the former nyse chairman dick grasso joins me now. we'll get his take on what it takes to reopen after a two-day shutdown. meanwhile, bob spoke with the current ceo earlier today. he joins us with the latest details. >> it's all systems go. that's what he told me. the nyse along with all of the other exchanges will open as usual tomorrow for a full trading day. the most important issue was making sure the nyse could connect with the trading community. >> i think what we're most worried about, bob, and we've been working with the clients and will continue to do so throughout the day, is since a lot of them are working from their own contingency sites, we want to make sure it's working as planned. that's not something that's tested frequently. >> the other major issue is making sure there were enough personnel to open the trading floor. the opening of the bridges and tunnels is making it possible to get the roughly 200 people they need to open the nyse. many are already there. there's been pressure on all of the exchanges to open tomorr

coming up, dick grasso on the decision to close trading.futures will trade until 9:15 eastern. "squawk" is back in two minutes. >> when we return, the latest on hurricane sandy and what it means for your money. "squawk box" on cnbc is back in just two minutes. >>> welcome back. if you are just waking up, the markets are closed for trading this morning. joining us to talk about storm preparedness and how wall street is going to handle this is dick grasso. good morning. >> good morning, becky. i hope all remain safe. >> we agree. we hope for the same thing, dick. it's been 27 years since the stock exchange was closed for weather. back then it was for hurricane gloria. what do you think about the closing this time around and what do you think about whether or not there could have been trading done electronically? >> first and foremost, becky, it's important to remember the human life will always trump the need to trade. you know, you make a decision based on what the experts are saying about this storm and the danger that it's going to present

. >>> former new york stock exchange chairman dick grasso addresses that delicate question we have about thinking about the last few days, does the exchange really still need traders on the floor to be fully operational maria and i look forward to closing bell at the top of the hour. >> thank you very much, bill. >>> check out this video.from the jersey shore and atlantic city. it shows just how widespread the flooding is in that part of the garden state and the residue left when the water receded, obviously huge amounts of sand were dumped. >>> the focus of san i did turning now to the insurance and obviously the claims millions of people will file. let's get the latest with courtney reagan what have you found, court? >> reporter: insurance industry estimates that hurricane sandy caused between $5 to $10 billion in insured losses that would rank sandy as the fifth worst hurricane in history by those insured estimates. now, potentially doubling hurricane irene's insured loss bus nowhere near the $62 billion incurred by hurricane katrina and because so many very dangerous and damaging sto