Atlantic City bears brunt of Hurricane Sandy, thousands flee as city is under water

New York, Oct 29: Rising waters put most of Atlantic City under water on Monday as the approach of Hurricane Sandy flooded towns up and down the New Jersey shore, knocked out power to thousands and left some people stranded in water-surrounded homes, forcing rescues, reports Daily Mail.Emergency officials said they expected conditions to get much worse at evening high tide and the center of the storm could hit at about the same time.‘The city's basically flooded,' said Willie Glass, Atlantic City's public safety director. ‘Most of the city is under water.'The same could be said of much of the southern New Jersey shore. The storm surge went over the seawall in Cape May with high tide early Monday and punched through dunes in other communities. The Garden State Parkway south of Atlantic City was shut down in both directions. Officials reported rescues in Pleasantville.Sandy was just one component of a massive storm coming together over the eastern third of the U.S., bringing damaging wind and flooding and fears of prolonged power outages.By 11am on Monday, the National Hurricane Center indicated that Sandy had strengthened with top sustained winds of 90 mph. The center was expected to make landfall in southern New Jersey late Monday night.‘It's going to be a slog through the history books but we're doing OK so far,' Glass said.Atlantic City and its casinos were ordered evacuated on Sunday. The city's historic boardwalk remained intact despite the rising floodwaters, though an old section at the north end broke up and washed away.‘It looks like it's going to be worse than the storm of ‘62, which was monumental,' Glass said. ‘Saving lives and making sure everyone is safe is our priority.'State Emergency Management spokeswoman Mary Goepfert said about 115,000 residents were ordered to evacuate the state's barrier islands, and local officials ordered many more in their towns. It was not known how many heeded the warning. She said more than 2,200 people were in shelters statewide.About 35,000 homes and businesses across the state were without power by midday Monday as officials braced for a storm surge that was expected to cause record-breaking flooding. The streets of Atlantic City were mainly deserted.Ron Skinner, a Harrah's employee who was heading from the boardwalk to the beach, said he was unfazed.‘It is what it is,' he said. ‘I don't worry much.'Tom Foley, Atlantic City's director of emergency management, said officials were sweeping the city's low-lying areas, looking for people who were still in their homes.While the plywood was tacked onto casino windows, and sandbags sat at the bottoms of doors, the boardwalk looked like it could come to life at any minute. Neon signs still flashed; lamps were lit and a string of Christmas lights extending from a casino to lamps remained lit. Bally's even kept its outdoor sound system on.A check-cashing store was boarded up. A pizza place sat empty, rain hitting the white facade of the only building on the block. Rain dripped down the elephants in front of the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, and a piece of sign hung from a billboard, swaying in the wind.A traffic light near the Atlantic City Expressway dangled precariously, turning 360 degrees before giving out. Water still spraying up from a fountain was blown sideways. On one street, water rose about four inches in a half hour.