Jewish institutions shutting down for massive storm

[UPDATE 5:15 p.m. PDT] Reuters 

Massive storm Sandy made landfall on Monday along the coast of southern New Jersey, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Sandy was located about 5 miles southwest of Atlantic City, N.J., and had maximum sustained winds of 80 mph. 

Reporting by Kevin Gray; editing Christopher Wilson

[9:00 a.m. PDT] JTA

Jewish institutions throughout the eastern United States were closing in preparation for the onslaught of Hurricane Sandy.

The hurricane was set to make landfall late Monday, but rain and high winds already have started to batter the East Coast. The storm is expected to cause massive flooding and major power outages.

The UJA-Federation of New York posted a notice on its website that the building would be closed and all meetings and events canceled on Monday, and that information on Tuesday's events would be posted Monday night. The Jewish Community Center in Manhattan also announced that it would be closed Monday and remain so until it is safe to return.

This NOAA GOES-13 satellite image shows Hurricane Sandy as it is centered off of Maryland and Virginia taken at 6:40 EDT on Oct. 29. The storm is heading in a northwestern direction towards the Delaware and southern New Jersey coast. An estimated 60 million Americans were expected to be affected by rain, wind, snow, or ocean storm surges from the storm. Photo courtesy of NOAA/Reuters

Also in New York, public transportation shut down on Sunday night, and schools and offices in the city were scheduled to be closed on Monday. Areas of Brooklyn and the Rockaways were ordered evacuated. Wall Street also shut down Monday due to the weather.

Parts of Maryland, Delaware and the New Jersey Shore also were ordered evacuated.

In the Washington area, the public transportation system stopped on Monday, and schools, colleges and universities also closed due to expected power outages. Some already have announced that they will remain closed Tuesday and possibly into Wednesday, according to the Washington Post.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington and area day schools also closed Monday, though the JCC of Greater Washington was scheduled to remain open until mid-afternoon Monday. 

The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia also announced that it would be closed Monday.