By Robert Beagle

No longer classified as a hurricane, Superstorm Sandy’s wrath inflicted destruction and disorder throughout the country after it hit the East Coast on Monday.

On Tuesday the number of people without power due to Sandy peaked at 8 million, and 6.1 million customers are still without power today.

Regrettably, the superstorm has claimed upwards of 100 lives from Canada to Haiti as of today. At least 40 of those lives were claimed on the East Coast, and 22 were reported in the city of New York.

As the storm came ashore, it flooded the streets of Atlantic City for blocks inland and ripped up part of its ever popular vacation spot, the boardwalk. The storm set record power losses in Manhattan caused by flooded substations. Sandy delivered hurricane-force winds across the east coast.

Many hospitals were running on backup power, including New York’s Bellevue Hospital Center. The hospital’s basement flooded and was running off of emergency backup power; the city secured efforts to maintain power by securing additional fuel and pumps for the hospital. Additionally, Sandy forced the evacuation of about 200 patients at NYU's Langone Medical Center.

Early damage estimates suggest that Sandy has caused from $10 billion to as much as $50 billion in overall damage and lost business. Damages caused range from storm surge flooding, to direct wind damage, to extensive fire damages fueled by the high winds and fire departments inability to navigate flooded or blocked roads.

Boosted by a full moon, Sandy’s storm surges collided with a cold front spawning a superstorm that wreaked havoc throughout the eastern United States, which generated these flash floods and even snow storms.

According to The Weather Channel, Sandy has dropped more than 30 inches of snow in the areas around the central Appalachians. This caused numerous power outages in communities throughout this area and put temperatures in the 20s and lower 30s.

After thousands of flights were cancelled and hundreds of roads and highways flooded leaving an abundance of stranded travelers, some New York City ground transit and airports are finally returning to life. John F. Kennedy and Newark Liberty Airports are scheduled to reopen with limited services. New York’s LaGuardia Airport will remain closed due to extensive damage. The city’s bus service will resume a near-full schedule; however, workers are still struggling to bring New York’s subway system back online and buses probably won’t accommodate its 5 million daily commuters.

The New Jersey Transit rail operations center is still out of commission due to floodwater submerging an emergency generator and caused damages to at least 65 locomotive engines and 257 rail cars. According to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, there are major damages on every one of New Jersey’s rail lines.

An Ohio Task Force One team, one of 28 Urban Search and Rescue teams, made up of 80 members is on its way to the East Coast in attempt to assist with rescue efforts caused by superstorm Sandy. The team met up with 80 members of Indiana Task Force One and are expected to head directly to areas in high need of aid, due to a large number of requests which far outweigh the number of rescuers available.  Members are trained in two functions: structural collapses due to wind damage and water rescue. Most of the rescuers are firefighters; other members include doctors and structural engineers.

Sources: The Weather Channel, Ohio Task Force One, CNN, Dayton Daily News