New York City, fire rips through Breezy Point, Queens, 80 houses destroyed during Hurricane Sandy. Explosions, fires, and floods have devastated New York, killing at least six people statewide. Hurricane Sandy left dozens of houses ablaze as it hit the city while flooding at least seven subway tunnels and overwhelming the emergency services. First reports of major fire were coming in from the Rockaway Park area of Queens, New York. A few hours later, fire engulfed houses in Breezy Point, Queens, and 190 firefighters were on site battling the blaze. Fire has reportedly destroyed 80 houses.
At least 80 flooded houses destroyed by New York City fire Click Here
Sidewalks Chalk 
Astounding pictures.
Now in Canada.
Toronto – Sandy Leaves 145,000 Canadians Without Power, One Dead
Toronto – Sandy toppled trees and power lines in the Canadian province of Ontario, leaving at least 145,000 people without power on Tuesday, including 55,000 in Toronto, the country’s financial center.
Advertisement:
Strong winds whipped up debris, killing a Toronto woman on Monday.
The Toronto Stock Exchange was set to remain open, making it a North American island of equity trading for the second successive day, with U.S. stock markets closed.
Numerous flights on Air Canada, WestJet Airlines, Porter Airlines and other carriers between the U.S. Northeast and Toronto’s Pearson International Airport and Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport were canceled.
http://www.vosizneias.com/116042/2012/10/30/toronto-sandy-leaves-145000-canadians-without-power-one-dead
We will not know the full force of this storm for weeks to come. There is so much hidden beneath the waters.
[…] New York City, Fire Rips through Breezy Point, Queens, 80 Houses Destroyed, Hurricane Sandy (sidewalkschalk.com) […]
Sandy’s toll: Dozens dead, millions without power, $50 billion in losses
Images from around the storm-affected areas depicted scenes reminiscent of big-budget disaster movies. In Atlantic City, N.J., a gaping hole remained where once a stretch of boardwalk sat by the sea. In Queens, N.Y., rubble from a fire that destroyed as many as 100 houses in an evacuated beachfront neighborhood jutted into the air at ugly angles against a gray sky. In heavily flooded Hoboken, N.J., across the Hudson River from Manhattan, dozens of yellow cabs sat parked in rows, submerged in murky water to their windshields. At the ground zero construction site in lower Manhattan, sea water rushed into a gaping hole under harsh floodlights.
One of the most dramatic tales came from lower Manhattan, where a failed backup generator forced New York University’s Tisch Hospital to relocate more than 200 patients, including 20 babies from neonatal intensive care. Dozens of ambulances lined up in the rainy night and the tiny patients were gingerly moved out, some attached to battery-powered respirators as gusts of wind blew their blankets.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-sandy-impact-121030,0,5115126.story?track=rss
Hurricane Sandy: Babies among more than 200 patients evacuated as hospital loses power
NEW YORK- A backup generator failed at a New York City hospital Monday night, forcing it to move out more than 200 patients, including 20 babies from the neonatal intensive care unit.
Dozens of ambulances lined up around the block outside New York University Tisch Hospital as doctors and nurses began the slow process of evacuation. They started with the sickest and youngest. Some were on respirators operating on battery power.
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1279495–hurricane-sandy-babies-among-more-than-200-patients-evacuated-as-hospital-loses-power
The Death of an Officer (R. I. P.)
After shepherding six adults and an infant to safety in the attic of his house on Staten Island last night, an off-duty New York City police officer, Artur Kasprzak, went downstairs to check on the basement. He did not come back up.
Here is the Police Department’s statement, unedited:
During the tumult of Hurricane Sandy last night, off-duty Police Officer Artur Kasprzak, 28, got to work shepherding his family to relative safety inside his home on Doty Avenue, in the confines of the 122 Precinct.
By about 7 p.m., with flood water surging into his house, Officer Kasprzak was able to get six adults (M/69, F/68, F/56, M/31, F/31, F/30) and a 15-month-old male infant upstairs and into his attic to escape the rapidly rising water.
Officer Kasprzak then turned to one of the women and told her he was going to check the basement but would be right back.
At 7:23 p.m., the female called 911 and reported Officer Kasprzak missing.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/10/28/nyregion/hurricane-sandy.html?partner=rssemc=rss