Hurricane Sandy Arriving Early, To Hit Jersey Shore in the Evening.

 ABC News

A surging Hurricane Sandy rushed towards the East Coast today and is now expected to crash ashore this evening, hours earlier than previously expected.
Sandy's forward motion has accelerated to 28 mph and could make landfall somewhere between Atlantic City and Cape May around 6 p.m. or 7 p.m., Dennis Feltgen, a spokesman from NOAA's National Hurricane Center, told ABC News.
Previous estimates were for it hit Atlantic City about midnight.
Although Sandy was still hours away, 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.
Atlantic City officials have implemented an emergency curfew from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. and a travel ban has been put in effect -- and the worse of the storm has yet to arrive, according Atlantic County spokeswoman Linda Gilmore.
"The city's basically flooded," said Willie Glass, public safety director, according to the Associated Press. "Most of the city is under water."
Cars in the streets have water past their tires and planks from the famed Atlantic City boardwalk have washed up into the street. Garage doors were crushed and torn, with the structures caving in on themselves. Large trees have fallen, traffic lights are out, phone lines are down and several water rescues have occurred, according to Gilmore. Tens of thousands of people have lost power and many more outages are expected. Last year, Hurricane Irene left 7 million homes without power in the same area Sandy is expected to batter with wind and rain.





 
  Ocean waves kick up near homes along Peggoty Beach in Scituate, Mass., Oct. 29, 2012