[Carol Costello, Cnn Anchor:] And good morning to you. I'm Carol Costello. Thanks for being with us. We begin this hour with a story that's shaping up to be nothing short of a national tragedy. An historic superstorm that covers a thousand miles and impacts millions of lives. At least 16 people are dead and floodwaters are washing across the most populated corridor in the United States. The region largely paralyzed this morning. Airports, trains, bridges shut down. In New York, the head of the century-old subway system says it has never faced this kind of devastation. We'll join a news conference from New York's mayor at any moment now. In the flooded borough of Queens, at least 50 homes continue to burn. Electrical fires and power outages are only adding to the misery in the eastern United States. To give you an idea of just how massive Sandy still is, fierce winds are blowing in from Canada all the way to Georgia. This morning, some seven million homes and businesses are without power and heat. Sandy is also whipping up huge amounts of snow from Maryland to Tennessee and West Virginia, a blizzard could dump three feet of rare October snow. CNN's crews are scrambling to bring you all the latest information on this epic disaster that's continuing to unfold. Our reporters are at some of the worst points of the superstorm and breaking down the details on how all Americans could feel Sandy's impact. Right now, we're following rescues and evacuations under way across much of the region. In northern New Jersey there's been a breach in a berm and several communities are now flooded. One police chief says there's up to five feet of water in the streets of Moonachie and Little Ferry. And rescues are also taking place in Carlstadt. CNN's Maggie Lake is on the scene. She'll join us once she has the latest actually she's having trouble getting to the scene because the roadways are so bad. When she arrives on the scene, she'll bring us much more information. Sandy's trail of devastation goes beyond flooding. A fire has destroyed at least 50 homes in the Breezy Point neighborhood of Queens, New York. CNN's Deborah Feyerick is covering that part of the story. Good morning, Deb.
[Deborah Feyerick, Cnn National Correspondent:] Well, good morning. We want to tell you, the damage out here is extraordinary. Some 50 homes, more than 50 homes, burned to the ground over night. Over on this side of the bay, homes, missing their faces, the faces just sheared off. This gentleman and his family, they were here overnight. And I want to this is Steve and his wife and his daughter. First of all, tell us, you stayed overnight. What was it like?
[Unidentified Male:] There was nothing you could do. There was water surrounding the house.
[Feyerick:] Why did you decide why did you decide to stick it out?
[Unidentified Male:] Well, I was actually helping out the community. I'm a volunteer firefighter, and trying to give a helping hand. And we couldn't get out. We got trapped. Even you know, can't even help anybody. I couldn't help myself.
[Feyerick:] Were there moments where you thought this is it, we're not going to make it out?
[Unidentified Male:] Absolutely. Absolutely.
[Feyerick:] I mean you are clearly shaken by this. The waves, the water, as
[Unidentified Female:] Yes. Water came inside the house. Came into the basement first and then uncontrollably it started to come up to the first floor. We went up to the second floor. I was hoping maybe it would stop. And it eventually did. And then looking out the window, we saw the fires and we couldn't tell if the fire was 100 yards or a mile away. It's just so bright. I couldn't tell I couldn't tell where it was. We thought we were going to have to go jump in the water. It was terrible.
[Feyerick:] You were able to pack up your car. When did you realize you had a window to get out?
[Unidentified Male:] Well, I put the car on higher ground the day before, obviously. And not until just now. We realized that the car started and hundreds if not thousands of cars over here that probably not starting. They were under water. Houses are destroyed. As you say yourself, there's over 50 houses have burned down. So it's unbelievable. It's like a war zone.
[Feyerick:] You're going to go to Brooklyn now and you're going to try to figure out
[Unidentified Male:] Yes, we're going to stay with some friends and family and see what we can do.
[Feyerick:] What is the hardest what is the hardest thing for you right now, you and your family?
[Unidentified Male:] Well, leaving our home. But, I'll be honest you know, just getting out here at this point, there's nothing here. You know, a home can always be rebuilt, we only have our lives and we're safe.
