Sandy Death Toll Rises

***UPDATE 7 P.M.***NEW YORK (AP) – Officials say the death toll from Superstorm Sandy has reached 48.Many of the victims were killed by trees toppled by the storm, including a New Yorker killed in bed by a tree that fell onto an apartment.More than 8 million, from Maine to the Carolinas, are waiting for the power to return. There are widespread outages in lower Manhattan. Utility officials say it could be days before power is restored and the subway system is running again.A financial forecasting firm predicts Sandy will end up causing about $20 billion in property damage and $10 billion to $30 billion more in lost business. According to HIS Global Insight, Sandy will be one of the costliest natural disasters on record in the U.S.***UPDATE 1 P.M.***NEW YORK (AP) – It could be days before people in much of the Northeast can see their lives start to return to normal, in the aftermath of a storm that has left at least 39 people dead.More than 8.2 million people across the East are without power. New York City was especially hard hit, its subways shut down and much of Manhattan left without power.And it’s not over yet. The storm that resulted when Hurricane Sandy merged with two other storm systems has been moving westward today across Pennsylvania with winds of 45 miles an hour. It’s expected to make a turn into New York State tonight.Although it is getting weaker as it goes, forecasters still expect it to bring heavy rain and flooding.In one measure of the storm’s size and power, waves on southern Lake Michigan have risen above 20 feet, tying a record. High winds spinning off the edges of the storm clobbered the Cleveland area early today, uprooting trees and cutting power to hundreds of thousands.Sandy brought blizzard conditions to West Virginia and neighboring states, with more than 2 feet of snow expected in some places.***UPDATE, 9:02 A.M.***(AP) – Superstorm Sandy is winding down and inching its way inland, leaving at least 17 people in seven states dead and more than 7 million power outages in its wake.New York was one of the hardest hit areas when an unprecedented 13-foot surge of seawater – 3 feet above the previous record – caused the worst damage in the 108-year history of the city’s subway system. It also forced 200 patients to be evacuated from one hospital.Authorities are trying to rescue 800 people in a northern New Jersey town after a berm overflowed.The National Hurricane Center in Miami says the massive storm is moving across Pennsylvania and is expected to take a sharp turn into western New York by tomorrow morning.The Midwest also is bracing for Sandy. Chicago officials are warning residents to stay away from the Lake Michigan shore as the city prepares for winds of up to 60 miles an hour and waves exceeding 24 feet well into tomorrow.***ORIGINAL STORY***(AP) – At least 16 U.S. deaths are now being blamed on the superstorm that’s pummeling the East Coast.One person died after a replica of the 18th-century sailing ship HMS Bounty that was built for the 1962 Marlon Brando movie “Mutiny on the Bounty,” went down in the storm off North Carolina. Fourteen other crew members were rescued by helicopter Monday. The ship’s captain is still missing.In New York City, Superstorm Sandy flooded tunnels, subway stations and the electrical system that powers Wall Street. Stock trading will be closed for a second day today.In the borough of Queens, a fire in a flooded neighborhood has destroyed at least 50 homes.An estimated 6.2 million homes and businesses across the East are without power.Heavy rain and further flooding remain major threats for the next couple of days as Sandy makes its way into Pennsylvania and up into New York State.