Hurricane Sandy in Pictures

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YOUR shots from Hurricane Sandy, the 'Frankinstorm' headed towards an East Coast near you soon. If you listen to the mainstream media this Frankinstorm is coming to get you this Halloween. The problem is to what extent no-one is quite sure, the scale and track of Sandy are quite unprecedented. A 1000 nautical mile wind-field will bring flooding and high wind damage to a vast swathe of the East Coast. It's a 'perfect storm' of wind and tide which is increasing in intensity as it bears down on the coast, currently traversing a narrow ridge of warm sea surface temperatures before transitioning extratropical with no let-up in intensity. Sadly Sandy has already achieved a much of her destructive handiwork, causing widespread devastation and contributing to the death of some 65 individuals in the Caribbean, 51 of those coming in Haiti. What this tells you is that Sandy is not instantly deadly, more that lack of preparation, resources, adequate shelter (and is the case of Haiti - deforestation) will bring a greater likelihood of fatalities. Undoubtedly there will be further damage, flooding and destruction and our thoughts go out to everyone affected. It may seem churlish to celebrate the destructive forces at work here but whilst feverish journos are live-blog the storm's landfall via Twitter, surfers are scurrying around the edges like busy bees attracted to vortices - searching out that kink of sand to harness Sandy for good. We'd advise keeping up to date with Sandy via the National Hurricane Centre HERE. Or our hurricane swell forecasts HERE. © 2013 Max Krumpholz