world trade center. also the home currently to a representative in congress as well. >> take a look at the video. it is apocalyptic, the scenes. in all, 111 homes all burned. they don't know the cause just yet. that is look a movie scene out of there. out of all the horrible scenes we are going to see from the aftermath. the fire in queens, that neighborhood, i find that particularly heartbreaking. god bless the folks out there. an entire community just wiped out. the firefighters to a certain extent were helpless against it. just unbelievable. unbelievable. >> the cruel irony, the fire fighters, majority of firefighters that live there. yet a blaze they could do nothing about. >> so sad. well, to lighten it up here with great story about a quite an arrival during the storm. >> little liam schleppy couldn't wait to get life going monday. his mom christine started having serious contractions just as they lost power. after two ambulance ride they arrived, not at a hospital but at a church gym. >> sure they were praying. where christine gave birth. the help of doctors who never delivered a child before. and with no anesthesia. 5 pound, 2 ounce, liam, mom and dad all doing well. he is a beautiful little baby. >> welcome to the world, kid. >> our coverage of the aftermath of hurricane sandy continues after the break. up next we'll take you to communities where families lost everything in an instant, and first responders frantically rushed those people to safety. ♪ >> announcer: "world news now" weather brought to you by consumer cellular. >> announcer: "world news now" weather brought to you by consumer cellular. 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rescue operation began after sandy's storm surge swamped new jersey. >> it happened so fast. within 15 minutes we had ten feet of water. >> reporter: stunned residents like vincent grabbed whatever they could as the waters rose. >> there's nothing there no more. nothing. you can't salvage anything. >> reporter: new jersey took the brunt of sandy's wrath, the coast especially hit hard. these images from the town of seaside heights. neighborhoods consumed by sand and water. down the shore, look at this. the community of seabright before sandy. and seabright today just buried. in atlantic city the iconic boardwalk now in ruins. the recovery in the garden state just beginning. but saving lives was the top priority. >> she can't walk. thoughts are she's in good spirits, she's not injured, and we're just waiting to get her to her daughter and get her to an evacuation center. >> reporter: first responders also racing to save lives in new york. boats navigating the swamped streets of staten island across the harbor. terrified 3-year-old haley romby lifted into the arms of safety. so the rescues continue. >> guys, you can just put them on the boat! >> reporter: sandy may have taken away these people's home, but she couldn't take away what they cherished the most. rescue crews are expected to continue working through the night to make sure people stranded in their home are able to got to safety. most people say they thought they were prepared for the storm. one family tells me they moved all of their valuables, their belongings up, four feet off the ground inside their home. the problem is, they got five feet of water inside their home. alex perez, abc news, little ferry, new jersey. >> announcer: "world news no welcome back. president obama will be in new jersey touring the storm damage with governor christie. welcome back. president obama will be in new jersey touring the storm damage with governor christie. >> the election is less than a week away. and sandy has blown both candidates off course. here is jonathan karl. >> reporter: mitt romney transformed the planned ohio rally into a bid to support relief efforts. >> we won't be able to solve all the problems with our efforts this morning. one of the things i learned in life is you make the difference you can. >> reporter: it has all the trappings of a traditional campaign event, stage, big american flag, campaign music, lots of romney supporters. but you also have over here canned goods and supplies that people have brought for victims of the storm. the storm put romney in a bind. while the president can lead relief efforts -- >> this is something heartbreaking for the nation. >> reporter: there's not much for romney to do beyond encouraging supporters to pitch in. with fema working overtime, democrats are hammering him for what he said at a debate when asked if some of fema's responsibilities should be turned over to the states. >> absolutely. any time you have an occasion to take something from the federal government and send it back to the states, that's the right direction. and if you can go even further and send it back to the private sector, that's even better. >> reporter: romney wouldn't answer questions about that. >> governor, would you eliminate fema if you were president? >> reporter: with canceled events, the campaign continues. bill clinton led a rally in indianapolis that appeared entirely political. with a race this close, not even a storm of the century can bring the campaign to a halt. jonathan karl, abc news, kettering, ohio. cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. so consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, they pick up some of what medicare doesn't pay. and save you up to thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs. call today to request a free decision guide to help you better understand what medicare 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winter. >> reporter: western maryland remains buried in snow. up to 2 feet in some areas. one of eight states walloped with blizzard conditions when sandy roared through. in west virginia even those sent out to rescue others had to be rescued. and at the snowshoe mountain resort, snow drifted into piles three feet high, whipped by 60-mile-an-hour winds. truckers and travelers were forced to wait out the blizzard when a major highway from maryland to west virginia was shut down for nearly 50 miles. when we caught up with kevin, he had been stranded for 15 hours. >> been here since what, 8:00. >> reporter: in maryland, road crews struggled to open the roads. >> chain saw. >> reporter: it took mark wells five hours to hack through 50 to 60 trees jet to get to work. >> it was pretty treacherous. the trees were falling behind me as fast as i was cutting them out in front of me. >> reporter: wells had no sleep and there are more roads to clear. the problem isn't just the depth of the snow -- it is deep. it's the weight. this is a very heavy, wet snow. you can see the branches of the trees. they just can't stand up to it. all of those falling trees brought down power lines. like everyone here, the myers have no electricity. >> i have seen a lot of snow up here. not from the hurricane. >> reporter: it is not over yet. blizzard warnings remain. lisa stark, abc new, grandville, maryland. >> the storm was amazing. you think about it. hurricane wrapped in a nor'easter wrapped in a blizzard. it was everything. the most all-encompassing system. most have ever witnessed. beyond the flooding and rain here. you had feet of snow. incredible. some places up to 26 inches of snow. >> my family back in michigan. columbus, ohio, got drilled with snow as well. lake michigan expecting the highest waves on record. around 22 feet high. >> that was the thing about the storm, the sheer size of it. 1,000 miles from cloud to cloud. in addition to being, at the center, category 3. don't let category 1 fool you. center terms of pressure. cat 3. same size as katrina. size of it cloud to cloud, hard to escape its grip for most of the country. just an amazing system. ñsñs how far will people go to relieve their sore throat? try these. new cepacol sensations cools instantly, and has an active ingredient that stays with you long after the lozenge is gone. not just a sensation, sensational relief. this morning on "world news now" -- after the perfect storm. this morning on "world news now" -- after the perfect storm. >> for more than 8 million people struggling in the cold and dark, life as they know it is turned upside down, but they will recover. for at least 50 people, hurricane sandy proved deadly. >> that nature is more powerful than we are. >> after a devastating blow from nature, new york city is already on the rebound. its mass transit and airports, it stores and stock exchanges coming back to life. its neighbor, new jersey, still in deep pain. >> i have met some folks there that obviously now have no place to live at the moment, and are extraordinarily emotional. and what they wanted more than anything else was just, you know, to see me and to get a hug. >> a shore spot called fun town is now a mangled ghost town. haunting images on this halloween. in the face of the worst storm many people will ever see, some of the best of human nature, the bravery, the generosity, the determination to rebuild is on full display. it is wednesday, october 31st. >> announcer: from abc news, this is "world news now." and good wednesday morning, everyone. i'm paula faris. kind of a somber mood to this halloween. >> absolutely. feels a little strange, a little surreal this morning. good morning, everybody. i'm rob nelson. the impact and images from this storm will not soon be forgotten. >> so much has been lost and the clean-up it is just beginning. for many the grief will be lasting. >> but communities are proving as powerful as mother nature helping one another move into the future one determined step at a time. and so we begin this wednesday morning, a morning in which two of the three major airports sevening new york city are reopening, though, with limited service. >> the one not opening, la guardia was seen from above by abc's juju chang, it was part of a long helicopter tour she took yesterday. >> what's going on? >> it's closed! you have to go to another route! >> reporter: it took as much of the day navigating through streets made treacherous by sandy's fury. >> oh, my gosh. we just got hit by a wave. >> reporter: we managed to rendezvous with a coast guard at a shuttered airport in new jersey. for a harrowing bird's eye view of this wounded city. >> look at this neighborhood right here. oh, man. >> it's devastated. >> the building is gone entirely. >> reporter: their mission, to get a more accurate picture of sandy's impact. >> just more flooding down here on the left side. >> reporter: new york's rivers surged above the banks of lower manhattan with a record 13-foot wall of water. you could see the damage everywhere. the city's vital infrastructure, its underground subways crippled. the system that carries 5 million riders every day, still a deluge tunnel of darkness. authorities say it will take days to pump the water out of 46 miles of flooded track. largely because of that, the city is paralyzed for now. schools, restaurants, and many businesses remain closed. with subways shut down, the only way on and off this island are its bridges and tunnels, which are slowly beginning to reopen. >> open for business. >> oh, my goodness. that is amazing. >> reporter: but flying out of this city is easier said than done. >> looks like la guardia is sinking into the ocean. >> reporter: that's laguardia down there. it normally handles a thousand flights a day. now a modern-day atlantis. >> it looks like a river. >> it does. i couldn't see it at first. >> reporter: it doesn't look like a land mass. it looks like a lake or a pond. >> as we fly around the lower tip of manhattan. even new york's waterways are scarred. >> a lot of oil or something right down there. by pier 17. >> reporter: every one of the skyscrapers are without power. they're just dark. there is no street lights. there is no stop lights. in fact, the only lights are the headlights of the comed trucks frantically trying to restore power. as they work through the night, which may be fitting for a city that never sleeps. i'm juju chang in manhattan. >> what a view on the destruction. oh, amazing piece. president obama visits new jersey later today to see the damage firsthand. the state's famed jersey shore took a direct hit as sandy roared ashore. >> powerful winds and ocean surge knocked houses off their foundations, demolished boardwalks, and wrecked amusement rides. viewing the damage was obviously an emotional moment for the state's usually brash governor. >> as a kid who was born and raised in this state and who spent a lot of time over my life, both my childhood and my adult life at the jersey shore. we'll rebuild it. no question in my mind, we'll rebuild it. but for those of us who are my age, it won't be the same. it'll be different because many of the iconic things that made it what it was are now gone and washed into the ocean. >> more than half of the state is without power, and now residents are being warned that leaking fuel and standing water could spark an explosion. as if the flooding wasn't enough, now they're worrying about a gas explosion. >> you could really hear the emotion in governor krchristie' voice. you can feel that, the sense of loss so clear. up the coast there are new questions this morning about a power failure at one of new york's prestigious hospitals. hundreds of patients had to be evacuated from nyu medical center. >> now a trustee says the hospital board, rather, knew the generators were out of date and at risk before the storm hit. abc's david muir was at the hospital as the evacuation began. >> reporter: when we arrived, all you could see was the outline of the hospital against a darkened sky. a lone flashlight in one of the hospital rooms there, as doctors and nurses rushed from patient to patient. out front, ambulances, images from my iphone as we approached the hospital. just one of the nearly 300 patients who were one by one brought out and taken to safety. from the sky, ambulances lined up around the block from all over the city. and we're learning more about the moment the lights went out, the moment the critical machines, the respirators stopped. this young doctor right there. >> the patients on ventilators. >> the babies. >> babies, yeah. >> reporter: their first concern, babies in intensive care. 20 of them. this nurse clutching a newborn wrapped in a blanket holding one of those plastic bags. she was doing the work of the respirators herself. in fact, all the nurses in the unit were doing what's called bagging the air. literally squeezing bags of air into the tiny little lungs. cradling the babies and carrying them nine floors down. another baby rushed out, dwarfed by the size of the gurney. once outside, the bag replaced with oxygen brought in by paramedics. an entire team surrounding one baby. in fact, a hospital source telling me that's what they did moment the power was cut off. dividing into teams, surrounding one patient at time, carefully bringing them down a darkened stairwell, carrying them on plastic sleds rushed in by tl paramedics. flashlights all they had to see their way. >> there is literally like a bunch of people who would go with each patient carry them down the stairs physically. >> reporter: they were pulled out on the sled, sliding along the hospital floor. one by one we watched. still evacuating long after the sun came up. it is 10:00 a.m. in the morning, you can see there is still a line of ambulances all the way up the street here. this operation has been going on for 12 hours now. you can see them lining up still at the front entrance of the hospital here as they carefully bring the patients down. >> 15 hours after the evacuations began they were done. and the president had learned of the heroic nurses and those newborns. >> during the darkness of the storm, i think we also saw what's brightest in america, nurses at nyu hospital carrying fragile newborns to safety. >> reporter: it's really remarkable what the nurses and doctors did with all the machines down. they started pumping air into the tiny lungs of the newborns on their own when the res straighters failed, keeping the babies alive. we know six area hospitals here in new york took every one of the patients from this hospital, four of the patients who left here were women in labor and we have learned that at least two of them have now given birth. david muir, abc news, new york. >> unbelievable. >> wow. heartbreaking story -- in breezy point, queens, they were bracing for water, but what they got was a fire so fierce more than 100 homes burned to the ground. >> i believe you described it as apocalypt apocalyptic, rob. sandy forced the flames through the neighborhood like a blow torch gl