Tracking Sandy day by day:
Oct. 22: Tropical Depression 18 forms over the southwestern Caribbean, about 515 kilometers south-southwest of Kingston, Jamaica. Six hours later, the U.S. National Hurricane Center says it has grown to tropical storm force and names it Sandy.
Oct. 23: Jamaica and Cuba begin making preparations for the strengthening storm.
Oct. 24: Sandy becomes a hurricane with winds of 130 km/h just before slamming into Jamaica west of the capital, Kingston, at about 3 p.m. EDT. The fast-moving storm crosses the island within five hours, killing one person, blowing off roofs and cutting power to half the country. Forecasters begin warning that Sandy could combine with two other weather fronts in the U.S. to create a "super storm."
Oct. 25: Sandy grows into a Category 2 hurricane with winds of 185 km/h and blasts across eastern Cuba in less than seven hours without losing force. Officials say 11 people are killed, 5,000 houses are at least partially collapsed and 30,000 lose their roofs. Crops are badly damaged. But the greatest damage is in nearby Haiti, hit by the storm's outer bands. Officials say at least 26 people die over two days, most in flooded rivers or collapsed houses. U.S. authorities at the Guantanamo Bay naval base are forced to suspend a hearing for a suspect in the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole. By early afternoon, the hurricane rolls into the Bahamas and begins to weaken as winds fall to 150 km/h.
Oct. 26: Sandy's center emerges from Bahamas after killing at least one person and causing widespread power outages. It weakens to winds of 120 km/h. A Puerto Rico man dies in a river swollen by the storm's rains. Forecasters say it is likely to hit the U.S. Eastern Seaboard as a tropical storm early Tuesday.
Oct. 27: Sandy follows an ominous path along the American east coast -- and threatens to become the first hurricane to deliver a direct hit on Delaware. Officials warn the megastorm could hit the mid-Atlantic states with devastating flooding and massive power outages that could last for days.At the Canadian Hurricane Centre in Halifax, forecasters are saying the effects of the storm will be felt in Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes -- with Ontario likely getting the biggest hit with 50 to 100 millimetres of rain.
Oct. 28: Authorities order mass evacuations and airlines cancel transatlantic flights as Sandy bears down on the U.S. east coast.
Oct. 29: Hurricane Sandy picks up speed and strength and is expected to hit the U.S. eastern seaboard early Monday evening, hours sooner than previously expected.
