Hurricane Sandy throws poll campaign into disarray
Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2012 7:43 amObama Fights Crisis, Romney Cancels Rallies
Washington: President Barack Obama rushed through the edge of Hurricane Sandy on Monday, putting his reelection bid on hold to lead his government through a sudden crisis which reduced the White House race to chaos.
Facing the kind of unpredictable “October Surprise” that campaign chiefs dread, Obama ditched high-profile political events just a week before voters decide his neckand-neck struggle with Republican Mitt Romney.
Air Force One touched down after a flight from Florida just as the potentially historic storm’s outer bands drenched the northeast US coast and threatened millions with flooding and power cuts.
“The balance tilts heavily towards, in a situation like this, his responsibilities as president,” said White House spokesman Jay Carney, explaining Obama’s decision to quit the campaign trail.
“This is a time not for politics,” he said, ostensibly taking the high road, at a moment of both political peril and opportunity for the president as Sandy’s wallop disrupted the endgame of the November 6 election. Obama will direct the government response to the storm from the secure Situation Room below the White House, immediately setting up a contrast with his out-of-office challenger.
Romney has already been accused of muscling in on tragedy for political gain —over the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi last month — and so can ill afford any missteps seen as motivated by a hope of an electoral dividend. Equally, any errors by Obama in the wake of the storm could help Romney build his case that Benghazi was a symptom of a wider malaise and unraveling of leadership in the White House. AFP
Global air travel hits turbulence
International air travel from Europe and Asia was hit on Monday by flight cancellations. Safety fears over the monster storm caused disruption as far afield as Hong Kong and France. In Britain, holiday-makers bound for the US for this week’s school holidays were left stranded. Elsewhere in Europe, cancellations also hit Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, Rome-Fiumicino, Frankfurt Airport and Geneva and Zurich airports in Switzerland. AFP
Ship runs into storm: 14 saved, 2 missing
US Coast Guard helicopters plucked 14 crew members of the HMS Bounty to safety in the midst of Hurricane Sandy on Monday, but two others were missing in the storm-tossed seas off North Carolina. The daring rescue came after the crew abandoned the replica tall ship, donning cold war survival suits and life jackets and launching two canopied life boats into the howling sea. AFP
Transport systems grind to a halt in US cities, Nasdaq suspends trading
James Barron & Brian Stelter
New York: Hurricane Sandy churned through the Atlantic Ocean on Monday en route what forecasters agreed would be a devastating landfall expected to paralyse life for millions of people in more than a half-dozen states in the Northeast, with widespread power failures, a halt in transportation systems and extensive evacuations.
The huge storm, which has been picking up speed over water, was producing sustained winds of 90 mph (145 kmph). Earlier on Monday, the centre of Hurricane Sandy made its expected turn toward the New Jersey coast and the National Hurricane Center said the centre of the storm was moving at 18 mph.
With a wary eye on its expected path, residents and emergency management officials braced for the impact of the storm in states like Connecticut, Delaware, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Residents were ordered to evacuate. Mass transit systems ground to a halt, and people stocked up on water and food supplies.
While putting a severe limit on campaigning, the storm gave Obama the opportunity to demonstrate leadership in the face of crisis. On the other side, there was the risk that the government, as in past emergencies, could be faulted for an ineffective response.
The New York Stock Exchange decided to suspend trading on Monday — its first closing caused by bad weather since Hurricane Gloria in 1985, although the opening bell has been delayed a number of times — once during a blizzard in January 1996 — and the exchange was closed for three days after the September 11 attacks. The Nasdaq exchange also announced it would be closed on Monday. The United Nations cancelled all meetings at its headquarters in Manhattan.
Forecasters say, the storm is on a scale that weather historians say has little precedent along the East Coast. Landfall is predicted on Monday night (Tuesday morning in India) somewhere between central New Jersey and southern Delaware. But most of the eastern US will feel Hurricane Sandy’s effects, making the exact landfall spot less important than the overall trajectory. Flood warnings were issued and some states expected snow.
As many as 10 million people were expected to lose electricity as Hurricane Sandy toppled trees and light poles and ripped down power lines.
As the storm bore down on some of the nation’s most densely populated areas, city and state officials went into emergency mode. NYT AND AGENCIES
Insurers may face losses up to $20bn
Hurricane Sandy is likely to cause insured losses of $5bn to $10bn and economic losses of $10bn to $20bn, disaster modeling company Eqecat said on Monday. The company may update the estimate later this week, a spokeswoman said, depending on actual impacts after Sandy makes landfall. Even at the low end of the Eqecat estimate, Sandy would rank as one of the worst hurricanes in history by insured losses. REUTERS
Washington: President Barack Obama rushed through the edge of Hurricane Sandy on Monday, putting his reelection bid on hold to lead his government through a sudden crisis which reduced the White House race to chaos.
