Forecasters are tracking another coastal storm that threatens cleanup and recovery efforts in New York and New Jersey after the devastation of Superstorm Sandy.
The National Weather Service says the nor'easter could hit the region on Wednesday into Thursday. The storm could produce strong winds, heavy rain and cause moderate tidal flooding along the coast, Raritan Bay and lower Delaware Bay. Buildings and trees weakened by Sandy would be vulnerable to additional damage.
The storm would also hamper efforts to restore electricity that was lost during Sandy.
Meanwhile, with overnight temperatures sinking into the 30s and hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses still without electricity six days after Sandy howled through, people piled on layers of clothes, and New York City officials handed out blankets and urged victims to go to overnight shelters or daytime warming centers.
At the same time, government leaders began to grapple with a daunting longer-term problem: where to find housing for the tens of thousands of people whose homes could be uninhabitable for weeks or months because of a combination of storm damage and cold weather.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said 30,000 to 40,000 New Yorkers may need to be relocated — a monumental task in a city where housing is scarce and expensive — though he said that number would probably drop to 20,000 within a couple of weeks as power is restored in more places.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says federal agencies are looking for apartments and hotel rooms for people displaced by Superstorm Sandy, Reuters reports. "Our goal is to try to get people out of the shelters," Napolitano said at a news conference in New Jersey with Governor Chris Christie.
Meanwhile, some residents in northern New Jersey awoke to a small earthquake early Monday.
The temblor, with a magnitude of 2.0, struck at 1:19 a.m. and was centered in Ringwood, a community that's still dealing with downed trees and power outages from Sandy.
Geophysicist Jessica Turner at the National Earthquake Information Center says some people reported hearing a loud boom. Turner says those on upper floors of a home might have felt shaking or saw objects on walls vibrate.
The quake was 3 miles below ground and could also be felt in Mahwah, Wanaque, Oakland, Franklin Lakes, West Milford and Paterson.
Ringwood police say there are no reports of damage.
Turner says the last earthquake in New Jersey had a 2.2 magnitude and was recorded in February 2010.
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