Hurricane Sandy Could Cost US 50 Billion Dollars in Damages

Impact

Hurricane Sandy wrecked the New York City area and New Jersey. Millions are without power, subway systems are crippled, and flooding is extensive. This will be a mess to clean up.

Last year, Hurricane Irene caused damages estimated at $20 billion. Sandy, however, is estimated to inflict much larger destruction and disruption as it is expected to pound the area for at least 48 uninterrupted hours. 

Sandy's potentially devastating destruction of property could represent losses of about $35 to $45 billion. The damage will be more notable in an economy with high unemployment and high gas prices. 

Here's a state-by-state update so far:

1. Delaware: Thousands of people moved to shelters. Dover Air Force Base relocated some aircraft so the base can be used as an area for collecting supplies for victims. 

2. Maryland: Governor Martin O’Malley said damage from Sandy could rival that of Hurricane Agnes in 1972. The Baltimore-Washington International Airport was closed on Monday morning. 

3. District of Columbia: Schools, public transportation and museums and monuments are closed. Thousands of residents are already without power.  

4. New Jersey: Most of Atlantic City is already under water. The damage could be worse than the Ash Wednesday storm of 1962 — according to WABC-TV.

5. New York: Public transportation and schools have been shut down, over 370,000 people have been evacuated from New York City and the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel and Holland Tunnel closed at 2:00 pm.

6. Pennsylvania: Public transportation has been shut and though airports remain open, hundreds of flights have been canceled. 

7. Virginia: 4,800 customers are without power and is estimated that as many as 1 million could suffer the same fate. 

8. Connecticut: Thousands of residents have been evacuated, while all traffic has been suspended by 1:00 pm. 

9. Massachusetts: The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is shutting down all subways. 

10. Rhode Island: Thousands of residents are already without power.