'Shore People' Battle To Rebuild After Sandy

They pride themselves on being tough, resilient "shore people".

But Superstorm Sandy has made even them wonder whether life can ever be the same again.

A small bay-front corner of Pleasantville, New Jersey, is where Sandy made its second touchdown on land.

Houses that have withstood a century of extreme weather were picked and smashed to pieces inland.

Mike and Tracey Rock returned to their home on East Edgewater Avenue to find it had been shifted off its foundations.

A house where Mike's grandmother had lived, where he had sat through countless hurricanes since childhood, will now have to be demolished.

"It is devastating. This is our past. We all grew up here. We'll rebuild but it won't be the same."

As they picked through the debris down the street, they found their front porch and paintings that had hung in their living room.

They found a half-finished bottle of wine but are still searching for their bath.

They joke that at least their view of the bay is better - the house that was in the way has disappeared altogether.

A cash register is seen among the debris in Sea Bright, New Jersey

The owner of that house was picking around a demolished roof in a garden a hundred yards away, trying to find any signs of home.

The neighbourhood is criss-crossed by narrow waterways, all now full of bits of houses tossed around by Sandy.

Lisa Broomsmith's home was shattered by a houseboat which was ripped from its moorings and thrown inland.

The garage where her husband had carried on the family tradition of toy-making has gone.

She said: "Seeing the defeat in his face has been the hardest thing.

"But this is not going to defeat us, this one perfect storm."

Like many families here, the Broomsmiths must wait for assessors to decide what happens next to their battered home. They did not have insurance.

All are thankful to have survived a storm that has been so deadly in their state.

John Tansey says his home - maybe his life - was saved by his old brown Ford van which stopped a boat dock from smashing through his house.

With remarkable efficiency, the Egg Harbour authorities are collecting piles of debris as fast as residents can place them on the pavement.

The memories and the scars of Sandy will take much longer to remove.

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US Election Battle Shifts To Key State Ohio

Fears Obama Will Delay Windfall

Updated: 8:41am UK, Friday 02 November 2012

By Gary Mitchell, in Ohio

Farmers fear they could be denied a multimillion-dollar windfall from oil and natural gas reserves beneath their feet in Ohio because of Barack Obama's desire for cleaner energy.

Landowners in the east of the state, many of whom have been struggling to make ends meet, are enjoying a huge reversal of fortune thanks to a natural gas boom.

Keith Burgett, 69, who was among the first to have a well drilled by oil firm Chesapeake a year ago and whose land is earmarked for several more sites, told Sky News the windfall was "like winning the lottery" - but he believes Mr Obama could try to stop it if he wins a second term in the White House.

Oil and gas exploration firms have leased parts of farmers' properties, handing over upfront payments of hundreds of thousands of dollars with the possibility of more in royalty cheques as fuel is pumped out.

Some property owners now expect to rake in millions in royalties as more wells are pumped - but only if the government does not intervene with more regulations.

The boom has contributed to Ohio's economic recovery, something Mr Obama has been keen to remind voters about - even as Mitt Romney's campaign adverts accuse the president of destroying Ohio's coal-mining industry.

Mr Burgett, a vet whose sons now deal with the daily running of his 600-acre cattle farm, has 12 grandchildren aged between two and 17. Their university education could be paid several times over by the money he is set to earn from fracking over the next 20 years.

He said: "A lot of the farmers were struggling around here. These lease payments are a tremendous amount of money. I'm a vet and we do all right, but it's been a tremendous blessing for my family.

"He doesn't say exactly this, but Obama is not happy with what we're doing here. I think he could get in the way."

More than 100 wells are waiting to be exploited in the "fracking" hotspot of Carroll County alone.

Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is where rock layers are cracked open with water pressure to free reserves of oil and natural gas. Critics say it causes air and water pollution.

The president has previously said the natural gas industry could create 600,000 jobs by the end of the decade. However, he has also said the US cannot drill its way to energy independence and is pushing for other forms, such as solar and wind power. The Obama administration has been considering federal safeguards for fracking.

Jim Long, 66, lives near Dr Burgett - they jokingly call each other oil barons - and said he had "no faith" in Mr Obama.

A month ago, Mr Long and his wife Martha, 63, were told Chesapeake wanted to start drilling on their land and they received a significant upfront payment.

Mr Long, whose farm equipment business has suffered in recent years, said: "Obama has some kind of agenda with green policy. I worry he's got an agenda to slow down these wells. Behind the scenes he is working on a way to put controls on us.

"Between him and Romney, it's about picking the lesser of two evils. I don't know enough about Romney, but at least he's a successful businessman."

