By Gbenga Oke reporting from USA
With nine days to the United States Presidential election, nature has taken its place ahead of election with Hurricane Sandy carrying heavy winds to coastal areas of the United States.
States that have so far felt the heavy winds include Virginia, New Jersey, Florida, North Carolina while New York city is expecting the wind soonest.
According to weather reports, the impact will be critical in New York as flooding and the ocean have risen and Hurricane Sandy is just about 500miles away from the city.
For Virginia, one of the battleground states that would be a decider in this election has felt the impact of the Hurricane Sandy and has forced major election campaigns to be shifted to other states.
13 electoral votes are up for grabs in the state of Virginia and it is very critical for both President Obama and Mitt Romney to as well win the state.
Hurricane Sandy has seen both Romney and Obama shifting their campaigns from Virginia in the last few days to other states. Two days ago, Mitt Romney could not fly into Virginia for his campaigns where thousands of crowds are already waiting for him, he campaigned in Florida instead.
Likewise, President Obama and his vice, Biden had to travel to Ohio to campaign due to the rise of Hurricane Sandy in Virginia.
In 2008, President Obama turned the state of Virginia to a blue state and Mitt Romney is leaving no stone un turned to ensure Virginia leans red in this Presidential election.
For President Obama who is struggling to earn his second term in office, many of his supporters had felt the early voting would help him in his bid to retain his seat, with Hurricane Sandy ravaging Virginia presently, it might be hard to get voters to come out of their various houses to campaign as there is serious warning all over the coastal areas might have to stay indoors till the Hurricane Sandy subsides.
For North Carolina, the impact of Hurricane Sandy is being felt already and it will delay early voting there. There are 15electoral votes for grabs in North Carolina and both candidates are running head to head.
In New York which is likely to suffer more damages from the effect of Hurricane Sandy in the next few days, there are 29electoral votes for grabs in the state and Democrats are fully on ground there but early voting might be affected because the Mayor of New York, Bloomberg has ordered evacuation in a lot areas.
However, early voting are still going on in many other states except the coastal states that are experiencing some turbulence due to Hurricane Sandy right now.
Hurricane Sandy North Carolina, New York is as well expecting and it is very critical situation 500miles away from New York.
