. >> u.s. intelligence officials disputed the character sgragszation of tsgrags characterization of the briefing. they specifically stated members of al qaeda and terrorist groupsal shirea were in the group. they said it was cal kwied related and these were not the public statements we had from the white house. it is now about 13 minutes after the hour. the team coverage from this machi monstrous storm continues. if your home has been destroyed what do you do next to start rebuilding. up next we have an expert from

katrina. >> another look at the damage and devastation after sandy.

>> it is now quarter past the hour. it is now just a pile of broken concrete. peter doocy has been down there the past few days. he is in delaware to tell us a little bit about the situation the there>> >> 8.1 million people are still without power. that will be something that continues to be a problem as the days go on. right now it is cold outside. it is 43-44 degrees here in delaware on the boardwalk f. you don't have power you don't have

any heat. boardwalk is a little bit sandy different stories of the boardwalk is completely splintered in some cases. folks who are familiar with the boardwalk are not going to remember it or they are not going to recognize it when they go back to visit later on. residents know they are very lucky to have avoided that kind of devastation. >> we were very fortunate. we thank god that the storm went north of us. we never expected new york was going to get anything worse. the city came through much better than anything any of us could have ever expected. >> the worst damage was along the bay. we saw restaurants that were going to be almost completely re built. folks know here in delaware it was much worse than the neighbors to the north.

we are going to ask our construction management consultant and senior vice president of the lewisburger group thomas lewis or tom lewis is here to answer question tosser us. hey tom thanks for coming in. what do we do to rebuild now? >> first step is to make sure things are stable and who is going to pay for the damage repairs. that is dealing with fema on a presidentially declared disaster like this. the insurance company is the first to pay but they can be reimbursed by the federal government depending on what kind of damage you have and what you are eligible for.

>> how long does it take? >> often times it takes weeks or a month or so to work with fema to figure out what is covered and what is not. >> if your house is flooded you have to wait until the insurance conductor comes out to assess before you can start to rebuild? >> usually within 72-hours you will get the visit from the fema inspector and insurance adjust tore. you figure out who is paying for what to make sure you are covered to see who your contact will be. >> do you recommend that they rebuild their house get the water out? where do they do? what do they do? >> water is the biggest problem. the longer water stays in your house the most chance you have to have mold and those kind of problems. get any wet materials out of the

house and make sure mold is not setting in. you can work on the longer term repairs. >> it will be a long process. thank you so much for your insight. tom lewis thank you for being here. >> it is 19 after the hour. the damage from sandy already estimated at $20 billion. what does it mean for our already struggling economy? ♪ fare thee well ♪ farewell ♪ mr. gloom be on your way ♪ ♪ though you haven't any money you can still be bright and sunny ♪ ♪ sing polly wolly doodle all the day ♪

♪ hah

>> continuing coverage of super storm sandy. entire towns along the new jersey coast buried in sand because of the beaches. today some are under water. board walks and marinas are ripped apart in this storm. robert moses joins us now live in point pleasant new jersey. good morning, robert.

>> good morning to you. we are sitting in an intersection in pleasant point beach new jersey. there are no lights on. you can see the traffic lights here are still out. the thing that really captures your attention these huge amounts of sand. if we walk over here through the intersection again if you for give me on the other side there's another huge mound back here that is about double my height. huge front-end loaders deposited on the streets here and have pretty much pushed the sand to the side of the street. you can see how the sand has been left in the tracks along the streets here in point pleasant beach, new jersey. this area is unrecognizable. there's a police car at the end of the police car restricting

traffic. it is flooded and you have the sand they are trying to clean up. that is the latest from point pleasant beach new jersey. what a sight. back to you. over to you, heather. >> thank you so much. hurricane sandy, the damage has certainly been immense. what will the total economic damage be once all is said and done? let's ask charles from the fox business network. there are estimates this could be 20 billion compare that to hurricane irene that was $15 billion. some are saying it could be as big as hurricane katrina. how could that be? >> we are talking the east coast. we are talking about places that aren't necessarily prepared for this stuff. new york city shut down for two-days the stock market shut down for two-days. i think we are going to end up adding in the lost costs -- the subways aren't up for another two-days. that number is large there's no doubt about it. the estimates seem to be picking

up. yesterday there was credible sources saying 35-45 billion. >> you look at the infrastructure new york city, the tunnels, boston elsewhere the number really starts going up. >> flooding unique flooding, salt water. this is an uncommon storm unusual characteristics and it will be involved as well. >> the economy is certainly growing at not too great rate. an anemic rate. what does it mean for the overall economy. >> it is pretty frightening. you couple this with the notion of fiscal cliffs. the last couple weeks the stock market is getting hammered in part because the economy we talked about 1.3 percent in the second quarter. first reading for the third quarter i think most people expect that number will be lower. we are talking about an economy already skimming the surface we dealt with a recession for a long time. we barely made it above that.

