She's Here! Sandy Crashes into Jersey Shore Ferocious superstorm Sandy barrelled into the East Coast this evening, driving a record storm surge that flooded coastal areas from Delaware to Connecticut, and knocking out power to millions of people from New York City to Ohio. The center of the storm made landfall just south of Atlantic City, N.J., around 8 p.m., shortly after it had been downgraded from a hurricane to a post-tropical storm. But the lowering in status was no reflection of the power the storm still packed. It brought with it a record 13.88-foot storm surge at the southern tip of Manhattan, breaking the mark of 10.02 feet set in 1960's Hurricane Donna. Shortly after the storm surge began flooding into lower Manhattan, the lights started going off throughout that part of the city. By 11 p.m., some 250,000 customers were without power, as nearly a quarter of the borough was in the dark. With the high winds and pounding rains that lashed much of the eastern United States, there were blackouts from downed trees and flooding throughout the region. There were an estimated 2.5 million customers without power in the New York metropolitan area alone. And it was also a lethal storm. Two people were also reported dead in New Jersey and one in Connecticut. Sandy's forward motion accelerated throughout the day, as the storm took a left turn towards the East Coast. Hours before Sandy's arrival on land, power was being cut to New York City's financial district amd most of Atlantic City was already under several feet of water as waves crashed over the sea wall, spitting up chunks of the famed boardwalk. Power went out in much of lower Manhattan as water poured over the seawalls. Storm surge combined with the high tide, caused a breach the led to flooding on both the east and west sides of the island. High winds crippled a crane atop a skyscraper, leaving it dangling ominously above the city, tore branches from trees and ripped fixtures from skyscrapers, making walking the city's darkened streets like a scene from a video game. More than 2.5 million power outages had been reported along the East Coast, a figure that is expected to grow as Sandy thrashed her way inland. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie had harsh words for Atlantic City Mayor Lorenzo Langford who told residents they could shelter in place instead of moving inland. Sanday was packing top winds of 80 mph and waves are approaching 20 feet off the coast of Long Island and have exceeded 30 feet off the coast of the Carolinas, according to the National Hurricane Center. The Northeast has been paralyzed by the storm. The city's utility, Consolidated Edison, is starting to shut down power from Wall Street to the southern tip of Manhattan. Sandy Arrives at the Jersey Shore