Mega-storm Sandy makes landfall in New Jersey

ATLANTIC CITY: Mega-storm Sandy made landfall along the coast of New Jersey late Monday, bringing hurricane-force winds and heavy rains to a wide swath of the US East Coast, officials said.

Maximum sustained winds weakened on landfall to 80 miles (130 kilometers) per hour but were still hurricane-strength, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said.

The eye of the storm passed over Atlantic City, briefly pausing a day of wild winds and horizontal rain.

The moment the eye passed, the storm began to ratchet up again with heavy rain and growing wind, and was expected to reach maximum strength.

On the beach beyond Atlantic City's boardwalk, tightly spaced ranks of waves swept high up the sand, swirling around a half dozen wooden beach bar cabins. The waves started to tear one of them out to sea.

"That beach bar was fun. Friday and Saturday nights, it was a fun place," said Justin Altomare, 31.

He was one of a handful of locals who refused the state governor's orders to evacuate or to respect a nighttime curfew ordered by Atlantic City's mayor.

A window in an upper floor of one of the huge casinos lining the seafront was blown out, sending large chunks of glass onto the boardwalk.

Many trees could be seen blown down or partially uprooted from the earlier part of the storm.

Residents said their biggest fear was flooding in the resort town, which has some 40,000 residents and millions of visitors annually.

The nearly deserted town is only a few feet above sea level and already in the early phase of the storm many intersections lay underwater. Water could be seen bubbling up through manhole covers across the town.

A New York man was killed late Monday, apparently by a fallen tree, as super-storm Sandy pummeled the US East Coast, causing widespread flooding in the city, the firefighters said.

The incident occurred in the New York borough of Queens. The victim was 30 years old, firefighters said. (AFP)