Nicknamed “Frankenstorm,” Hurricane Sandy is making a direct hit on the United States second largest gambling destination, with mandatory evacuations being ordered for Atlantic City’s casinos. The boardwalk is like a ghost town now as flooding and ounding waves have already broken up sections of the Atlantic City boardwalk, according to photos posted to social media. Once the winds get hurricane strength, people are more and more concerned about electrical issues, power outages and of course, flying debris and even more flooding.
Willie Glass, Atlantic City’s public safety director, told the Associated Press that currently, “most of the city is under water.”
“We have to play the hand we’ve been dealt and unfortunately this is a bad hand,” Mayor Lorenzo Langford told the Associated Press on Sunday.
All Atlantic City casinos were shuttered by Sunday afternoon with the storm expected to ravage the coastal city today and tomorrow.
“Reports from meteorologists … are calling for a storm worse than 1962, when the bay met the ocean,” city Office of Emergency Management Director Tom Foley said. “That was 8.5 feet. (Now) we’re talking about close `10 feet above mean low water. That’s a lot of water. We’ve never dealt with that in the city of Atlantic City, and I know it’s going to be close to that.”
However, some gambling fiends were a little upset when they were told they’d have to evacuate – as they think the perfect place to be to ride out a storm is to be sidled up at a poker table while a woman wearing next to nothing brings you drinks. And alas – the mandatory closures will cost the casinos millions.
Gusts of between 80 to 85 mph are expected for late Monday afternoon, along with heavy rain and pounding surf with up to 8 inches of rain expected today in southern New Jersey.
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