Atlantic City has shut down as Hurricane Sandy approaches. The entertaining city where people go to gamble, party and relax at one of its many hotels, is on lockdown as casinos are closed and thousands were ordered to evacuate.
Atlantic City is usually a busy tourist area as it's famous for its many casinos, hotels and iconic boardwalk right near the ocean. However, Atlantic City is practically empty as New Jersey Governor ordered the casinos to close by noon on Sunday.
This is only the fourth time in Atlantic City's history that the casinos were shut down. Tony Rodio, president of the Tropicana Casino and Resort and chief of the Casino Association of New Jersey knows that the casinos are going to take a financial hit, but safety comes first
"It's definitely going to hurt, but better safe than sorry," Rodio said, according to USA Today.
Thousands of residents and visitors fled the land and took to shelters. A convention center was almost fill with over 2,000 evacuees who were brought in by bus from poor areas, according to the Daily News.
Hurricane Sandy has already shown its power in the area and it hasn't even hit land yet. The streets of Atlantic City were already flooded and an 80 foot section of the boardwalk at Atlantic Avenue and New Hampshire Avenue was destroyed as it was hit by waves. Only piles of wood remain, according to Philly.com
The storm has residents very concerned.
"Of course I'm scared," resident Jane Bentley, 69, told the Star Ledger. "The older I get, it's more scary, You don't know what it's going to be like - the fear of the unknown."
It seems like residents took the order to evacuate very seriously.
"There's no one in the streets," Tom Foley, the director of emergency management said. "It appears we had a real nice evacuation."
For those who decided to remain, there is a mandated curfew of 6 p.m.
