Relief efforts for Hurricane Sandy on the east coast were stalled today as the World Vision facilities were evacuated in New York City because of the threat of East River flooding. Phyllis Freeman, the organization’s domestic disaster director, told The Christian Post on Monday that the World Vision office and warehouse might be accessible on Wednesday, but that disaster response from their facility would need to be delayed until then.
“At this point, what we’ll do is we’ll have to wait out today [Monday] and parts of tomorrow [Tuesday]. I’m not sure how long in the day, but we’re going to wait and see, and we will abide by the requests not to go in certain areas until we can. So we’re looking at probably late tomorrow or Wednesday that we’ll be able to get out and really begin our response work,” said Freeman.
According to ABC News, flooding was felt today in every state along the coast from North Carolina to Massachusetts, power outages continue to be widespread, many homes and business were damaged by gale force winds, and thousands of commercial flights remain grounded and transit systems stalled. The storm has been blamed for at least 16 deaths in the U.S. so far, and around eight million customers are without power today. The Chicago Tribune reported that President Barack Obama has declared a major disaster in New York and Long Island. It also reported that stock trading will be closed in the U.S. for a second day today; this is the first time the New York Stock Exchange will be closed for two consecutive days due to weather since 1888.