[Feyerick:] All right. Steve, thank you very much. All right. Take care. Thanks for stopping for us. And so you can you can see just how shaken people are. There were a couple of people who they wanted to ride out the storm. And we asked them why, and they said, well, they were going to pump out their basement, they could stay ahead of the water. But what ended up happening is that once the water came in, it came so fast and it was so powerful that it knocked out all electricity so the generators couldn't work. And by that point, that was sort of the moment when they realized that there was going to be no way out. We were trying to get down to those homes, 50 homes that were burned to the ground. Take a look. This is just some of the devastation here. We're seeing just patios that were ripped up. Furniture everywhere. There are trees that have jammed themselves under cars. And this is all we're seeing. The water, we were walking down in places knee-high, just boulevard or street after street after street. Because the homes are so close to one another. Right now, a lot of these people, they say, look, we got out with our lives but this is certainly something that they are not going to forget, not for a very, very long time Carol.
[Costello:] Deb, I want to talk a little about the fires. Because these fires have been burning out of control for much of the morning. Why are the firefighters having so many problems putting these flames out?
[Feyerick:] Yes. And Carol, I'm hearing bits and pieces of your question. But let me tell you what I do know about these fires. You know, the homes are wooden. They're very, very old. What we understand happen in some cases, wires came down, ignited some fires. But also once the homes flooded, what we're hearing is that the electrical boxes people left without turning them off. So once those got under water, you had sort of surges and there were fires. And again, these are what we're being told about people who are riding this out. There were 200 firefighters. This became a six-alarm blaze. One man described it like the World War II, the blitz, just truck after truck, and the flames so huge and so big. Imagine more than 50 homes that have completely burned to the ground. So an area that really got hit hard. And ironically, I mean, you can feel right now the wind that's coming. I'll tell you, 40 minutes ago, Carol, we saw the most magnificent rainbow that just physically framed this area. So maybe it's a sign.
[Costello:] Wow.
[Feyerick:] Who knows. But anyway, we'll keep you updated from here Carol.
[Costello:] I hope it's a sign. Thanks for leaving us with a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel. Deb Feyerick reporting live in Queens for us this morning. We want to head back to New Jersey, to Moonachie, because there's been some sort of breakage in a dam, a levee or a berm. We've heard all three terms. Joining us right now is Jeanne Baratta. She's the chief of staff at Bergen County. And Jeanne, first of all tell us exactly what broke in New Jersey.
[Jeanne Baratta, Chief Of Staff, Bergen County:] Well, at this time we're really not sure what broke, whether it was a problem with a levee or if it was just because of the surge of the tide that was all over New Jersey and New York that could have just pushed that water over that levee in Moonachie. And what we're seeing now are the three towns that have just been devastated. The town of Moonachie, the town of Little Ferry and the town of Carlstadt. And some of the other towns but not so much. Within a half an hour, and this happened after midnight last night, a surge of water rushed into those towns. The town of Moonachie, every single street in Moonachie was covered with five to seven to eight feet of water. It's just devastating for them.
[Costello:] We also heard word of people on top of their homes on roofs, waiting to get rescued.
[Baratta:] Yes. We've got an area of Moonachie that houses a trailer park. We've had people going up to their second floor of their two- family homes. But yes, we have people on the roofs and we were doing water rescues. We've been doing them since 2:30 this morning and we continue to do it. We're lucky, we've got resources from the state. We've got the National Guard here, we have the state police. We have our Bergen County Police Department, Sheriff's Department and all the municipalities in Bergen County have been giving their assets, boats. We need large trucks that can go through that high water. And everybody should just comes together. And we're all praying for the people in those towns.
[Costello:] It's great to hear. You know, Americans draw together in times of need. I love that about this country. The cold must complicate this for rescue workers, though, because they're already wet. It's sort of still drizzling. Lots of water. I just can't imagine how miserable they must be.
