INTENSE

Sandy Wind Gusts Hit 115 mph

Obama says it’s serious.

Hurricane Sandy is intensifying as the storm bears down on the East Coast. The storm has sustained winds of 90mph and wind gusts of up to 115mph. Water levels are already more than five feet higher than normal tidal predictions in some areas and are expected to rise. Roughly 116,000 customers in seven states had lost power as of Monday afternoon. During a press conference, President Obama urged everyone to obey authorities, saying “If the public’s not following instructions, that makes it more dangerous for people.” He added that transportation will be down for a “long time” and to expect long power outages. “This is gonna take a long time for us to clean up,” he said.