[h=3]By MIKE ESTERL, TED MANN, LISA FLEISHER and JENNY STRASBURG[/h]Hurricane Sandy strengthened early Monday, packing 85-mile-an-hour winds as it churned up the Atlantic coast and was expected to make landfall late Monday, unleashing life-threatening storm surges along the Eastern Seaboard.
Getty ImagesIn this NASA satellite image, Hurricane Sandy churns off the U.S. East Coast as it moves north in the Atlantic Ocean Sunday.
Sandy triggered evacuation orders for hundreds of thousands of residents, the cancellation of nearly 8,000 airline flights, the mass closure of schools and public transit systems and the closure of U.S. stock and options markets.
The latest storm projection map by the National Weather Service indicated the Category 1 hurricane would make landfall between Delaware and New Jersey, but forecasters have warned the large, slow-moving storm will deliver gale-force winds, rain, flooding and even snow across a much broader swath stretching from North Carolina to New England.
Sandy was located about 285 miles east of Cape Hatteras, N.C., and about 385 miles south-southeast of New York City at 5 a.m. EDT, moving north at about 15 miles an hour, according to the weather service.
Tropical storm conditions were already occurring Monday over parts of the mid-Atlantic states from North Carolina to Long Island in New York state, with hurricane-force winds expected to arrive in areas including New York City later in the day. Forecasters warned winds on the upper floors of high-rise buildings will be significantly stronger than at ground level.
Hurricane-force winds are expected along portions of the coast from Chincoteague, Virginia and Chatham, Massachusetts.
Sandy triggered evacuation orders for hundreds of thousands of residents, the cancellation of nearly 8,000 airline flights, the mass closure of schools and public transit systems and the closure of U.S. stock and options markets.
The latest storm projection map by the National Weather Service indicated the Category 1 hurricane would make landfall between Delaware and New Jersey, but forecasters have warned the large, slow-moving storm will deliver gale-force winds, rain, flooding and even snow across a much broader swath stretching from North Carolina to New England.
Sandy was located about 285 miles east of Cape Hatteras, N.C., and about 385 miles south-southeast of New York City at 5 a.m. EDT, moving north at about 15 miles an hour, according to the weather service.
Tropical storm conditions were already occurring Monday over parts of the mid-Atlantic states from North Carolina to Long Island in New York state, with hurricane-force winds expected to arrive in areas including New York City later in the day. Forecasters warned winds on the upper floors of high-rise buildings will be significantly stronger than at ground level.
Hurricane-force winds are expected along portions of the coast from Chincoteague, Virginia and Chatham, Massachusetts.