Only a few years ago, many farmers in this area were "beating and scratching the earth for a living", said Amy Rutledge, from the local chamber of commerce.

"A lot of them will keep farming because it's all they've ever known," she said. "They're holding onto the money because they're not sure what's going to happen in future."

She doubts that any government administration would put a total halt on fracking.

Before the fracking boom, unemployment in Carroll County was running at 13.9% in 2009, above the national average. Now, it is below 7% - below the national average.

Jobs and new companies are pouring into the area - although higher rents have been squeezing minimum-wage workers.

James Brock, an economics professor at Miami University in Ohio, told Sky News fracking, along with the revived car industry, was part of an "economic renaissance" in the state, where both candidates have days to win over crucial undecided voters.

He said Mr Obama had stayed out of the industry's way, which allows him to take credit for growth.

"For Romney, that's not great because he's trying to paint the picture of the economy in this terrible position," he said.

"It makes it hard to predict votes. It's what makes Ohio especially interesting as a swing state – there's so much optimism now and the only question is: Which candidate will benefit?"

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Superstorm Sandy Death Toll Continues To Rise

The death toll from superstorm Sandy has reached more than 90 people as the US Coast Guard halted its search for the captain of a tall ship that sank off the North Carolina coast.

The search for 63-year-old Robin Walbridge - which employed ships, helicopters and planes - was suspended after more than three days of around-the-clock effort.

"Suspending a search and rescue case is one of the hardest decisions we have to make," said Captain Doug Cameron, the chief of incident response for the Coast Guard 5th District.

Mr Walbridge was the captain of the three-masted tall ship, which sank before dawn Monday in hurricane-churned waters about 90 miles off Cape Hatteras.

HMS Bounty Captain Robin Walbridge

The crew abandoned ship in two life rafts, and the Coast Guard rescued 14 crew members.

Claudene Christian, 42, was among those rescued, but she later died.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the Walbridge and Christian families," Cameron said.

The rising death toll comes as cities across the US East Coast continue their recovery efforts in the wake of the storm.

New Jersey officials say they will deploy military trucks to serve as polling places on Election Day in storm-battered communities, and are also extending the deadline for mail-in ballots.

The trucks will be parked at polling places that do not have power.

The deadline for when clerks may accept mail-in ballot applications was also extended until the close of business on Friday.

More than 4.6 million homes and businesses remain without electricity - down from a peak of 8.5 million.

The total damage in the US from superstorm Sandy could run as high as $50 billion, according to the forecasting firm Eqecat.

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Sandy: Superstorm Deaths Continue To Rise

The number of people dead after superstorm Sandy has risen to at least 72, as communities along the East Coast of America prepare to take the first steps towards returning to daily routines.

New York's three major airports are expected to be open later, offering stranded passengers a limited number of flights.

Some services on the city's subway system - which has suffered the worst damage in its 108-year history - will also resume.

About six million homes and businesses are still without power, mostly in New York and New Jersey, and some 20,000 people are still trapped at home in a single New Jersey city.

National Guard troops have arrived in the heavily flooded city of Hoboken, just across the river from New York City, to help with the evacuation of stranded residents.

Flood-damaged food is removed from New York shops

Electricity outages continue as far west as Wisconsin in the Midwest and as far south as the Carolinas.

Restoring the usually vibrant New York City to its normal frenetic pace could take days, while rebuilding the hardest-hit communities and the transportation networks could take considerably longer.

Power company Consolidated Edison has said it could be the weekend before power is restored to Manhattan and Brooklyn, perhaps longer for other areas.

Part of a home rests upside-down in Seaside Heights, New Jersey

There are still only hints of the economic impact of the storm.

Forecasting firm IHS Global Insight predicted it would cause $20bn (£12.4bn) in damage and $10bn (£6.2bn) to $30bn (£18.6bn) in lost business. Another firm, AIR Worldwide, estimated losses up to $15bn (£9.3bn).

Amtrak said the amount of water in train tunnels under the Hudson and East rivers was unprecedented, but it said it planned to restore some service on Friday to and from New York City.

The bill for Sandy could top $20bn

Speaking on Wednesday, US President Barack Obama told New Jersey residents that the government will support them "for the long haul".

The region took the brunt of its impact and is among the worst affected areas on the East Coast.

Joined by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Mr Obama -  who described the disaster as "heartbreaking for the nation"  - inspected the impact from Sandy, flying high over flooded neighbourhoods and sand-strewn streets.

He told those affected by the storm: "Our hearts go out to the families who have lost loved ones. Their world has been torn apart ... they are in our thoughts and prayers.

