Superstorm Sandy
Dark clouds loom over the Manhattan skyline on Monday, Oct. 29, 2012 in New York. The projected path of Hurricane Sandy put New York City and Long Is...
Dark clouds loom over the Manhattan skyline on Monday, Oct. 29, 2012 in New York. The projected path of Hurricane Sandy put New York City and Long Island in the danger zone for a huge surge of seawater made more fearsome by high tides and a full moon. Hurricane Sandy continued on its path Monday, forcing the shutdown of mass transit, schools and financial markets, sending coastal residents fleeing, and threatening a dangerous mix of high winds and soaking rain.� (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)
APTOPIX Superstorm Sandy
The Hudson River swells and rises over the banks of the Hoboken, N.J., waterfront as Hurricane Sandy approaches on Monday, Oct. 29, 2012. Hurricane S...
The Hudson River swells and rises over the banks of the Hoboken, N.J., waterfront as Hurricane Sandy approaches on Monday, Oct. 29, 2012. Hurricane Sandy continued on its path Monday, forcing the shutdown of mass transit, schools and financial markets, sending coastal residents fleeing, and threatening a dangerous mix of high winds and soaking rain.�(AP Photo/Charles Sykes)
Superstorm Sandy
The Hudson River swells and rises over its banks flooding the Lackawanna train station as Hurricane Sandy approaches, in Hoboken, NJ on Monday, Oct. ...
The Hudson River swells and rises over its banks flooding the Lackawanna train station as Hurricane Sandy approaches, in Hoboken, NJ on Monday, Oct. 29, 2012. Hurricane Sandy continued on its path Monday, as the storm forced the shutdown of mass transit, schools and financial markets, sending coastal residents fleeing, and threatening a dangerous mix of high winds and soaking rain. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes)
Superstorm Sandy
One World Trade Center, right, peeks through a light rain as water from the Hudson River creeps up on Pier A Park with the expected arrival of Hurric...
One World Trade Center, right, peeks through a light rain as water from the Hudson River creeps up on Pier A Park with the expected arrival of Hurricane Sandy in Hoboken, N.J., Monday, Oct. 29, 2012. Hurricane Sandy continued on its path Monday, as the storm forced the shutdown of mass transit, schools and financial markets, sending coastal residents fleeing, and threatening a dangerous mix of high winds and soaking rain. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
A massive Hurricane Sandy lashed the Eastern United States with relentless rains and severe wind gusts and was expected to become an epic superstorm when it finally makes landfall in New Jersey sometime early evening Monday and combines with two other weather systems.
Just the initial impact was severe: making rivers out of coastal roads, forcing those who waited too long to be rescued by boats or fearfully ride out what was to come. The nation's major financial markets shut down, schools and public transportation closed and city streets were abandoned as the storm moved over a region of 50 million people.
Here's a look at AP photos of the storm so far:
