Thread: US Navy sends in carriers to help NY, NJ after Sandy

US Navy sends in carriers to help NY, NJ after Sandy

updated 1 hour 1 minute ago2012-10-31T14:23:51

The U.S. Navy is sending three helicopter carrier ships to the coast off New York and New Jersey to help rescue and recovery operations in the wake of superstorm Sandy, officials told NBC News.

Navy officials said USS Wasp, USS Carter Hall, and USS Mesa Verde had been ordered to head to the area to provide landing platforms for Coast Guard, National Guard and civilian agency helicopters if needed.

The Atlantic Fleet command made the decision in the name of "prudent planning," officials said.


Monica Rueda / AFP/Getty Images The USS Mesa Verde, seen in 2009, has been ordered to go to waters off the New York and New Jersey coasts.


With six days to go before the Nov. 6 elections, President Barack Obama will visit flood-ravaged areas of the New Jersey shore, where the storm made landfall on Monday.

As his guide, he will have Republican Governor Chris Christie, a vocal backer of presidential challenger Mitt Romney who has nevertheless praised Obama and the federal response to the storm.

"Tomorrow recovery begins. Today was a day of sorrow," Christie told a news conference late Tuesday. "There's nothing wrong with that. So long as sorrow doesn't replace resilience, we'll be just fine."

Millions across the Northeast were stricken by the massive storm with ongoing power and mass transit outages around New York for several more days. However, Wall Street, airports and some businesses were reopening Wednesday.



Sandy was responsible for the deaths of at least 47 people in the United States, NBC News reported Wednesday, after killing 68 in the Caribbean. Some 6.6 million were still without power.

Master Sgt. Mark Olsen / US Air Force via EPA This handout photograph provided by the U.S. Air Force shows aerial views of the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy to the New Jersey coast.

Footage from a helicopter flying over the New Jersey coastline showed fires raging among storm-damaged homes, with TODAY's Natalie Morales reporting that she counted some 25 separate points of flame.

She speculated that fractured natural gas pipes or downed electrical lines could have caused the fires. Emergency dispatchers in Bricktown, N.J., told NBC News they were dealing with fires in the area.

Boats that Morales said had been "tossed as if toys" could be seen piled up next to wrecked houses in the area.

Meanwhile, Sandy pushed inland, dumping several feet of snow in the Appalachian Mountains -- nearly 30 inches was recorded in Red House, Md. -- and then headed into Canada Wednesday.

US Navy sends in carriers to help in wake of Sandy - Weather | NBC News

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http://www.alipac.us/f19/troops-deli...idents-266248/