"For those like the people I have had a chance to meet on this block, throughout New Jersey and throughout the region whose lives have been upended, my second message is: We are here for you, and we will not forget, we will follow up to make sure that you get all the help that you need until you've rebuilt."

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Sandy: 'Mass Destruction' In Atlantic City

When the people of Atlantic City emerged from wherever they had been sheltering against Superstorm Sandy, there was only thing they wanted to see.

A stretch of the city's iconic boardwalk, ripped up and thrown inland, has become a nationwide symbol of the devastating impact of nature's assault on the New Jersey shore.

Ever since, locals have been stopping by: Simply to stare in wonder, or pick through what remains of the demolished boardwalk and abandoned buildings knocked over by Sandy.

The beach is littered with all kinds of debris: Massive chunks of timber, long buried maritime metal work, bits of brick wall, even local newspapers from as far back as 1974.

The site, at the end of Atlantic Avenue, has become something of a tourist attraction.

John Paxton outside his storm damaged home in Atlantic City

John Paxton, a lifelong resident of Atlantic City, said: "This is the first time I have been down to see it.  It is devastating, it looks like a bombed-out area.

"It is the first time I've seen mass destruction like this."

Like many, the 75-year-old ignored evacuation warnings. He saw out Sandy in a house which stands alone on a patch of waste ground four blocks from the beach.

He showed us how three feet of flood water had even left the food drawers in the bottom of his fridge filled with foul water. His home of 57 years is now caked in mud and sludge.

He said: "When I saw the road outside had become a river, there was nothing else to do. I went to bed."

Atlantic City has now begun a massive clean-up operation and almost every street is dotted with piles of damp or destroyed furniture and carpets.

A woman walks past storm damage in Atlantic City

Close to the bay, Kathleen Fitzgerald was dragging plastic rubbish bags full of soaking home goods out on to the pavement.

She says this is the first time that the city has been hit badly by a hurricane-like storm after several warnings came to nothing over the years.

"In a way we were lucky," she said. "As far as my family and all my neighbours, no loss of life, no injuries, so everyone did good."

Red Cross volunteers in the city say even those who prepared well for the storm are now running low on resources.

Catherine Barde said: "This has been incredibly difficult for the residents of this community. It is so completely devastating."

But she says that community spirit has helped: "Everyone comes together at a time like this."

It is perhaps a sign of the scale of Sandy that even Atlantic City's famed casinos were forced to close, at a cost of $5 million a day.

They will re-open and the city will re-build with the spirit demonstrated by residents like Shelley Grossman.

When the storm hit her apartment block, she said, residents retired to a safe room: "We were playing bingo during the height of the storm, it was like being on the Titanic, the music playing as the ship was going down.

"But it kept us all calm."

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Sandy: Face To Face With Storm's Devastation

The superstorm came ashore over a thousand miles of coastline to engulf 20 states - and counting.

In each state Sandy has had different consequences for different communities.

In Rockaway Park in the Queens borough of New York, the storm surge was overwhelming.

Like a tsunami, the sea rose by five or six feet, and swept through the town.

It dumped much of the beach on the streets, flipped cars and ripped up the boardwalk.

For Frankie Burk who was watching from a sixth-floor window it felt like the end of days.

This was the work of God, he said, just as damaging as what terrorists wrought on 9/11 only more spread out.

The night it happened he ventured out in his waders, but was lifted up and pinned to a fence. 

Not before seeing electricity transformers above him explode down the street.

The historic Rockaway boardwalk was destroyed

The fire they ignited was still burning in a block of properties almost completely destroyed.

Sky News found the Van Leirs, a couple who lived round the corner, hugging each other; Jan Van Leir crying. 

It was too much to see their neighbourhood shops in smouldering ruins, she said. 

She wondered if the town would ever get its character back.

Rockaway Park is not affluent - it's a carefree seaside beach town say the people who live here.

They are pulling together, helping neighbours remove sodden belongings. But the challenge is enormous. 

Every building was flooded one way or another. Cars were carried down streets and flipped over.

Basements and ground floors have been wrecked. 

Further down this narrow peninsula in Breezy Point, people were killed and many homes went up in flames in a fire caused by a flooded electricity station. 

The Breezy Point fire razed dozens of homes

It is a dark, cold Halloween night for more than eight million Americans. 

We drove back from Rockaway to Manhattan, the power was out for around two-thirds of the way, and it will be for days to come. 

Beyond Brooklyn Bridge, Lower Manhattan stood dark and ghostly.

We had seen military helicopters patrolling the skies over Queens, helmeted National Guardsmen touring in Humvees, and scenes of devastation you do not expect to see in America.

