Several Christian disaster relief organizations, including those focused on providing emotional support to victims, announced yesterday that they are ready to head into the heavily damaged areas of northeastern United States in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. As the storm made landfall a little after 8 p.m. EDT, it was declared a post-tropical cyclone with damaging winds reaching lower hurricane strength.

"Three mobile office units will leave Charlotte tomorrow morning headed into the devastation left by Hurricane Sandy," stated the Billy Graham Rapid Response team Monday afternoon. "We will have teams on the ground within 24 hours of the hurricane's passing. Please pray for safety in travel for the chaplain coordinators who will be driving the mobile units, and the volunteer chaplains coming from around the country."

The purpose of the response team, a part of the renowned evangelist's organization, is to "deploy chaplains who will bring a ministry of presence and prayer and appropriately share God's love, comfort, and hope with those affected by a man-made or natural disaster." more >>

An image circulating on the Internet Monday of the Statue of Liberty in New York City overshadowed by ominous clouds brought on by Hurricane Sandy is just one of many Photoshopped images being used by the public to comment on the severe weather.

The frightening photo has actually been recycled numerous times, according to Snopes.com, a source for debunking and confirming rumors.

"[...] it's a digital manipulation created by merging a picture of the Statue of Liberty with a separate photograph of a supercell thunderstorm snapped in Nebraska by photographer Mike Hollingshead on May 28, 2004," Snopes.com reports. more >>

While preparing to help the victims of Hurricane Sandy on Monday, World Vision workers in New York City were forced to evacuate their own facilities and leave their relief supplies behind due to fear of flooding.

Phyllis Freeman, the organization's domestic disaster director, told The Christian Post on Monday that the World Vision office and warehouse in New York is located near the East River in the Bronx. That area flooded when Hurricane Irene hit last year, a firefighter told a World Vision staffer, so the organization decided to move its personnel out of the area as a safety precaution when the river began rising again.

The organization's offices will flood, says Freeman, but the supplies are in a location where they will likely be safe until the response team can return later on. Unfortunately, without access to the supplies, the organization will have to wait to distribute relief items out of that location. more >>

With just one week until election day, Hurricane Sandy is already having an impact on political campaigns. If power outages last a week, the effects could still reverberate on election day itself.

Both President Barack Obama and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney have suspended campaign activities as the Northeast braces for the storm.

With government shutdowns across the region, it also means that many early voting locations have temporarily shut down as well. Campaigns will have to curtail their door-to-door canvassing efforts. And news coverage that would normally be devoted to talking about the election will be spent talking about the storm. more >>

With Hurricane Sandy nearing landfall in the Northeast, some liberal publications have dug up old comments Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney made about federal disaster aid. The debate over whether disaster aid is best administered by the federal government or state and private agencies resurfaces often during national disasters.

During a June 13, 2011, Republican presidential debate, Romney was asked about reducing the national debt. The host of the debate, CNN's John King, then asked if federal disaster aid is also an area where he would give more responsibility to the states.

"Absolutely," Romney answered. "Every time you have an occasion to take something from the federal government and send it back to the states, that's the right direction. And if you can go even further and send it back to the private sector, that's even better. more >>

Web users were in awe Monday morning of an image showing Honor Guards standing on duty at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in the face of adverse weather as Hurricane Sandy bore down on the East Coast.

"Soldiers stand guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Guarded non-stop since 1948. In Sandy's path they continue," shared Kristy Bolsinger ‏as she re-tweeted the popular image on Twitter.

Tyler Borchers was so impressed that he used only one word to react to the striking image: "Powerful." more >>