but this hurricane sandy i think we will hear more about it from a political point of view as we get toward the fiscal cliff and a major decision is made in washington. >> even though people are buying stuff at home depot. >> i think the offset maybe we will get 35 billion in help with respect to rebuilding and i wouldn't be surprised if the overall damage is 70 billion when we add up all of this. >> hurricane katrina was $108 billion. >> charles payne from the fox business network. always love having you on. the jersey shore taking a direct hit and it will be day brothers we actually see just how bad the damage is. you think you have seen it now it will take time to figure out the real extent of the damages. the stock exchange is set to reopen after being closed for two-days due to the flooding. lauren simonetti joins us live from there in just a few minutes. [ woman ] ring. ring. progresso.

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>> that is the top story this morning. the storm sandy and it's aftermath. welcome back to fox and friends first. i am heather nauert. >> i am ainsley earhardt. it is 31 after the top of the hour. >> we begin this half hour with a fox news extreme weather alert after monster storm sandy. >> the trail of ruin she is leaving behind up and down the

east coast is unimaginable. it could be days or weeks before we actually know the full extent of sandy's effect. >> i am shocked. i heard one cottage had been taken out to sea then you found out there were four that just vanished. they are completely gone. >> total despair this morning as new pictures emerge at the damage of this historic and deadly storm. we have live team coverage as people try to pick up those pieces. >> the new jersey shore one of the hardest hit areas for us in the northeast. sand washed over several toacoal towns burying them unber water. many are saying they will start to rebuild. >> in southern new jersey, the hardest hit state by the storm. good morning, jennifer. how are things looking there to you? >> good morning to you guys. new jersey certainly took the brunt of it. the small community we are in got hit hard as well. i will step away so you can see.

it is a tiny town of a few hundred in fortescue. this is on the delaware bay just on the other side of these homes is the waterway. it turned in a lot of damage. you can see all of the de bee that is strewn around. we have propane tanks down and power lines that are hanging. we have homes that are off their foundation and the entire back of one looks like it was blown off. it is hard to tell in the dark but it looks like 12-15 homes in the small area that have been affected. there are some that fared pretty well. it is a little bit haphazard. those dealing with damage it will be a daunting prospect to rebuild. governor christie got emotional. president obama will get a look at it today when he visits to see the damage sandy left behind. i am jennifer davis, fox news.

a beach front neighborhood completely wiped out. this time we are talking about breezy point in new york on long island. that community is coming to grips with the destruction. their homes are now just a memory there. >> their homes are a memory. hard to image that. monster storm sandy sparking this raging fire it tore through more than 100 already flooded homes. todd starns joins us live. >> good morning. extreme devastation that's what residents of breezy point are calling what's left behind. we have amazing ariel shots to show you. five complete blocks destroyed by these flames. the flames were spread by these gusting winds. firefighters responded but when they got there the water was neck deep at some places and they couldn't get to the homes to fight the flames. we are not talking about houses.

also the catholic church off breezy point was destroyed. all that's left was the statue of a holy mother there with the smoldering ruins. the good news is most of the residents did evacuate. those who did not those who had to be rescued everyone was rescued there were no lives lost in breezy point. here is how some residents describe the damage. >> this storm was terrible. but i have had over 34 years on the job. i have never seen this before, this amount of devastation. they always come back to the train center that was different. this is unbelievable. a half a neighborhood -- die know how much of a neighborhood but a good chunk is gone. >> what the storms left behind looters are now taking. we are getting scattered reports of looting across the city. at one location in coney island

