Sandy claims 59 lives as rescuers struggle with aftermath

NEW YORK: US authorities today scrambled to restore power and clear heaps of debris in the densely- populated East Coast region after superstorm Sandy left a trail of destruction from the Caribbean to Canada, claiming 59 lives in the US alone.

The most devastating storm witnessed by the US in decades, hit Eastern Seaboard from North Carolina to Connecticut, cutting off communication and leaving millions of people shivering without power as thousands were evacuated from flooded neighbourhoods.

At least 59 people have been reported dead as a result of the storm, Fox news said. It said quoting estimates from an economic firm that up to USD 20 billion had been lost due to the calamity.

The number of deaths in New York City from superstorm rose to 24. Among the dead was an off-duty NYPD officer who died while rescuing his family from floodwaters, CBS reported.

Many of the storm victims were killed by falling trees uprooted by the torrential wind and rains, they said.

Among the US states hit by the megastorm, New York and New Jersey bore the brunt of the disaster.

The trail of destruction left by the monster storm prompted President Barack Obama to declare it a "major disaster" in New York and New Jersey.

Rescuers today combed neighborhoods strewn with debris, as authorities struggled to restore power to millions of households.

The storm claimed at least 67 lives as the then-hurricane ripped through the Caribbean. Over 120 people have been killed so far in the US, Haiti and Canada.

New York and New Jersey combined together have one of the largest concentrations of Indian-Americans in the US. Quite a number of Indian-Americans, particularly in New Jersey, had to leave their flooded homes and had to be evacuated.

Obama, who suspended his campaign and took charge of the rescue operations, described the crisis as "heartbreaking", warning Americans that the storm was "not yet over".

"This storm is not yet over," Obama said during his trip to the headquarters of the American Red Cross in Washington.