Frankenstorm, Hurricane Sandy | featured news

The massive storm that started out as Hurricane Sandy slammed into the East Coast and morphed into a huge and problematic system, killing at least 94 people in the United States. Power outages now stand at more than 3.6 million homes and businesses, down from a peak of 8.5 million. Here's a snapshot of what is happening, state by state....

Following Hurricane Katrina seven years ago, FEMA became a national punching bag, ridiculed for its slow and cumbersome response to the disaster along the Gulf Coast. In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy this week, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and its administrator W. Craig Fugate are garnering more positive reviews from public officials in northeastern states hit by the superstorm, as well as from disaster-management experts.

With the traffic nightmare causing frustration for Tri-State area drivers Thursday morning, the lines at the gas pump aren’t making the commute any easier. Filling up the tank has been a nightmare for area drivers since the storm hit. Overnight and into Thursday morning, drivers looking for fuel were met with incredibly long lines at the gas pump.

The federal government will cover 100 percent of emergency power and public transportation costs through November 9 in eight New Jersey counties that were hit hard by Hurricane Sandy, according to the two U.S. senators representing the state.

The Pentagon is airlifting power restoration experts and trucks cross-country, from California to New York, to bolster efforts to assist the millions of people still living in darkness days after superstorm Sandy hit the U.S. Northeast.

New York tried to resume its normal frenetic pace Thursday, getting back much of its vital subway system after a crippling storm, but was l slowed by gridlocked traffic....

Flights resumed, but slowly. The New York Stock Exchange got back to business, but on generator power. And with the subways still down, great numbers of people walked across the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan in a reverse of the exodus of 9/11....

People in the heavily populated U.S. East Coast corridor battered by superstorm Sandy took the first cautious steps to reclaim their upended daily routines... Two major airports reopened and the New York Stock Exchange got back to business Wednesday, while across the river in New Jersey, National Guardsmen rushed to feed and rescue flood victims two days after Superstorm Sandy struck.

Gallup suggests voter turnout for the presidential election will be lower than in 2004 and 2008. In polling taken before superstorm Sandy hit, Gallup says registered voters were giving less thought to the election and saying they were less likely to vote in the contest between President Obama and Mitt Romney.

Hurricane Sandy’s departure from the Northeast on Tuesday brought no hint of relief, revealing instead a terrible tableau of splintered trees, severed beaches and shuttered businesses, and the harsh reality that the storm will test even the most hardened resolve in the weeks to come.