Hurricane Sandy threatens to hit US before presidential election

Hurricane Sandy threatened to smack United States with torrential rains, high winds, major flooding and power outages a week before the U.S. presidential election.

On its current projected track, Sandy could make U.S. landfall on Monday night or Tuesday anywhere between Maryland and southern New England, forecasters said. Rain accumulations of up to 12 inches and heavy snowfall inland are considered likely in some areas.

As it merges with an Arctic jet stream, forecasters said Sandy has all the ingredients to transform into a "super storm" unlike anything seen over the eastern United States in decades.

Forecasters said its flooding impact could span multiple tides with a storm surge of 4 to 8 feet in Long Island Sound, the southern portion of Lower New York Bay and Delaware Bay.

"This is not a coastal threat alone,” Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Craig Fugate said and also gives warning of the potential for flooding in Maryland and Pennsylvania, as well as more than 2 feet of snow in West Virginia.

Governors in states along the U.S. East Coast declared emergencies, with officials urging residents to stock up on food, water and batteries.

Coastal flooding posed a major threat, particularly in low-lying areas like New York City, the global financial nerve center, and Alexandria, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.

Sandy claimed at least 59 lives as it made its way through the Caribbean islands, including 44 people in southern Haiti, mostly from flash flooding and mudslides, according to authorities. Another 11 people died in Cuba, largely due to from collapsed buildings, officials said.