Hurricane Sandy Threatening Millions On East Coast

Hurricane Sandy is barreling toward the mid-Atlantic states shutting down cities all along the coast.

The enormous storm has sustained 90 mile an hour winds and even stronger gusts. More than 60 million residents will be impacted by the super storm.

The National Hurricane Center says the massive storm has turned to the left and is expected to make landfall sometime Monday night or early Tuesday morning around Delaware Bay and the Jersey shore.

Many workers planned to stay home as transit systems shut down under the threat of flooding that could inundate tracks and tunnels. Schools and airports closed, and authorities warned that the time for evacuation was running out or already past.

10/29/2012 Related Story: Oklahomans Tweet Their Experiences In Path Of Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy grounded thousands of flights in the U.S. northeast Monday and upended travel plans across the globe, stranding passengers from Hong Kong to Europe. The massive storm threatens to bring a near halt to air travel for at least two days in a key region for both domestic and international flights.

Major carriers such as American Airlines, United and Delta canceled all flights into and out of three area airports in New York, the nation's busiest airspace.

According to the flight-tracking service FlightAware, nearly 7,500 flights had been canceled for Monday and Tuesday, almost all related to the storm.

The center of the wide storm was positioned to come ashore Monday night in New Jersey. Five Green Country volunteers flew out Sunday morning, getting in place ahead of the storm so they can respond right away.

Right now they're getting hundreds of Emergency Response Vehicles in place for disaster response and mass feeding.

They're also setting up shelters ahead of the storm for the millions of people in the path of the Sandy.

Typically these teams work 12-14 hour days and could be there for two to three weeks.

10/28/2012 Related Story: Local Red Cross Disaster Relief Team Flies East To Meet Hurricane 

Public Service Company of Oklahoma sent about 70 people to help in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. 

PSO spokesperson Stan Whiteford said 70 workers from the Tulsa and McAlester area left Sunday to help out. They spent last night in Tennessee on the way to be stationed in West Virginia. PSO will assist Appalachian Power Company which serves customers in Virginia and West Virginia, Whiteford said.

The utility says linemen, tree personnel and support staff from a number of states have answered the call for assistance in advance of Hurricane Sandy.

10/27/2012 Related Story: Public Service Company Of Oklahoma To Send 40 Workers To Baltimore

Hurricane Sandy could knock out power to several states for days - even weeks - and that could have an immense impact on next week's Presidential Election. 

Prices At The Pump

We've been seeing gas below $3 a gallon, but those could go up if the storm shuts down oil refineries along the East Coast. There are a number of oil refineries in the path of this super storm, so if any of those facilities are disrupted we could see an increase of the prices at the pump.

Nearly 7 percent of the gasoline used in the United States is produced on the East Coast. That doesn't sound like a lot, but anytime a refinery in the U.S. has a disruption, we usually see a bump up in the price of gas we pay.

Another factor in a potential increase could be disruption to tanker traffic in the oil shipping channels around the East Coast.

Right now, according to GasBuddy.com, the average we're paying for a gallon of gas in Oklahoma is $3.17.

Nationally that average is $3.55.

Lately we've seen prices on the decline because distributors have switched to a winter-blend of gasoline that's cheaper. There's also less traffic at this time of the year, so prices typically fall simply due to supply-and-demand.