Damage caused by Hurricane Sandy in the U.S. East Coast is estimated to reach around $50 billion and has caused at least 59 deaths in the U.S. and 69 in the Caribbean.
According to another Associated Press report from Wednesday morning, at least 59 deaths have already been attributed to the superstorm since it began impacting the East Coast over the weekend. On Tuesday, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said the storm had left at least six dead in New Jersey.
In Queens, a 23-year-old woman named Lauren Abraham was electrocuted after stepping in water near a live wire, the Associated Press reports. She had reportedly been taking photos of a power line that had caught fire with her cell phone at the time.
Meanwhile in Brooklyn, a young couple in their early 20s were reportedly hit by a tree while walking their dog.Jessie Streich-Kest and Jacob Vogelman, had been walking in Ditmas Park when they died. Their dog, Max, survived and is being treated at an emergency veterinarian hospital.
The New York area's John F. Kennedy and Newark airports reopened with limited service after thousands of flights were canceled, leaving travelers stuck for days. LaGuardia Airport, a third major airport serving the nation's busiest airspace, was flooded and remained closed.
The storm that interrupted the U.S. presidential race eight days before Election Day weakened to a surface trough of low pressure over western Pennsylvania. The remnants of Sandy are forecast to continue to weaken over the state, according to a 5 a.m. advisory from the Hydrometeorological Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.
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