Hurricane Sandy is making a westward march and looks to visit the Big Apple during her North American tour. Schools are already preparing for the high powered storm and many universities have cancelled classes for Monday and Tuesday.
The city of Syracuse has announced closures of much of the city services including parks, garbage routes, athletics and school related events. Syracuse University has canceled all classes for the next two days.
Upstate Medical University has canceled some classes today but clinical and research related activities have not been canceled. It won’t make a decision to cancel Tuesday classes until tomorrow morning.
The City University of New York, Columbia and New York University have shut down until Wednesday or until further notice.
In addition to school closures almost all public transit systems have been suspended. The MTA, NY City Transit, Long Island Rail systems and Metro-North have stopped services. New Jersey also has shut down all light rail, train and metro services.
Hurricane Sandy has been declared as the most powerful tropical cyclone on record. It is recommended that all persons in the area pay attention to local media and watch for evacuation warnings.