Superstorm Baby Sophie Deborah: Miraculous Birth to Australian Couple

NEW YORK (Wed, Oct 31) – Reported by madn3wz

 

Superstorm Baby Sophie Deborah: Miraculous Birth to Australian Couple

 

Miracles do happen even in right the middle of storm even as big as the latest superstorm Sandy. Newly-born Sophie Deborah has proved it with her arrival in this world, when everybody else around her mother was running away to get safe from deadly Frankenstorm Sandy.

Little Sophie Bertouch couldn't have chosen a more dramatic time to enter the world, as New York was lashed by the worst storm to hit United States.

According to details; the 31-year-old Australian woman Sally Bertouch was staying with her husband James at a hotel close to NY Langone hospital when she went into labor just before the Sandy struck New York. The couple was evacuated to Mount Sinai hospital, when NYU hospital lost the backup power source, and eventually Sally gave birth to a baby girl named Sophie Deborah.

Father James Bertouch said staff at NYU hospital gave Sally an epidural by flashlight as the windows rattled due to high speed winds striking against the hospital building.

The Herald Sun reported that the couple had booked a hotel close to their hospital as a precaution when they were told their home fell into the evacuation zone. On the night of the storm the hotel was one of the few places still open. Every building was sandbagged.

After 12 hours of labouring at the hotel, the couple found a cab to take them 10 blocks to the New York Langone hospital.

After further four hours of labor in the middle of a superstorm, they lost the power completely and the doctors were forced to do an epidural by torchlight. They used stethoscopes to monitor the baby and Sally.

The couple had to evacuate right in the middle of dark night, making it even horrible with one of the biggest storm around. But thankfully, safe from the storm and with the lights on, baby Sophie Deborah was born at 10.30am today, New York time.

 

Report Tags:

Sophie Deborah, Superstorm, Superstorm Baby, James Bertouch, Sally, Miracle BabySOURCE:

Herald Sun

Sandy's aftermath (Painful Video): NYU Langone Medical Center evacuated due to power outage

NEW YORK (Wed, Oct 31) – Reported by madn3wz

Sandy's aftermath: NYU Langone Medical Center evacuated due to power outage

Shattered medical staff worked through the night to evacuate NYU's Langone Medical Center after substantial swamping from Superstorm Sandy caused the hospital to lose not only normal supply of electricity, but backup power generator was also failed for some unknown reasons.

A stream of ambulances was seen towards downtown hospitals to aid in evacuation of Tisch Hospital NYU Langone Medical Center. The hospital lost power needed to care for 215 patients when their backup generators fail. They are still investigating the cause of failure. Patients were carried down 18 flights of stairs by nurses and other paramedical staff of the hospital.

Ambulances came from around the city to help transport the patients, which were hurried to other hospitals including Mount Sinai and the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer.

 

Doctors and nurses first moved the sickest and youngest patients. Some were on respirators operating on battery power.

 

Among more than 200 patients evacuated there were 20 babies from the neonatal intensive care unit. Because the hospital's respirators for infants do not have backup batteries, each of the infants required extra attention from nurses at the hospital.

 

At least four babies had to be carried to a waiting ambulance down nine flights of stairs while a nurse "breathed" for the infant by manually squeezing a bag to drive oxygen into the lungs.

Watch video of evacuation below:

 

Superstorm Sandy left destruction: U.S. death toll rises to 48, total 118

NEW YORK (Wed, Oct 31) – Reported by madn3wz

 

Superstorm Sandy left destruction: U.S. death toll rises to 48, total 118

 

The despair of Superstorm Sandy’s destruction raised Tuesday as millions along the U.S. East Coast were deprived of power or mass transit, and enormous strips of New York City remained weirdly discreet. The U.S. death toll climbed to at least 48, many of the victims killed by falling trees, while the rescue operation is on.

New York was among the worst affected in terms of death toll and financial loss, with its financial heart closed for a second day consecutively.   Sandy killed 18 people only in New York City, while three were reported dead in New Jersey, three in Pennsylvania, two in Maryland, two in Connecticut, two in Virginia, one in West Virginia. It also killed 69 people in the Caribbean before making its way up the Eastern Seaboard.  At least one death in Canada was attributed to the storm taking the total death toll to 118.

