Hurricane Sandy hit New York with winds of 85mph,killing 16 people overnight, although figures are expected to be higher with reports of widespread injuries.

A 13ft surge of water caused devastating wide spreading flooding to subways and tunnels causing a massive loss of power plunging Manhattan into darkness. Reports just in, from the Queens area of New York, say that, a massive fire has broken out with some 200 fire-fighters battling a huge blaze that tore through more than 50 homes.

Some 375,000 people were evacuated from lower Manhattan including 200 patients from New York University's Tisch Hospital after its power went out and a backup generator failed. There are also fears about America's oldest nuclear power plant, Oyster Creek in New Jersey, which has been put on put on alert due to rising water, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Elsewhere The New York Stock Exchange will stay shut on Tuesday - the first time it has closed for two consecutive days due to weather since 1888. The UN headquarters in New York are also to stay closed.

Sadly the storm has also claimed another victim as Claudine Christian, a crew member rescued yesterday from HMS Bounty which was caught up in the Hurricane has died. And the Captain of the ship is missing.

According to the latest news from National Hurricane Centre advisory, the hurricane has now been downgraded from a category 1 hurricane to a post-tropical cyclone Sandy and is currently moving westward across southern Pennsylvania at 15mph . But As New York surveys the damage and loss cause by the so called Franken Storm, they can console themselves a little, with reports that say the worst of the storm had passed and officials expected the tidal surge to recede by Wednesday.

Written & Presented by Ann Salter