HURRICANE SANDY: Massive clean up begins

• Massive clean up begins in the north eastern region
• New York State governor Andrew Cuomo to invest in storm surge barriers costing $10bn 
• Repairs will take months and run into $17billions
• Presidential race plunged into race into uncertainty

The North eastern part of the USA damaged by Hurricane Sandy has started to get back on its feet again. Shops and offices opened in parts of New York and New Jersey today. New Yorkers woke up to the huge destruction that had taken place over the past two days. 

Amidst all the chaos and menace of the storm, President Obama has come out a winner for handling the emergency situation swiftly. In fact, 'too quickly' according to the former FEMA director, Michael Brown resigned after being widely criticized for the government’s slow response to Hurricane Katrina. Brown told reporters on Tuesday that President Obama acted too quickly to Hurricane Sandy.

Praise

Praise for President Obama has been overwhelming. Governor Chris Christie, an outspoken Republican and supporter of Obama’s presidential rival Mitt Romney, has lavished praise on the President over the way he has handled the situation.
‘The president has been outstanding in this and so have the folks at FEMA,’ Christie told news agents.
 
Campaigns cancelled

With at least 50 people killed along the east coast - most by falling trees - and millions affected by the high winds, power cuts and flooding, President Barack Obama cancelled campaign appearances in key state Ohio to oversee the government response. He is due to visit New Jersey to survey some of the widespread devastation caused by superstorm Sandy in eastern US and Canada. He described the disaster as "heartbreaking for the nation".

Strong leader

The President is fighting a close race with Republican rival Mitt Romney and the White House has been keen to portray him as a strong leader ahead of election day on November 6.
 
Destruction

More than eight million homes have been left without electricity by the biggest storm to hit the country in generations, which swamped parts of New York's subways system and Lower Manhattan's financial district.

37 people are been confirmed dead and more than 80 homes in New York City's borough of Queens were destroyed in a fire caused by the storm.Hurricane Sandy - which was reclassified as a post-tropical storm upon making US landfall - had already killed 69 people in the Caribbean. Many islands were ravaged by the storm, with an estimated $17m (£12m) worth of damage in Jamaica and vast quantities of crops destroyed in Haiti. JFK and Newark airports have now reopened but Laguardia airport remains closed.

Meanwhile, parts of West Virginia were buried under 3ft (1m) of drifting snow from the storm. The storm is now hurtling towards the waters of Lake Michigan.

Here are some pictures of the devastation.

 Pictures: Telegraph