Sandy Returns to Hurricane Strength

In the Atlantic Ocean off the U.S. east coast, Sandy returned to hurricane strength Saturday, just hours after being downgraded to a tropical storm.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center says Sandy is a "very large" cyclone with hurricane-force winds extending as far as 160 kilometers from the center of the storm.

Sandy is expected to have a major impact on millions of people along the U.S. east coast, from Florida to New England.  The storm killed at least 43 people during its sweep through the Caribbean.

Forecasters say their warnings of damaging wind, drenching rain, coastal floods and heavy mountain snow should be taken seriously as Sandy is expected to combine with other storm systems blowing in from the north and west. At last report, Sandy was carrying winds of up to 120 kilometers per hour.

Washington, New York, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina have already declared states of emergency.  Power companies are telling customers to prepare for possible long outages.  Local authorities are urging residents to stock up on drinkable water, canned food and batteries.

Forecasters say Sandy has the greatest chance of making landfall in Delaware or southern New Jersey with the worst of the storm coming Monday night and into Tuesday.

Sandy is moving north after pounding the Bahamas, Cuba, Haiti, and Jamaica.