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The Night Hurricane Sandy Hit New York City

The Night Hurricane Sandy Hit NYC
By 

Editor, HuffPost New York

The New York skyline remains dark Monday, Oct. 29, 2012, as seen from the Williamsburg neighborhood in the Brooklyn borough of New York. In an attempt to lessen damage from saltwater to the subway system and the electrical network beneath the city's financial district, New York City's main utility cut power to about 6,500 customers in lower Manhattan. But a far wider swath of the city was hit with blackouts caused by flooding and transformer explosions. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
The New York skyline remains dark Monday, Oct. 29, 2012, as seen from the Williamsburg neighborhood in the Brooklyn borough of New York. In an attempt to lessen damage from saltwater to the subway system and the electrical network beneath the city's financial district, New York City's main utility cut power to about 6,500 customers in lower Manhattan. But a far wider swath of the city was hit with blackouts caused by flooding and transformer explosions. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

October 29, 2012 started ominously in New York City.

President Obama had issued an emergency declaration for the state of New York late the night before. School was canceled across the city. A pre-storm surge had already caused severe flooding in Red Hook, Gowanus, and Hoboken. The New York Stock Exchange shut down. The subways too. The bridges were closed. So were the airports. There was a mandatory evacuation of low-lying neighborhoods. That afternoon, the wind caused a construction crane on a Midtown skyscraper to come loose. Supermarkets were crammed with people stocking up on supplies. New Yorkers weren't sure if this storm was going to be all it was cracked up to be, or if it was going to be just another Hurricane Irene.

At 5:55 p.m., Mayor Michael Bloomberg warned that Sandy was the "storm of the century" and that the time to evacuate was "over."

While Sandy largely spared some New York neighborhoods, it devastated others. Over eight million New Yorkers all have different memories from that fateful night, when Sandy's record storm surge slammed against the city's shore, causing billions of dollars in damage, plunging the city into darkness, and ultimately killing 43 people.

Below find a brief timeline of some of that night's most dramatic events.

October 29, Evening
Building Collapses In Chelsea
building

9:01 P.M.
bridge

October 29, 9:45 p.m.
MTA Confirms Subway Flooding

October 29, Late Evening
Jane's Carousel In Dumbo
carousel

October 29, Late Evening
Backup Power At NYU Hospital Fails; Patients Evacuated
nyu hospital sandy

October 29, Late Evening
911 System Overwhelmed By Calls

October 29, 11:15 p.m.
Ground Zero Flooding
ground zero

manhatta

October 30, Midnight
East Village Flooded
east village

October 30, 12:01 a.m.
Surge Receding

October 30, Overnight
Con Edison Officials Say Sandy Has Caused Largest Power Outage In Its History
power

Video Captures Explosion At ConEd Plant That Sends City Into Darkness

October 30, 2:29 a.m.
MTA Says System Could Take Up To Four Days To Recover
mta

Dramatic Footage Of Flooding, Fires In Breezy Point, Queens

October 30, 9:23 a.m.Rainbow Appears Over Gowanus Canal

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