If the scientists are right, this is just the beginning. The weather is only going to become more extreme because of climate change.

Ironically that issue has received barely a mention in the election contest that culminates next week. 

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Sandy's Victims Speak Of 'Devastating Sight'

People in the path of the devastating Superstorm Sandy have begun to assess the widespread damage along the US East Coast.

The high winds and driving rain knocked out power to more than nine million people and 39 people lost their lives as a result of the storm.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said the storm was "beyond anything I thought I'd ever see" and parts of the Atlantic coast were a "devastating sight right now".

Authorities urged people to stay inside as the storm hit, but people all along the East coast described the damage.

Ziad Shehady, Mayor of Springfield in New Jersey, told Sky News: "Fortunately we don't have any serious injuries reported but the devastation is certainly causing a big hamper on things in this town and the operations of our community.

"We're just getting over the tragedy and devastation caused by Hurricane Irene last year that caused flooding problems.

"This one was high winds, gusts over 60mph, knocked out power lines got 50-70 trees fallen on the town many of them on to homes or power lines."

Tom Johnson is on holiday in New York, but is unable to return home.

He told Sky News: "It's quite weird, it's mostly empty if you go out in the streets, most of the cabs are not out, obviously there's no buses. It's weird.

"The phone signal here is terrible for obvious reasons, so I don't know what I am going to do about it really.

"The damage is not quite as bad as I thought it was going to be from what the storm sounded like last night, but it's significant."

Juan Allen, who lives in a mobile home in New Jersey, said: "I saw trees not just knocked down but ripped right out of the ground.

"I watched a tree crush a guy's house like a wet sponge."

Peter Sandomeno, owner of the Broadway Court Motel in Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey, said: "There are boats in the street five blocks from the ocean.

"That's the worst storm I've ever seen, and I've been there for 11 years."

In New York, at least ten people are thought to have been killed by the storm and seven subway stations were flooded with seawater after a massive storm surge hit Manhattan.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg: "This was a devastating storm, maybe the worst that we have ever experienced."

Large parts of Manhattan have been left without power after the floodwaters damaged sub-substations and underground wiring.

Sandy is predicted to have caused up to $20bn of damage, with billions more lost as people are unable to work.

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Sandy: Search For Bounty Captain Continues

The search for the captain of a tall ship that sank during Hurricane Sandy is to continue for a second night, US coast guards have said.

Lt Mike Patterson said a C-130 plane and two cutter ships will be used to look for HMS Bounty captain Robin Walbridge.

Searchers hope the 63-year-old of St. Petersburg, Florida, has been able to survive in the relatively mild 25C (77F) waters of the Atlantic, about 90 miles (145km) off Cape Hatteras.

Lt Patterson said search planes could no longer see the Bounty, an 18th-century replica tall ship used in many movie dramas.

Searchers are looking for the ship's captain

The ship's masts had stayed visible for hours after the decks disappeared below the waves early on Monday.

A woman rescued from the sea hours after the Bounty went down later died.

Claudene Christian was pulled from the water hours after the historic ship sank - but was unresponsive.

The 42-year-old, who lived and sailed on the ship, was taken to hospital in a critical condition but was later pronounced dead.

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Sandy: Obama To Visit Storm-Hit US East Coast

President Barack Obama is due to visit New Jersey to survey some of the widespread devastation caused by superstorm Sandy in eastern US and Canada.

With at least 50 people killed - most by falling trees - and millions affected by the high winds, power cuts and flooding, Mr Obama cancelled campaign appearances in key state Ohio to oversee the government response.

He described the disaster at "heartbreaking for the nation".

The President is fighting a close race with Republican rival Mitt Romney and the White House has been keen to portray him as a strong leader ahead of election day on November 6.

More than eight million homes have been left without electricity by the biggest storm to hit the country in generations, which swamped parts of New York's subways system and lower Manhattan's financial district.

Darkness continued to envelope a large stretch of the Manhattan skyline

Much of the Manhattan skyline was still in darkness on Tuesday night and it is feared it could be days before electricity is restored to some of those cut off.

Forecasters predict the storm could end up causing around $20bn (£12bn) worth of damages in the US.

Sky News weather presenter Nazaneen Ghaffar said the bad weather will continue.

"The storm is still reacting with cold air from the west, so there will be further heavy snowfall as well as inland flooding," she said.

"Rainfall totals could reach around 6-8 inches, and winds will remain gale force in strength.

"The forecast suggests that the centre of the low will move northwards from western Pennsylvania into the west of New York and then into Quebec by Thursday."

