Hurricane Sandy prepares to wallop Long Island, NYC

Hurricane Sandy churned toward Long Island Sunday night, ready to wallop the entire New York City area Monday with a dangerous mix of fierce wind, heavy rain and storm surges.

The entire public transportation system was shut down as were most schools and colleges, along with many businesses and all U.S. stock markets, where all trading including electronic is canceled for Monday. Coastal residents filled sandbags, hardware stores sold out of batteries and generators, and supermarket shelves were picked clean.

Hundreds of thousands of residents were ordered to evacuate low-lying areas on Long Island, in New Jersey and the city in anticipation of what the National Weather Service warned could include "life-threatening storm surge flooding."

The worst of the storm is forecast to hit the area between 3 p.m. Monday and 3 a.m. Tuesday, National Weather Service meteorologist Ashley Sears said at the Nassau County Office of Emergency Management in Bethpage. President Barack Obama Sunday night granted Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's request to declare a federal emergency for New York State.

"The trajectory of this storm may represent a worst-case scenario for Long Island," Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said Sunday at the county's office of emergency management in Yaphank.

Gusts throughout the metropolitan area could reach as high as 85 mph on top of sustained winds of 40 mph to 50 mph, said Sean Potter, of the weather service bureau in Upton. Rainfall could total 6 inches and storm surges could reach as high as 11 feet if combined with high tide, he said.

LIPA issues warning

SEE PHOTOSSandy's impact on Long Island

Long Island Power Authority officials warned customers they could be without electricity for as long as one week to 10 days. Crews, expected to be fortified with workers from as far away as Texas and California, Sunday responded to downed wires and outages in Baldwin, Roslyn Heights and East Islip.

The storm's center was about 500 miles south of Long Island Sunday night, with winds wreaking havoc on coastal North Carolina and southeastern Virginia, according to the weather service. Officials Sunday raised the storm-related death toll across the Caribbean to 65, with 51 of those in Haiti.

Bellone ordered the mandatory evacuation of coastal areas in Babylon, Islip, Brookhaven, Riverhead, Southampton and South-old; residents of Brookhaven's North Shore and parts of Smithtown also were ordered to leave.

Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano ordered the mandatory evacuation Sunday of North Shore areas less than 15 feet above sea level.

Residents leave

On Nassau's South Shore, mandatory evacuations included residents south of Sunrise Highway from the Queens border to Rockville Centre and south of Merrick Road from Rockville Centre to the Suffolk border. Nassau and Suffolk, along with most of Long Island's towns and both cities, declared a state of emergency.

Islip ordered residents to leave Fire Island, with Town Supervisor Tom Croci saying, "This is not the time to test the natural levy that is Fire Island. This is the time to seek high ground on the mainland."

By 9 p.m. Sunday night, about 100 people were in American Red Cross shelters across Long Island, spokesman Craig Cooper said. Capacity at each of the 11 shelters ranges from about 400 to close to 3,000 at Nassau Community College.

The Red Cross will staff the shelters 24 hours a day, Cooper said, and Long Islanders can check in at any time. Cots and meals will be provided but accommodations are far from deluxe, he said.

LIPA Sunday shut down power to Fire Island as a safety precaution, but did not have plans to do so in other parts of Long Island.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered evacuations in low-lying areas of all five boroughs, including Battery Park City in Manhattan, the Rockaways and Coney Island.

"This is a serious and dangerous storm," Bloomberg said, adding that those who refused to evacuate risked their lives in addition to the lives of first responders.

In efforts to discourage people from traveling in the storm and prevent damage to public transportation systems, service on the Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North Railroad and city subways ended at 7 p.m. Sunday. Nassau County's NICE bus operations were suspended at 7 p.m. Suffolk County buses stopped running by 6 p.m., and New York City's buses were ordered to stop by 9 p.m.

Commuter concerns

Some commuters worried about getting to their jobs.

"I have to work tomorrow," Carlos Suchite, 21, said as he boarded an eastbound NICE N4 bus near his Valley Stream home.

Transit officials did not say how long the suspensions would last, but Metropolitan Transportation Authority chairman Joe Lhota said the agency hoped service would be restored 12 hours after the storm ends.

Cuomo said the state would monitor LIPA's efforts to restore power and respond to customer concerns, citing "issues in the past." The utility was criticized for its handling of Tropical Storm Irene's aftermath last year when parts of Long Island were without power for a week or longer.

Speaking Sunday morning from the Nassau County Office of Emergency Management, Cuomo cautioned that Hurricane Sandy "is nothing to play with."

He said that 1,100 National Guard members have been activated, with 400 to be sent to Long Island and 200 to New York City, along with high-axle trucks, helicopters and other equipment.

Looters beware

Mangano issued a warning to potential looters, saying the National Guard and police would be on patrol. "Stay out of Nassau County or you will be arrested and put away immediately," he said.

Long Islanders packed hardware stores and supermarkets for supplies and food.

Steven Kolodny, 53, of Long Beach, bought a generator, four 120-volt pumps, three 12-volt pumps and another that runs on batteries in case the generator fails.

"I'm as prepared as Mother Nature will let me be," he said.

In Bayville on Oyster Bay's North Shore, residents began moving their cars to higher ground but few obeyed evacuation orders.

Obama promised help to governors and mayors in the storm's path.

Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator William Craig Fugate said there may be nothing more to do but brace for the storm.

"The time for talking and preparing is over," he said.