By . Rachel Quigley . PUBLISHED: . 11:41 EST, 30 October 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 11:58 EST, 30 October 2012 . Millions of New Yorkers were today struggling to go about their normal day after one of the busiest cities in the world was brought to its knees by one of the biggest storm's in its history. The city that never sleeps spent the night at a virtual standstill and cloaked in darkness, waking up today to deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy which has so far claimed the lives of 18 people and caused what is expected to be $20billion of damage. As daylight finally illuminated the streets this morning, New Yorkers were faced with a flooded subway, shuttered financial markets, closed schools, deserted streets and many homes still without power after a night which saw a wall of sea water and high winds slam into the city. Homes devastated by fire and the effects of Hurricane Sandy at Breezy Point Queens borough . Water floods the Plaza Shops in lower Manhattan, New York and debris fills the steps . A man looks at the flooded Battery Park underpass after Sandy left most of lower Manhattan without power . Buildings were destroyed, tunnels going into and out of Manhattan were flooded, dozens of trees and power lines were felled and thousands had fled from their homes. Some would have no homes to return to after at least 50 in the Queens area flooded and caught fire. This morning, there were police officers on every corner, patrol cars circling the neighborhoods on the lookout for looters and casualties. Traffic lights were down and streets and subways were eerily empty. Those on the streets seemed confused as to what to do and how to go about it. High above midtown, the broken boom of a crane continued to dangle precariously over a neighborhood. New York City police officers put up police tape in front of a subway station today . A playground stands surrounded by water pushed up by Hurricane Sandy in Bellport, New York . The city's subway, which is 108 years old, has never faced a disaster as devastating as last night, an MTA spokesman said today. 'We knew that this was going to be a very dangerous storm, and the storm has met our expectations,' Mayor Michael Bloomberg said today. 'This is a once-in-a-long-time storm.' From 8pm last night, lower Manhattan was bathed in darkness as the power went out from one neighborhood to another like a domino effect. Soon after, the city's cell phone networks stopped working leaving people in virtual obscurity. 'We see a pop. The whole sky lights up,' said Dani Hart, 30, who was watching the storm from the roof of her building in the Navy Yards. A statue is seen among homes devastated by fire in the Breezy Point section of the Queens borough . A construction site sinks into a large hole on South Street Seaport following Hurricane Sandy . 'It sounded like the Fourth of July,' Stephen Weisbrot said from his powerless 10th-floor apartment.'It's really a complete ghost town now.' Alice Goldberg, 15, a tourist from Paris, was watching television in her hotel when a voice came over the loudspeaker and told everyone to leave. 'They said to take only what we needed, and leave the rest, because we'll come back in two or three days,' she said as she and hundreds of others gathered in the luggage-strewn marble lobby. 'I hope so.' It could be several days to a week before all residents who lost power during the storm get their lights back, officials said. People take their belongings out in lower Manhattan in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy . A pedestrian passes a fallen tree on East 7th Street in Manhattan's Lower East Side neighborhood . A pedestrian passes a fallen tree on East 7th Street in Manhattan's Lower East Side neighborhood . In the early hours of Tuesday morning, it was like a tale of two cities. In uptown Manhattan, windows of apartments and businesses glowed and curious faces peered from windows, eager to see the damage. But to cross through midtown was to be swallowed by darkness. Only a few emergency or backup lights appeared in buildings. Further downtown, only the flicker of candlelight could be seen from windows, the usually bustling financial district was both flooded with water and cloaked in darkness. Even though the worst of the storm had passed, authorities warned people to be on the alert when moving around today for falling debris, felled trees and downed power lines. A woman looks and gestures at debris left behind along the East River . 'This will be one for the record . books,' said John Miksad, senior vice president for electric operations . at Consolidated Edison. 'This will be the largest storm-related outage . in our history.' 'Folks . don't realize that this is the most dangerous time,' Irene K. Asbury, a . municipal prosecutor for the town of West New York, told Yahoo! Shine. 'Your . guard is down, you think your family is safe, the storm is over... then . you step on a rusty nail, a branch falls on you during cleanup, or you . wade through a puddle and there is a live wire.' A man uses his mobile phone to photograph a closed and flooded subway station in lower Manhattan . 'It’s the worst I’ve seen,' said David Arnold, watching the storm from his home in Long Branch, N.J. 'The ocean is in the road, there are trees down everywhere. I’ve never seen it this bad.' 'We are at the mercy of the MTA -- our staff has to be able to get to work -- and Con Ed,' restaurateur Drew Nieporent wrote in an e-mail to Businessweek. His Tribeca Grill flooded and he’s waiting in New Jersey without power, to hear how Nobu and Corton fared in the storm. 'As the storm has come and gone, time will tell how we all fared, the degree of damage suffered, the amount of lives sadly lost to this natural disaster and  how long it will take before the city that never sleeps resumes being the be-all and end-all for so many of us.' 'Scallywag' blogger .
Hurricane Sandy has claimed .
the lives of 18 people and caused what is expected to be $20billion of .
damage .