they tell us -- police tell us that the looters carried away their hall in garbage bags. now they are worried about safety. >> the vast majority of folks in this area are taking care of one another and doing the right thing. in west virginia residents are not dealing with flooding this morning. instead they are digging out of several inches of feet of snow. more than 200,000 people in the state are now without power. fox news meteorologist maria molina. winter coming early for them. now a lot of these folks are without heat. >> without heat and i am sure a lot of those leaves from the trees have also not fallen. you are talking about snow on top of the leaves and i am sure there are trees down in parts of the states. the totals 29 inches of snow. virginia 28 inches, north

carolina very far south the good news as far as the rainfall goes we see incredible amounts of rainfall with a flood recorded across portions of delaware and new jersey that has gotten lighter. gusty across portions of the i 95 corridor. a lot stronger across the great lakes. we are going to be seeing those waves kicking up across lake michigan possibly over 20 feet again. >> amazing to think about that. waves like that on lake michigan resulting from this storm. in just a few hours president owe bhaum will see the widespread destruction from this monster storm sandy. we will see it up close and certainly because he is heading to new jersey today.

doug luzader is live. >> this is obviously one of the challenges people face on the ground and all of the states have been impacted. both the obama and romney campaigns are having to recalibrate their messages and strange their schedules as they respond to sandy. the president going to new jersey today to get a tour from new jersey governor and frequent obama critic chris christie. he has praised the president's response so far. on the other hand mayor michael bloomberg said no thanks to a drop by. >> i talked to the president today and you talked to his kief of staff today particularly about a trip here. i pointed out we would love to have him but we have things to do. i know he planned a trip to new jersey. i said it's fine it representeds the whole region.

>> the white house says they concurred with that decision. yesterday he visited headquarters in washington not technically a campaign stop but a number of times he invoked his campaign seen forward. >> hutilities are going to have to lane forward. we are doing whatever we can to provide them with additional resources so we can expedite getting them up and running. newark, new jersey for example you have 80, 90 percent of people without power. we can't have a situation where... >> both the president and mitt romney are having to make difficult decisions in the days ahead amidst criticism he is cutting fema mr. romney refocused campaign events to serve as relief drive. >> part of the american spirit the american way to give to people who are in need. your generosity this morning touches my heart. i appreciate what you have done. >> now the impact that any of

this is going to have, this election it's tough to say. look for a moment at the mass of power outages. look how many potential swing states are affected here. new hampshire, pennsylvania, north carolina, michigan, and of course ohio. >> ohio is the big one. >> 20 minutes before the hour. these planes will not be going anywhere any time soon. at least 18,000 flights canceled as three of the nation's busiest airports shut down for sandy. that is laguardia airport in new york. it looks like a beach doesn't it? >> used to be a runway. >> a crane hanging by a thread 65 stories above a busy new york street. coming up a crane expert says it could have been prevented.

>> terri joins us from our affiliate. tell us about this dramatic rescue. >> there have been rescues all over staten island. it is heartbreaking what has been going on. behind me what you are looking at, this used to be a house now it is a pile of debris. there is debris scattered all over the place. this is the result of strong winds that came along with hurricane sandy. unbelievable to see parts of the home all over the place.

this entire block than destroyed. on the other side of the street it is more of the same. people's lives people's furniture everything on the front porch just lying all over the place. this is the scene across staten island. a total of 5 deaths have been blamed. including people crushed by debris inside their own home. in a different part there is a search underway. they are searching for two little boys ages 2 and 4. they got separated from their mother and hasn't been seen since. it is unclear whether these homes here will be livable again. >> thank you so much from our local fox affiliate. hope they find those two little boys. let's take a look at what officials at new york laguardia airport are dealing with 18,000 flights canceled because of the

storm sandy cause ago rip tell effect not just here in the u.s. but all around the world. philadelphia international airport having the most grounded flights. victoria, thank you for joining us. >> how are things at the airport? >> we fared very well through the storm. all of the operations were canceled on monday and we begin resuming at delta airlines and some of the cargo flights. all airlines are resuming services. >> u.s. air as well as the other airlines spent yesterday repositioning their aircraft to be in place for this morning. >> what is your advice for your airport laguardia, newark, the

large airports who have major delays or cancellations? >> safety is the primary concern. don't drive to the airport without first checking with your airline on the flight status. we have our web site is updated flight information. we have toll free flight information line 24/7. >> victoria if you look at the numbers 500 million revenue lost for u.s. airlines, 100 million in profits lost. does this mean flights will start to go up? will we see prices get higher because of this? >> that would be a question for the airlines not the airport in philadelphia. >> when do you expect everything to to be back to normal? we have been in constant communication with the airlines and federal agencies. they are doing a fine job communicating with passengers, so they are working svery hard.

