'Superstorm' Sandy takes out data centers, websites

'Superstorm' Sandy takes out data centers, websites

SAN FRANCISCO—Sandy, the hurricane turned superstorm that has killed at least 35 people and left millions without power on the East Coast of the U.S., has also wreaked havoc on the Internet, knocking out a number of New York-based data centers and websites, according to reports.

According to Data Center Knowledge, an online publication covering the data center industry, flooding from Sandy hobled two data center buildings in New York's Lower Manhattan, rendering inoperable diesel fuel pumps used to refuel generators. According to the report, both Internap and Peer 1, providers of dedicated data center housing, were struggling to continue operations at one New York location after the building's basement flooded.

According to the report, customers of Datagram—a New York-based Internet access provider—were knocked offline Monday night after flooding in a separate Manhattan building. The flooding knocked out several popular websites, including Gawker, Gizmodo, Buzzfeed and Mediate, according to the report.

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According to a report by FoxNews.com, Sandy-related flooding also temporarily knocked out news website The Huffington Post, though the site appeared to be operating as normal on midday Tuesday.

Google Monday set up a crisis response page to provide updates and information to those affected by Sandy.

In addition to 35 deaths in the U.S., mostly from falling trees, Sandy is also blamed for a reported 41 deaths in the Caribbean. According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Sandy's winds dropped to 45 miles per hour midday Tuesday, but forecasters warned that the superstorm could trigger more coastal and inland flooding, including along the Great Lakes.

According to Weather.com, Sandy made landfall around 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time Monday near Atlantic City, N.J. By the time the storm made landfall it had been downgraded to a "post-tropical cyclone" that brought wind gusts as high as 94 miles per hour and dropped as much as 12 inches of rain in some places and 18 inches of snow in others.

NASA released a video of Sandy shot from the International Space Station Tuesday.

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TAG:Hurricane Sandy Storm Data