Northeast states prepare for Hurricane Sandy’s impact

Families of UNC students on Monday braced for Hurricane Sandy’s impact and a torrent of rain, snow and wind all along the East Coast.

For UNC senior Justin Sapir’s family in Long Valley, N.J., safety precautions included filling their bathtubs with a supply of water in case their power went out due to the hurricane-force winds.

Sapir’s relatives who live in Atlantic City had already evacuated Monday.

“My uncle has to evacuate. He’s going to my (other) uncle’s house in Philadelphia,” he said.

The storm made landfall in the Northeast Monday night. But according to the National Weather Service, there were tropical storm warnings in effect in the eastern part of North Carolina.

The organization also reported that Sandy is expected to bring at least a foot of snow to western North Carolina in addition to the 3 to 6 inches of rain that are expected in the northeastern part of the state.

N.C. Gov. Bev Perdue has declared a state of emergency for 24 of the state’s western counties so that they can receive national assistance.

“People need to continue to take this storm seriously as we face flooding in the east and significant winter weather in the west,” Perdue said.

Political observers remarked that Sandy might also adversely affect early voting.

James Stimson, a UNC political science professor, said in an email that, though the storm could affect the number of people that vote early, the effects will be less severe because early voting takes place over multiple days.

“Early voting should reduce the effects, if any, since you don’t have to vote on a particular day as is the case with Election Day voting,” he said.

According to the N.C. Board of Elections, several early voting sites were shut down on the eastern coast of North Carolina this past weekend due to severe weather concerns.

Stimson said the storm is likely to impact Democratic candidates more than Republicans.

“Anything that reduces turnout has the potential to be harmful to Democrats because the social and economic composition of Democratic voters includes more sporadic voters who are likely to not vote when conditions are unfavorable,” he said.

But Stimson noted that the states in Sandy’s path, including Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey, are solidly Democratic-leaning.

Stimson added that President Barack Obama’s handling of the crisis has the potential to negatively affect his campaign if relief efforts are not handled in a way appreciated by voters.

“If he did badly, that could add the last minute issue that Romney needs,” he added.

Contact the desk editor at state@dailytarheel.com.