Facing the kind of unpredictable “October Surprise” that campaign chiefs dread, Obama ditched high-profile political events just a week before voters decide his neckand-neck struggle with Republican Mitt Romney.
Air Force One touched down after a flight from Florida just as the potentially historic storm’s outer bands drenched the northeast US coast and threatened millions with flooding and power cuts.
“The balance tilts heavily towards, in a situation like this, his responsibilities as president,” said White House spokesman Jay Carney, explaining Obama’s decision to quit the campaign trail.
“This is a time not for politics,” he said, ostensibly taking the high road, at a moment of both political peril and opportunity for the president as Sandy’s wallop disrupted the endgame of the November 6 election. Obama will direct the government response to the storm from the secure Situation Room below the White House, immediately setting up a contrast with his out-of-office challenger.
Romney has already been accused of muscling in on tragedy for political gain —over the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi last month — and so can ill afford any missteps seen as motivated by a hope of an electoral dividend. Equally, any errors by Obama in the wake of the storm could help Romney build his case that Benghazi was a symptom of a wider malaise and unraveling of leadership in the White House. AFP
Global air travel hits turbulence
International air travel from Europe and Asia was hit on Monday by flight cancellations. Safety fears over the monster storm caused disruption as far afield as Hong Kong and France. In Britain, holiday-makers bound for the US for this week’s school holidays were left stranded. Elsewhere in Europe, cancellations also hit Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, Rome-Fiumicino, Frankfurt Airport and Geneva and Zurich airports in Switzerland. AFP
Ship runs into storm: 14 saved, 2 missing
US Coast Guard helicopters plucked 14 crew members of the HMS Bounty to safety in the midst of Hurricane Sandy on Monday, but two others were missing in the storm-tossed seas off North Carolina. The daring rescue came after the crew abandoned the replica tall ship, donning cold war survival suits and life jackets and launching two canopied life boats into the howling sea. AFP
Transport systems grind to a halt in US cities, Nasdaq suspends trading
James Barron & Brian Stelter
New York: Hurricane Sandy churned through the Atlantic Ocean on Monday en route what forecasters agreed would be a devastating landfall expected to paralyse life for millions of people in more than a half-dozen states in the Northeast, with widespread power failures, a halt in transportation systems and extensive evacuations.
The huge storm, which has been picking up speed over water, was producing sustained winds of 90 mph (145 kmph). Earlier on Monday, the centre of Hurricane Sandy made its expected turn toward the New Jersey coast and the National Hurricane Center said the centre of the storm was moving at 18 mph.
With a wary eye on its expected path, residents and emergency management officials braced for the impact of the storm in states like Connecticut, Delaware, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Residents were ordered to evacuate. Mass transit systems ground to a halt, and people stocked up on water and food supplies.
While putting a severe limit on campaigning, the storm gave Obama the opportunity to demonstrate leadership in the face of crisis. On the other side, there was the risk that the government, as in past emergencies, could be faulted for an ineffective response.
The New York Stock Exchange decided to suspend trading on Monday — its first closing caused by bad weather since Hurricane Gloria in 1985, although the opening bell has been delayed a number of times — once during a blizzard in January 1996 — and the exchange was closed for three days after the September 11 attacks. The Nasdaq exchange also announced it would be closed on Monday. The United Nations cancelled all meetings at its headquarters in Manhattan.
Forecasters say, the storm is on a scale that weather historians say has little precedent along the East Coast. Landfall is predicted on Monday night (Tuesday morning in India) somewhere between central New Jersey and southern Delaware. But most of the eastern US will feel Hurricane Sandy’s effects, making the exact landfall spot less important than the overall trajectory. Flood warnings were issued and some states expected snow.
As many as 10 million people were expected to lose electricity as Hurricane Sandy toppled trees and light poles and ripped down power lines.
As the storm bore down on some of the nation’s most densely populated areas, city and state officials went into emergency mode. NYT AND AGENCIES
Insurers may face losses up to $20bn
Hurricane Sandy is likely to cause insured losses of $5bn to $10bn and economic losses of $10bn to $20bn, disaster modeling company Eqecat said on Monday. The company may update the estimate later this week, a spokeswoman said, depending on actual impacts after Sandy makes landfall. Even at the low end of the Eqecat estimate, Sandy would rank as one of the worst hurricanes in history by insured losses. REUTERS