East Coast Grinds to a Halt as Superstorm Sandy Nears
The hurricane was strengthening and the center of the storm was forecast to move over the coast of U.S. mid-Atlantic states by Monday night, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Monday.

The NHC said on Monday the Category 1 storm had strengthened as it turned toward the coast and was moving at 20 miles per hour (32 km per hour). It was expected to bring a "life-threatening storm surge," coastal hurricane winds and heavy snow in the Appalachian Mountains.

By late morning, the storm's top winds had strengthened to 90 mph. It was about 200 miles southeast of Atlantic City, N.J., where the emptied-out streets were mostly under water and where an old section of the historic boardwalk broke up and washed away.

The superstorm could endanger 50 million people in the most heavily populated corridor in the nation, with forecasters warning that the New York area could get the worst of it — an 11-foot wall of water.

In a news conference, Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley said, "This is going to be a long haul. The days ahead are going to be very difficult. There will be people who die and are killed in this storm."

He added that the storm's impact on the state will be much more severe than previously thought just 24 hours ago.

President Barack Obama declared emergencies in several states including Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, authorizing federal relief work to begin well ahead of time. He promised the government would "respond big and respond fast" to states and cities after the storm hits.