we had no stranded over night passengers last night and 4 passengers overnight sunday night. that speaks volume tums to the way airlines are communicating with passengers not to come to the airport unless they have a flight. >> good deal. thanks so much. good advice. we appreciate that. we have got the marathon on sunday. lots of people are flying into new york. 48 after the hour. a crane hanging 65 stories over a busy new york street. coming up a crane expert says it could have all been prevented. >> check in with steve doocy to see what's coming up on fox and friends. >> dave ramsey will be stopping by. when disaster strikes you have all sorts of expenses you stay in a hotel or you pay for things how dowry arrange your finances? he will be dropping by. >> mitt romney is going to be at three different events. we have jonah gold burg talking about the campaign. where is the media outrage on

libya and benghazi? john mccain is going to join us. connie mac who is traveling with mitt romney today. what both candidates have to do in the final days. f "fox & friends" kicks off 12 minutes from now right here on the fox news channel. [ fishing rod casting line, marching band playing ] [ male announcer ] the rhythm of life. [ whistle blowing ] where do you hear that beat? campbell's healthy request soup lets you hear it... in your heart. [ basketball bouncing ] heart healthy. great taste. mmm... [ male announcer ] sounds good. it's amazing what soup can do.

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>> the financial district hoping to make it through the day without any breakdowns in the system. lauren simonetti is live in front of the stock exchange. >> it can be done. they have contingency systems that have been tested in place. believe it or not traders are here as of 5:00 this morning. i spoke to sal 6 guys work for

their firm. he drove in another one driving in as well. not sure where they are going to park their cars. this is a ghost town. the only lights you see are the red, the white and the blue eye on the iconic pillars of the new york stock exchange which will open for business after being shut down for an unprecedented two-days in a row because of a weather related event. haven't seen that since the blizzard of 1888. it will be back to business today. i cannot tell you it will be back to normal trading operations. phones are down inside. the internet is down inside as of now but they are going to get this thing going some way or another. it will test the strength of new yorkers and the business community. >> ready to get back up and running. >> question of whether or not people can get to work. 65 stories above manhattan. a crane is left twisting in the wind. it is hanging on not literally by a thread but if you look at

it it appears that way. it tore the crane half off. how do you take this down safely? timothy is construction risk management and forensic investigator who specializes in cranes. he joins us now on the phone. good morning to you. you say this crane should not have been left up in the first place they could have taken it down before the hurricane. >> i agree with that. the crane should have been either taken down or lowered down to the first building secure point or should have been secured with a boom lowered into the building and then secured to the building somehow. >> we have plenty of heads up this storm was coming. you were explain to go me it takes about 3 days for this thing to be lowered down or taken apart. >> the whole crane down has to come down in excess of a million

dollars. >> why is it so significant there are thousands if not tens of thousands of people who live in the immediate area. they have to be evacuated from their homes and local hotels and office buildings as well. it is completely cordoned off because the risk is this thing could fall. they have not been able to secure this just yet. how do they do something like that? >> it will be very precarious for people to go up there and try to secure the crane particularly the boom. most of the weight is on the rear of the crane. i am concerned that the continued movement of this crane could sheer the main pin off and it could topple over backwards. >> we have a comment from the company they say they took all recommended measures to position the crane in anticipation of a return. it was approved and inspected by the department of buildings and is a standard for hurricanes.

i am a novice but just looking at that crane it doesn't seem quite right to me. what is your reaction to that statement? >> i wouldn't rely upon the building department or building of new york department to tell me how to secure a crane. it seems to me the boom was too high in the air the angle of the boon. it seems to be the boon angle should have been lowered possibly the crane should have been lowered down to the first secure point of the building. the city of new york was incorrect because look at what happened. >> we want to make sure everyone is safe. >> hopefully they can soughter that thing together. we will be right back. thank you.

thank you for joining us for another eing dition of folks and friendsir