[Baratta:] You know what? The rescue workers, they're phenomenal. I mean they're pulling together. We've got another group coming in from Virginia that's going to take over later this afternoon. They're working for a common goal. These are our neighbors. And we're working to get them
[Costello:] Jeanne, we're losing you. I think we lost the connection. Jeanne, can you still hear me? OK. She's gone. But you heard what's going on in Moonachie, and Little Ferry and Carlstadt in New Jersey. A breach in a levee maybe. But something called a huge caused a huge surge of water. Every street in the town of Moonachie flooded this morning. And as you heard Jeanne Baratta, the chief of staff in Bergen County, telling you, there were rescue workers coming in to Virginia to help. Everybody is drawn together. And so far we've heard of no loss of life. And that's the best news about that area this morning. Massive flooding and a 90 percent power loss at NYU Medical Center sent staff members and police rushing to evacuate more than 200 patients early this morning. That picture is so touching. Nurses had to help babies from the ICU, the intensive care unit, breathe as they carried them down the stairs because the elevators went out. They had no electricity. In some places flashlights were the only lights hospital workers had to get all of those incredibly sick people out. They're trying to effort someone from the hospital to tell me if things are up and running. If we get someone on the line, of course, we'll share the information with you. It was a scary night along the Jersey shore. Now with the morning light we're able to see the first signs of destruction. Rob Marciano is in Asbury Park. What do things look like this morning, Rob?
[Rob Marciano, Ams Meteorologist:] Well, Carol, it's hard to believe that we just hit high tide and the water is as far back as it is compared to where it was last night. There you see
[Costello:] I think you're right about that. Rob Marciano, reporting live from Asbury Park, New Jersey, this morning. Millions of people are hoping for some sunshine. Please make the sun come out. I think they're going to have to wait for a while. Alexandra Steele is tracking the superstorm. Deb Feyerick said she saw a rainbow. We're hoping that means good things?
[Alexandra Steele, Ams Meteorologist:] That does. Well, things are only on the improve. You know, we've seen the devastation of the superstorm, Carol. The flood and the fires. Meteorologically the most important thing now, where is this going. Right? So there's two numbers up here. They're both going down. One is a good thing and the other is not. Right now it's moving west- northwest at 15 miles per hour. That is coming down. And that is not a good thing. This storm expected to weaken but is expected to slow down. The winds now maximum sustained winds at 65. So still potent, no doubt. But those winds are coming down because it will weaken. Center of circulation right now, you can barely see it right there, it's about 90 miles west of Philadelphia. So where is this going? Again, right now it's moving at 15 miles per hour. That expectation will flow. Here it is. Can you believe the energy of this superstorm? Eastern portions of it, of course, the hurricane, the tropical elements, nine inches of rain in Delaware. Western portions, that cold portion, more of a nor'easter, nine inches of snow at least in West Virginia, and expecting potentially another foot. There's the rain and the snow that is still happening. Here is the movement. So right now you can see Tuesday morning, here's the center of low pressure. By tonight we're going to see it move and be in only western New York. And then by tomorrow, it moves from western Pennsylvania just you can see just west of New York around Toronto. So very slow to move. So even by Wednesday and into Thursday, New York and Washington have 25 and 35-mile-per-hour wind gusts. So still a potent storm. So the difficulty with this destruction, trying to clean up. This hurricane did not come in and go with certainly not a one-day quick hitter. We will still be doling with it as we head from Thursday and even into Friday. Gusts like this in the 90s, from Islip to Sandy Hook, certainly, Carol, are not the picture anymore. But still, 50s and 60s today and then dropping, maybe 10 to 15 miles per hour as we head to the next few days. We're talking Friday still, 35-mile-per-hour wind gusts from Washington to New York City.
[Costelo:] It's a whole lot of misery for a long time.
[Steele:] Yes. By the weekend, finally, it will be in Canada and really clearing up.
[Costello:] Thank goodness. But poor Canada.
[Steele:] O Canada.
[Costello:] O Canada. Thank you, Alexandra. You heard Alexandra mentioned the snowfall in West Virginia. Well, we're going to take you to West Virginia. You won't believe it.