By . Rachel Quigley . PUBLISHED: . 11:41 EST, 30 October 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 11:58 EST, 30 October 2012 . Millions of New Yorkers were today struggling to go about their normal day after one of the busiest cities in the world was brought to its knees by one of the biggest storm's in its history. The city that never sleeps spent the night at a virtual standstill and cloaked in darkness, waking up today to deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy which has so far claimed the lives of 18 people and caused what is expected to be $20billion of damage. As daylight finally illuminated the streets this morning, New Yorkers were faced with a flooded subway, shuttered financial markets, closed schools, deserted streets and many homes still without power after a night which saw a wall of sea water and high winds slam into the city. Homes devastated by fire and the effects of Hurricane Sandy at Breezy Point Queens borough . Water floods the Plaza Shops in lower Manhattan, New York and debris fills the steps . A man looks at the flooded Battery Park underpass after Sandy left most of lower Manhattan without power . Buildings were destroyed, tunnels going into and out of Manhattan were flooded, dozens of trees and power lines were felled and thousands had fled from their homes. Some would have no homes to return to after at least 50 in the Queens area flooded and caught fire. This morning, there were police officers on every corner, patrol cars circling the neighborhoods on the lookout for looters and casualties. Traffic lights were down and streets and subways were eerily empty. Those on the streets seemed confused as to what to do and how to go about it. High above midtown, the broken boom of a crane continued to dangle precariously over a neighborhood. New York City police officers put up police tape in front of a subway station today . A playground stands surrounded by water pushed up by Hurricane Sandy in Bellport, New York . The city's subway, which is 108 years old, has never faced a disaster as devastating as last night, an MTA spokesman said today. 'We knew that this was going to be a very dangerous storm, and the storm has met our expectations,' Mayor Michael Bloomberg said today. 'This is a once-in-a-long-time storm.' From 8pm last night, lower Manhattan was bathed in darkness as the power went out from one neighborhood to another like a domino effect. Soon after, the city's cell phone networks stopped working leaving people in virtual obscurity. 'We see a pop. The whole sky lights up,' said Dani Hart, 30, who was watching the storm from the roof of her building in the Navy Yards. A statue is seen among homes devastated by fire in the Breezy Point section of the Queens borough . A construction site sinks into a large hole on South Street Seaport following Hurricane Sandy . 'It sounded like the Fourth of July,' Stephen Weisbrot said from his powerless 10th-floor apartment.'It's really a complete ghost town now.' Alice Goldberg, 15, a tourist from Paris, was watching television in her hotel when a voice came over the loudspeaker and told everyone to leave. 'They said to take only what we needed, and leave the rest, because we'll come back in two or three days,' she said as she and hundreds of others gathered in the luggage-strewn marble lobby. 'I hope so.' It could be several days to a week before all residents who lost power during the storm get their lights back, officials said. People take their belongings out in lower Manhattan in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy . A pedestrian passes a fallen tree on East 7th Street in Manhattan's Lower East Side neighborhood . A pedestrian passes a fallen tree on East 7th Street in Manhattan's Lower East Side neighborhood . In the early hours of Tuesday morning, it was like a tale of two cities. In uptown Manhattan, windows of apartments and businesses glowed and curious faces peered from windows, eager to see the damage. But to cross through midtown was to be swallowed by darkness. Only a few emergency or backup lights appeared in buildings. Further downtown, only the flicker of candlelight could be seen from windows, the usually bustling financial district was both flooded with water and cloaked in darkness. Even though the worst of the storm had passed, authorities warned people to be on the alert when moving around today for falling debris, felled trees and downed power lines. A woman looks and gestures at debris left behind along the East River . 'This will be one for the record . books,' said John Miksad, senior vice president for electric operations . at Consolidated Edison. 'This will be the largest storm-related outage . in our history.' 'Folks . don't realize that this is the most dangerous time,' Irene K. Asbury, a . municipal prosecutor for the town of West New York, told Yahoo! Shine. 'Your . guard is down, you think your family is safe, the storm is over... then . you step on a rusty nail, a branch falls on you during cleanup, or you . wade through a puddle and there is a live wire.' A man uses his mobile phone to photograph a closed and flooded subway station in lower Manhattan . 'It’s the worst I’ve seen,' said David Arnold, watching the storm from his home in Long Branch, N.J. 'The ocean is in the road, there are trees down everywhere. I’ve never seen it this bad.' 'We are at the mercy of the MTA -- our staff has to be able to get to work -- and Con Ed,' restaurateur Drew Nieporent wrote in an e-mail to Businessweek. His Tribeca Grill flooded and he’s waiting in New Jersey without power, to hear how Nobu and Corton fared in the storm. 'As the storm has come and gone, time will tell how we all fared, the degree of damage suffered, the amount of lives sadly lost to this natural disaster and how long it will take before the city that never sleeps resumes being the be-all and end-all for so many of us.' 'Scallywag' blogger .
claimed the lives of 18 people and caused what is expected to be $20billion of damage. As daylight