At least four people were killed Monday as megastorm Sandy slammed into the densely populated US East Coast, toppling trees, downing power lines and sending debris hurtling through the air.

Two people were killed in Morris County, New Jersey when a tree fell on a vehicle, according to a local emergency management official, and a third man was killed in New York City, also from a falling tree, firefighters said.

Further north, in Toronto, Canada, a woman was killed when she was hit by flying debris, according to police.

Elsewhere along the East Coast, a U.S. sailor on board a replica of the HMS Bounty was recovered from the sea in an "unresponsive" condition, and the captain was missing and feared dead after the tall ship went down off the Carolinas.

The hurricane killed at least 67 people -- including a US national in Puerto Rico -- as it swept through the Caribbean over the past few days but had been expected to morph into a far more powerful storm on Monday.

Authorities have warned the threat to life and property is "unprecedented"
and have ordered hundreds of thousands of residents from New England to North Carolina to evacuate their homes and seek shelter.

The National Hurricane Center said wind speeds inside Sandy dropped as the storm became a post-tropical cyclone, but remained hurricane-force at 80 miles per hour (130 kph) as it made landfall near Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Falling trees dragged down power cables, plunging millions of homes into darkness as night fell, while storm warnings cut rail links and marooned tens of thousands of travelers at airports across the region.

Disaster estimating firm Eqecat forecast that the massive storm would affect more than 60 million Americans, a fifth of the population, and cause up to $20 billion (15 billion euros) in damage.




<관련 한글 기사>

허리케인 ’샌디’ 피해...美 사망자 계속 늘어

강력한 허리케인 샌디의 영향으로 미국에서 속속 사망자 수가 늘고 있다.

미국 동부를 강타한 허리케인 ’샌디’의 영향으로 뉴욕에서 첫 사망자가 발생했다고 현지 소방관들이 말했다. 뉴욕의 퀸즈에서 30대 남성이 쓰러진 나무에 맞아 사망했다고 전해졌다. 

별도로 뉴저지에서 돌풍으로 쓰러진 나무가 차량을 덮쳐 2명이 사망했다고 전해졌다.

샌디가 몰고온 강한 돌풍으로 맨하탄 지역은 홍수가 나고 전력이 차단되고 있다.

(코리아헤럴드)