Millions powerless as Sandy brings New York to its knees

33 Killed As Storm Lashes East Coast Chidanand Rajghatta TNN  Washington: A broken crane dangled atop a 75-storey high-rise, snapped like a twig by high winds. Storm waters swept through streets and rushed into some of the city's subways and tunnels. Power stations exploded and an elite hospital even lost its backup generators, forcing the evacuation of newborn babies and terminally ill seniors.      The epic storm that lashed eastern United States killed some 33 people (at last count) and left millions of others powerless (literally and metaphorically) and bereft.      But it was the plight of one of the world's greatest cities, iconic New York, which drew maximum attention. Home to much brio and bravura, the always-swaggering city took it in the gut, Hurricane Sandy bringing it to its knees with a sock that turned out to be milder than forecast.      Scenes of damage and destruction, amplified by social media and television repeats, coursed across the country and the world, bearing the unmistakable message—nothing, absolutely nothing, can stand up to Mother Nature's mysterious, and sometimes malevolent, moods.      Many areas, notably around Washington DC, dodged nature's bullet, but the New Jersey and New York area up north took the brunt of Sandy storm, which made landfall near the gambling mecca of Atlantic City, as if to express disapproval of human avarice and excess.      The famed boardwalk where tourists and tramps, gamblers and gambollers, walk side-by-side was ripped apart.  Cyclone Nilam to hit AP, TN today      Cyclone Nilam is expected to make a landfall between Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu and Nellore in Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday. Squally winds with speeds reaching 45-55kmph are expected to hit southern AP and the gusts could hit a speed of 80-90kmph off northern TN in the next 12 hours. P 11  A NATION INTERRUPTED      Trading at NYSE cancelled again on Tuesday, the first back-toback shutdown for weather since 1888      President Obama calls off 3rd straight day of campaigning, cancelling appearances in key battleground state Ohio. Romney going ahead with Ohio events Residents, including a child, are rescued from flood waters in Little Ferry, New Jersey