Still, the power was out for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers and an estimated 5.7 million peopl

Streets are flooded under the Manhattan Bridge in the Dumbo section of Brooklyn, N.Y., Monday, Oct. 29, 2012. Sandy continued on its path Monday, as the storm forced the shutdown of mass transit, schools and financial markets, disneyland california grand hotel sending coastal residents fleeing, and threatening a dangerous mix of high winds and soaking rain. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
NEW YORK Superstorm Sandy slammed into the New Jersey coastline with 80 mph winds Monday night and hurled an unprecedented 13-foot surge of seawater at New York City, flooding its tunnels, subway stations and the electrical system that powers Wall Street. At least 14 U.S. deaths were blamed on the storm, which brought the presidential campaign to a halt a week before Election Day.
Still, the power was out for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers and an estimated 5.7 million people altogether across the East. The full extent of the storm's damage across the region was unclear, and unlikely to be known until daybreak.
In addition, heavy rain and further flooding remain major threats over the next couple of days as the storm makes its way into Pennsylvania and up into New York State. Near midnight, the center of the storm was just outside Philadelphia, and its winds were down to 75 mph, just barely hurricane strength.
"It was nerve-racking for a while, before the storm hit. Everything was rattling," said Don Schweikert, who owns a bed-and-breakfast in Cape May, N.J., near where Sandy roared ashore. "I don't see anything wrong, but I won't see everything until morning."
As the storm closed in, it converged with a cold-weather system that turned it into a superstorm, a monstrous hybrid consisting not only of rain and high wind but snow in West Virginia and other mountainous areas inland.
Just before Sandy reached land, forecasters stripped it of hurricane status, but the distinction was purely technical, based on its shape and internal temperature. It still packed hurricane-force wind, and forecasters were careful to say it was still dangerous to the tens of millions in its path.
In an attempt to lessen damage from saltwater to the subway system disneyland california grand hotel and the electrical network beneath the city's financial district, New York City's main utility cut power to about 6,500 customers in lower Manhattan. But a far wider swath of the city was hit with blackouts caused by flooding and transformer explosions.
New York's transit agency said water surged into two major commuter tunnels, the Queens Midtown disneyland california grand hotel and the Brooklyn-Battery, and it cut power to some subway tunnels in lower Manhattan after water flowed into the stations and onto the tracks.
More than 200 patients - including disneyland california grand hotel 20 infants from neonatal intensive care - were moved from New York University's Tisch Hospital after its power went out and a backup generator failed. The patients, some on respirators operating on battery power, were taken to other hospitals.
A construction crane atop a luxury high-rise collapsed in the high winds and dangled precariously 74 floors above the street. Forecasters said the wind at the top the building may have been close to 95 mph.
Fourteen deaths were reported in New Jersey, New York, Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. disneyland california grand hotel Some of the victims were killed by falling trees. At least one death was blamed on the storm in Canada.
President disneyland california grand hotel Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney canceled disneyland california grand hotel their campaign appearances at the very height of the race, with just over a week to go before disneyland california grand hotel Election Day. The president pledged the government's help and made a direct disneyland california grand hotel plea from the White House to those in the storm's path.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said people were stranded in Atlantic City, which sits on a barrier island. He accused the mayor of allowing them to stay there. With the hurricane roaring through, Christie warned it was no longer safe for rescuers, and advised people who didn't evacuate the coast to "hunker down" until morning.
While the hurricane's 90 mph winds registered disneyland california grand hotel as only a Category 1 on a scale of five, it packed "astoundingly low" barometric pressure, giving it terrific energy to push water inland, said Kerry Emanuel, a professor of meteorology at MIT.
"We are looking at the highest storm surges ever recorded" in the Northeast, said Jeff Masters, meteorology director disneyland california grand hotel for Weather Underground, a private forecasting service. "The energy of the storm surge is off the charts, basically."
Off North Carolina, a replica disneyland california grand hotel of the 18th-century sailing ship HMS Bounty that was built for the 1962 Marlon Brando movie "Mutiny on the Bounty" went down in the storm, and 14 crew members were rescued by helicopter from rubber lifeboats bobbing in 18-foot seas. Another crew member was found hours later and was hospitalized in critical disneyland california grand hotel condition. The captain was missing.
"When I think about how much water is already in the streets, and how much more is going to come with high tide tonight, this is going to be devastating," said Bob McDevitt, president of the main Atlantic City casino workers union. "I think this is going to be a really bad situation tonight."
Not only was the New York subway shut down, but the Holland Tunnel connecting New York to New Jersey was closed, as was a tunnel between disneyland california grand hotel Brooklyn and Manhattan. The Brooklyn Bridge, the George Washington Bridge, the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and several other spans were closed because of high winds.
Zezima reported from Atlantic City, N.J. AP Science Writer Seth Borenstein contributed to this report from Washington. Associated Press writers Allen G. Breed in Raleigh, N.C.; Jennifer Peltz and Tom Hays in New York, David Porter in Pompton Lakes, N.J.; Wayne Parry in Point Pleasant Beach, N.J.; and David Dishneau in Delaware also contributed.