FIFTY DEAD...and it's NOT over: Obama's grim warning as he prepares to visit scenes of hurricane 'major disaster' tomorrow

• Storm damage projected at £12bn // Ten people in New York among the dead // Many killed by falling trees
  
• President Barack Obama has declared a 'major disaster' in New York and Long Island
• President announces that he will visit New Jersey on Wednesday and warns that the crisis 'is not yet over'
  
• At least 7.4m properties across US East have lost power // New York City could be without power for a week
• NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg: 'Tragically we expect that number to go up' referring to New York death toll
  
• Record 13ft storm surge threatening lower Manhattan and howling winds left crane hanging from high-rise building
• Over 15,000 flights across the globe grounded due to Superstorm Sandy
  
• NYU Hospital loses backup power and evacuates patients // Nuclear power plant on alert
• More than 190 firefighters battled blaze destroying more than 80 homes in Breezy Point
  
• Stock trading is closed in the US again for a second day running -  last time it was closed for two days was 1888
• Classified as a post-tropical cyclone, Sandy is expected to turn north and track back into New York state tonight

By Mark Duell and Jill Reilly

PUBLISHED: 02:46, 30 October 2012 | UPDATED: 01:27, 31 October 2012

The scale of the devastation left by Superstorm Sandy is mounting today as the death toll continues to rise - currently 50 people across the US and Canada have been reported dead, but the final figure is expected to be significantly higher.

President Obama declared a 'major disaster' in New York and Long Island as flooded streets were littered with cars, homes were razed to the ground and tankers washed up on shore.

The President warned that Sandy 'is not yet over' and announced that he would visit New Jersey on Wednesday to visit the scenes of the destruction.

Hundreds of thousands of people are without power in New York and the transit system, schools, the stock exchange and Broadway are all out of action after a 13ft wall of water caused by the storm surge and high tides brought severe flooding to subways and road tunnels.

Sandy, one of the biggest storms to ever descend on the country, hit the mainland at 6.30pm local time yesterday having laid waste to large parts of the coast during the day.

The storm that made landfall in New Jersey on Monday evening with 80mph sustained winds, cut power to more than 7.4 million homes and businesses from the Carolinas to Ohio, caused scares at two nuclear plants and stopped the presidential campaign cold.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg says the death toll in the America's most populous city is up to ten - two children, aged 11 and 13, were killed instantly in the city by a falling tree. Many of the total number of victims were said to have been killed by falling trees.

Nearly 200 firefighters spent the night battling to get a blaze under control in the Queens, but over 80 homes were flattened in the fire.