Hurricane Sandy is currently on track to disrupt 60 million people on Monday, and is expected to make landfall in southern New Jersey later today.
Millions are expected to lose power as early as 5 p.m. according to NBC.
The storm is expected to turn inland where it will converge with two other systems, creating what is being called a "Frankenstorm" according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm has already forced states like New York, Virginia, Massachusetts and New Jersey to shut down schools, stop travel plans and could potentially stop the presidential campaign if its effects last long enough.
"The time for preparing and talking is about over," said Craig Fugate, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to The San Francisco Chronicle. "Sandy is going to produce very high, potentially life- threatening, storm surge."
Earlier today at around 5 a.m., the hurricane had a maximum speed level of over 85 mph, which is up from the 75 mph winds it had late last night. The eye of the storm was a little under 300 miles away from North Carolina and about 385 miles away from New York.
The hurricane is currently moving north at speeds of 15 mph, and it is not expected to decrease in size or speed before reaching landfall according to the NHC.
Most schools in NJ, NY, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Boston will be closed on Monday and many colleges in both states will be closed Monday and Tuesday. Mass transit has been completely shut down in NY, NJ, Philadelphia, and Washington. 6,000 flights were canceled Sunday night throughout the U.S. as well.
The U.S. stock exchange, which rarely ever closes, will be shut down for Monday and possibly on Tuesday depending on how bad the storm gets.
NYC announced Sunday that all mass transit systems would be closed, which includes the subway, trains, buses and taxi services. The suspension of the transit system is the second to occur in two years, the last taking place almost a year to the day when the city closed transit systems for Hurricane Irene.
According to The Huffington Post, 5 million people are expected to suffer from the suspension, as most New Yorkers don't own cars and rely on buses and subways to get around the city. Transit systems were suspended at 7 p.m. on Sunday, and they have yet to decide to close bridges and tunnels yet. Areas in NYC expected to suffer some damage from the storm include lower areas of Manhattan, some sections of Brooklyn, Staten Island and Queens.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg has also ordered some who live or work in lower-lying areas to evacuate until the storm ends sometime later this week.
"You don't want to be overly panicked and overly prepared, but you want to be prudent, you want to do what's necessary," New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday in a press conference.
The storm may cause 36 inches of snow to fall in West Virginia, and winds are expected to be a strong as 70 mph in WV, North Carolina, and Ohio as well.
The presidential election has also been effected already by the storm, as President Barack Obama and republican candidate Mitt Romney have been forced to cancel appearances along the east coast. According to Yahoo, some have speculated that early voting in states like Ohio, Virginia, and New York may be affected as well depending on how bad the damage actually is.
As many as 10 million people are expected to lose power at some point due to the storm. Over $3 billion worth of damage from high winds has been predicted as well according to CNN.
65 people were killed by Sandy in the Caribbean, and the hurricane also caused $18 billion in damage. 10 million people are without power and could be without it for over a week.
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