Waves crash over Winthrop Shore Drive as Hurricane Sandy comes up the coast in Winthrop, Massachusetts.The Hurricane threatens 50 million people in the eastern third of the US. AFP

The Inlet section of Atlantic City, N.J., as the hurricane makes it approach. Sandy made landfall at 8 p.m. near Atlantic City, which was already mostly under water with a piece of its world-famous Boardwalk washed away earlier. AP

Water rushes into the Carey Tunnel (previously the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel), following the hurricane and its impact on the financial district of New York. AFP

A blacked out New York City skyline is seen from Brooklyn, New York as Hurricane Sandy made landfall in the northeastern United States. Reuters

The skyline of lower Manhattan sits in darkness after a preventive power outage in New York. Reuters

Bracing against the wind, a man wades through a street flooded during Hurricane Sandy in Ocean City, Maryland. Reuters

Flooded cars, seen in New York. Earlier New York Governor Andrew Cuomo had announced the closure of all New York City bus, subway and commuter rail service as of Sunday evening. AFP

The HMS Bounty, a 180-foot sailboat, is shown submerged in the Atlantic Ocean during Hurricane Sandy approximately 90 miles southeast of Hatteras, North Carolina in this US Coast Guard handout picture. Reuters

Storm surf kicked up by the high winds from Hurricane Sandy pushes a catamaran up against pilings in Southampton, New York. Reuters

Storm waves from Hurricane Sandy in Ocean City, New Jersey. The popular boardwalk in this resort town has dozens of businesses facing the ocean. Reuters

An abandoned home is inundated with water at Shinnecock Bay in Southampton, New York. Reuters

Workers try to tether a Christmas tree against the fierce wind from Hurricane Sandy in Ocean City, Maryland. About 50 million people from the Mid-Atlantic to Canada were in the path of the nearly 1,600-km-wide storm. Reuters