Hurricane damage
Hurricane damageCaryn Lubin

Hurricane Sandy has killed 38 people, with deaths in New York, New Jersey, Maryland, North Carolina, West Virginia, Toronto, Pennsylvania and Connecticut.

Seventeen of the victims lived in New York City. In Toronto, a woman was killed when a street sign was blown over by heavy winds and fell on her.

Over 150 people were rescued by New York City and state police.

The Brooklyn Battery tunnel, connecting Brooklyn and Manhattan, remains flooded, as are many subway stations. Governor Andrew Cuomo said bridges and tunnels will remain closed Tuesday. It will take an estimated 14 hours to four days to suction water from the flooded subway stations.

The storm also caused or worsened 23 serious fires, including a fire in Queens that destroyed 80 homes. An estimated 750,000 New Yorkers remain without power.

Altogether, 8.1 million Americans in 17 states are without power.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Tuesday that Sandy was “a devastating storm – maybe the worst that we have ever experienced.” It will take the city several days to recover, he said. Bloomberg called on New Yorkers who are currently at home, or in any safe place, to stay where they are.

Beit El resident Baruch Gordon, who works with the Beit El Yeshiva, is currently in New York City. He told Arutz Sheva that strong winds were hitting the city on Monday night. The Gordon family has been joined by three other families in need of shelter.

This morning, he said, it was difficult to reach synagogue due to the many trees blocking roads in the city. An estimated 4,000 trees were knocked down within the city.