Businesses and homes along New Jersey's shore were wrecked and communities were submerged under floodwater across a large area on Tuesday.

Flood water from Sandy surrounds homes in South Bethany, Delaware

After seeing pictures of the shore, State Governor Chris Christie said: "The devastation is unthinkable."

A strong supporter of fellow Republican Mr Romney, Mr Christie also praised Mr Obama's federal response to the disaster.

Amid the despair, talk of recovery was already beginning.

"It's heartbreaking after being here 37 years, " Barry Prezioso of Point Pleasant, New Jersey, said as he returned to his house in the coastal community to survey the damage.

"You see your home demolished like this, it's tough. But nobody got hurt and the upstairs is still livable, so we can still live upstairs and clean this out. I'm sure there's people that had worse. I feel kind of lucky."

The storm reached as far inland as Ohio and caused thousands of flight cancellations, while mobile phone network outages also were widespread.

Meanwhile, parts of West Virginia were buried under 3ft (1m) of drifting snow from the storm.

Mr Obama has issued federal emergency decrees and declared "major disasters" in both New Jersey and New York.

Speaking during a visit to Red Cross headquarters in Washington, he said: "New Jersey, New York in particular have been pounded by this storm. Connecticut has taken a big hit."

More than 80 homes in New York City's borough of Queens were destroyed in a fire caused by the storm.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who toured the area, said: "To describe it as looking like pictures we've seen of the end of World War Two is not overstating it. The area was completely levelled.

"Chimneys and foundations were all that was left of many of these homes."

Neighbour John Frawley, 57, said: "I stayed up all night," he said. "The screams. The fire. It was horrifying."

Hundreds of miles away from Sandy's turbulent centre, winds were churning up the waters of Lake Michigan to near record levels.

Officials in Chicago warned people to stay away from the lakefront, and parts of the bicycle path along the shore was closed.

The strong wind and rain has had other unexpected consequences.

Police in New Haven said a skeleton was revealed beneath the town green that may have been there since Colonial times.

Police spokesman David Hartman said a woman was with other bystanders looking at a fallen oak tree, and spotted bones in the upturned roots.

Hurricane Sandy - which was reclassified as a post-tropical storm upon making US landfall - had already killed 69 people in the Caribbean.

Many islands were ravaged by the storm, with an estimated $16.5m (£10.3m) worth of damage in Jamaica and 70% of crops destroyed in southern Haiti.

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HMS Bounty Sinks: Rescued Crew Member Dies

A woman rescued from the Atlantic Ocean hours after the HMS Bounty was caught by Hurricane Sandy has died.

Claudene Christian, 42, was pulled from the water on Monday - hours after the historic ship went down in the storm off the coast of North Carolina - but was unresponsive.

Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class David Weydert said Ms Christian, who lived and sailed on the ship, was taken to hospital in a critical condition but was later pronounced dead.

The Coast Guard is still searching for the ship's captain, Robin Walbridge, 63.

The famous HMS Bounty was hit by 18ft waves

Ms Christian, a keen sailor, said on Twitter that she joined the ship's crew in May and a series of posts described how much she was enjoying her life on the sea.

On June 7, she wrote: "So I had a tough day, lost in the sails. But it was sunny warm and I am on a TALL SHIP AT SEA. It's a "Bountyful" life."

Fourteen other crew members were rescued from the stricken vessel, which was about 160 miles from the hurricane's centre.

The captain ordered his crew to abandon ship at about 5am on Monday after the vessel lost power and started to take on water.

Sixteen people were on board the ship when it sank

Coast guards said the crew had put on cold water survival suits and life-jackets before launching in two 25-man lifeboats with canopies.

The suits are designed to protect people from the cold waters for up to 15 hours.

Rescuers faced 40mph winds and 18ft waves at the scene, which is 90 miles southeast of Hatteras in North Carolina.

The rescued crew were flown to Air Station Elizabeth City for treatment.

Coast Guard Sector North Carolina received a call from the owner of the 180ft, three-mast ship, saying she had lost communication with the vessel's crew late on Sunday evening.

The rescued crew were flown to Air Station Elizabeth City for treatment

It regained contact with the ship after receiving a signal from the emergency position indicating beacon registered to the Bounty.

HMS Bounty was built for the 1962 movie Mutiny On The Bounty with Marlon Brando and also appeared in Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.

The original Bounty was known for the mutiny that took place in Tahiti in 1789.

People could apply to work on the ship, which was built in 1960 and restored in 2001.

The HMS Bounty Organisation said on its website that it was "dedicated to keeping the ship sailing and using her as a vehicle for teaching the nearly lost arts of square rigged sailing and seamanship."

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