Superstorm Sandy, also dubbed as Frankenstrom, caused the worst damage in the 108-year history of the New York’s subway system, and NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg said it could be four or five days before the biggest U.S. transit system would be operative again. It also left at least 8.2 million people without power and an undetermined number evacuated from their homes, especially from low-lying areas.

Airlines cancelled more than 18,000 flights worldwide. New York City’s three major airports remained closed, however, authorities announced that John F Kennedy International Airport in New York and Newark International Airport in New Jersey will reopen at 7 am Wednesday with limited service. However, New York's LaGuardia Airport will remain closed. 

Rick Knabb, the Director at National Hurricane Center, said in a midday conference call with reporters that Sandy's sway along the U.S. East Coast had diminished, but flooding of 2-4 feet was likely in some areas at high tide and wind speeds were "fairly strong" as far west as Lake Michigan.

 

Knabb said further power disruption could occur Tuesday and "it will take well into [Wednesday] for all of the weather to clear out of the United States."

 

He said river flooding will be a risk over a large area, particularly in the New Jersey-New York area, because "there is still a lot more rain that could fall."

Superstorm Sandy killed 16 in U.S., more than 7.5 million deprived of electricity

NEW YORK (Tue, Oct 30) – Reported by madn3wz

 

Superstorm Sandy killed 16 in U.S., more than 7.5 million deprived of electricity

 

As per the latest figures; the death toll in the United States reached 16 as Superstorm Sandy continued to cause mayhem. Meanwhile, one death was also reported from Canada.

The Frankenstorm Sandy, one of the biggest storms ever to hit the U.S. The deadly Hurricane Sandy has also left more than 7.5 million people without electricity.

 

 

 

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg says backup power has been lost at New York University hospital and the city is working to move people out. Bloomberg was talking in a news conference Monday night and said rain was pointed off in the city and the storm outpouring was expected to withdraw by midnight. The hospital complex is near the East River in an area of lower Manhattan where flooding has been reported.

The 16 deaths were reported in the states of New Jersey, New York, Maryland, North Carolina, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. Some of the victims were killed by falling trees. One person also killed in Canada due to storm.

More than 1 million people across a dozen states were under orders to evacuate as the gigantic system continued to digger westward.

Sandy, which was especially imposing because of its wide-raging winds, brought a record surge of almost 14 feet (4.2 meters) to downtown Manhattan, well above the previous record of 10 feet (3 meters) during Hurricane Donna in 1960, the National Weather Service said.

Frankenstorm Sandy Lashes New York -- Live coverage, video and photos

NEW YORK (Mon, Oct 29) – Reported by madn3wz

Frankenstorm Sandy Hits New York

New York, the biggest city of United States, chocked for Hurricane Sandy as forecasters said the Hurricane Sandy – also referred as super storm and Frankenstorm -  gained the strength and was raging toward the New York region, packing high winds and rain and a gigantic wall of water that could as high as 11 feet.

As reported by the Weather Channel; Hurricane Sandy is starting to move faster and could make landfall in New Jersey as early as 5 p.m. ET Monday.

The storm has regained the strength as it heads along the Eastern Seaboard threatening some 50-60 million habitants, many who have evacuated coastal cities. Only From New York City more than 375,000 evacuations have been ordered by Mayor Michael Bloomberg towards the 72 evacuation centers which had been set up around the city in schools and community centers.

According to latest updates; Sandy is heading as a strong Category 1 storm carrying winds measured at 90 mph. Wind gusts were reported as high as 115 mph.

 

Massive companies like Google, Apple and Amazon host their servers in specialist 'farms' - many of which are based in Virginia and areas at risk from the 'Frankenstorm'. 

 

U.S. President Barack Obama has already declared emergencies in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania and promised the government would "respond big and respond fast" after the storm hits.

 

 

 

U.S. President Barack Obama has already declared emergencies in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania and promised the government would "respond big and respond fast" after the storm hits.

