Friday, November 02, 2012

NEW YORK -- Dr. Muhammad Al-Essa, Saudi Cultural Attaché in the US, said the embassy was coordinating with the consulate in New York to provide alternative housing for students from the Kingdom affected by Hurricane Sandy.

He urged all Saudi students to quickly get in touch with the embassy through its emergency number.

Waleed Al-Shehri, member of the consulate's emergency committee in New York, said electricity was still off and that they were working hard to ensure students' safety.

According to a CNN report, Sandy made a landfall near Atlantic City, New Jersey, Monday night, whipping up a storm surge that ripped apart piers on the Jersey Shore and inundated subway and highway tunnels in New York.

The US death toll rose to at least 33 by late Tuesday, spanning the Eastern Seaboard from North Carolina to Connecticut, plus one casualty in Canada.

That is on top of the 67 deaths in the Caribbean last week.

Mefleh Al-Qahtani, a Saudi student in New York, said he was in touch with his friends by phone. They were talking about leaving their apartments and going to shelters or nearby hotels.

All of a sudden the cellphones went dead.

He added: "I knew I was stuck. Nevertheless I tried to leave the apartment but the water level on the street was on the rise.

"I drove to a nearby shelter home, where there were tens of thousands of people.

"I searched for my friends but I could not find them. I then decided to go to Scranton in Pennsylvania.

"On the way to the city, the water level was rising quickly and I began losing control of my car.

"I decided to abandon my car and go to a nearby hotel but the management there apologized, saying there was no room available.

"I found a taxi driver who agreed to take me to Scranton for triple the normal price and I agreed.

"Until now I do not know the fate of my friends. No one is allowed to go inside New York."

Rafie Al-Qarni, head of the Saudi club in Bridgeport, Connecticut, said all Saudi students are in good health.

Many of the students were lighting candles because there was no electricity, he added.

© The Saudi Gazette 2012