See more photos as Sandy hits NYC, HERE.

Watch another video captured by a New Yorker, MrsShawtiie, from her window and uploaded on YouTube just an hour ago. Link is given below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2wf5AgWHeM

Live coverage of the Frankenstorm Sandy, HERE.

 

 

 

Super Storm Sandy: Mass evacuation ordered, subway and schools closures in New York City

NEW YORK (Sun, Oct 28) – Reported by madn3wz

 

Super Storm Sandy: Mass evacuation ordered, subway and schools closures in New York City

 

 

The ‘Frankenstorm’ Sandy is set to be unmatched in size once it hits the U.S. mainland Monday night. According to government forecasters on Sunday; the projected surge of Hurricane Sandy is a “worst case scenario” with shocking waves and tides forecasted for the thickly populated New York City metro area.

 

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has ordered the evacuation of 375,000 people threatened by Hurricane Sandy in low-lying areas, like Manhattan and the Rockaways, towards the 72 evacuation centers which had been set up around the city in schools and community centers.

 

"This is a serious and dangerous storm," Bloomberg told a news conference on Sunday as he ordered the mandatory evacuation ahead of the storm, which is expected to start hitting on Monday.

 

Forecasters said Sandy is set to morph into "super storm," as the tropical storm merges with a winter storm and a cold front, intimidating up to 12 inches of rainfall in some areas and heavy snow inland.

 

"We're looking at impact of greater than 50 to 60 million people," says Louis Uccellini, head of environmental prediction for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

 

"The time for preparing and talking is about over," Federal Emergency Management administrator Craig Fugate warned as a monster Hurricane Sandy headed up the Atlantic Coast on a collision course with two other weather systems. "People need to be acting now."

 

The massive storm also threatens to bring a near halt to air travel for two days in a key region for both domestic and international flights. Subway, bus and train services will also be suspended from 7pm local time and hundreds of flights into the city's airports have been rerouted or cancelled.

 

New York's public transport system is America's largest. The subway alone has more than five million passengers in every single day.

 

The New York Stock Exchange will close its trading floor on Monday, but trading will continue electronically.

 

Furthermore, all of the city's public schools have been closed that will affect 1.1 million school going kids in New York City.

 

Report Tags:

 

hurricane sandy, Sandy, Frankenstorm, Michael Bloomberg, U.S. East Coast, super storm, Sandy Super Storm, tropical cyclone, hurricane

VIDEO: Massive 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Canada, prompted tsunami warning for Hawaii

HONOLULU, Hawaii (Sun, Oct 20) – Reported by madn3wz

 

Massive 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Canada, prompted tsunami warning for Hawaii

 

The U.S. state of Hawaii is on high alert after tsunami warnings prompted by massive earthquake struck off western Canada on Saturday evening. Authorities have ordered for the evacuation of at least 100,000 people on the island state to move to higher ground.

 

The 7.7-magnitude earthquake rocked the Queen Charlotte Islands off the west coast of Canada, with no immediate reports of damages.

 

Earlier, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center warned a tsunami was heading towards Hawaii, while the Hawaii-based center warned the first tsunami wave was expected to arrive in the Pacific island state at 10.28pm local time on Saturday (7.28pm AEDT Sunday).

 

"Basically this tsunami is pointed right at us," Gerard Fryer, senior geophysicist at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, told CNN International. "It's not just one wave, it's a succession of waves... We are recommending coastal evacuation."

 

The PT WC said the first tsunami wave was three feet high and less forceful than expected. Some forecasts had predicted a wave of up to six feet high.

 

‘The tsunami arrived about when we expected it should,’ Senior Geophysicist Gerard Fryer told reporters at a news conference, saying: ‘I was expecting it to be a little bigger.’

 

The tsunami warnings followed a powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 7.7 that hit Canada’s Pacific coastal province of British Columbia late on Saturday.

 

The US Geological Survey said the quake was centered 123 miles (198 km) south-southwest of Prince Rupert at a depth of 6.2 miles (10 km).

 

Watch video report: