By Kathy Wray Coleman, Publisher, Editor-n-Chief, Cleveland Urban News.Com, Ohio's Most Read Online Black Newsaper

CLEVELAND,Ohio-At least forty-eight people are dead, a third of them in New York alone, and over 7.5 million customers across the nation in 15 states and the District of Columbia are without power because of Hurricane Sandy. And as the presidential campaign enters its final week, the country is taken by storm literally, and by virtue of a neck and neck race to the White House that has the Republican and Democratic parties fighting each other tooth and nail to the finish line.

A pivotal state, Ohio was hit by winds of 30 to 50 miles per hour Monday night and had no reported fatalities but did have power outages in several of its 82 counties, including Lorain, Lake Geauga, and Cuyahoga County, which includes Cleveland where one in three homes are without power.

"We have been without power since 9 pm Monday night," said Roz McAllister, a community activist and resident of Cleveland Ward 12. "People can pass the time with reading and spending quality time with family members."

President Obama headed to Washington, DC last weekend to deal with the disaster, which hit the east coast but impacted places like Ohio, and has canceled all campaign events for Wednesday,  Oct 31, including a scheduled rally in Akron, OH.

Obama for America Campaign officials have not said that the president's visit to the Cleveland area will be rescheduled but did say that the president will resume campaigning on Friday and will attend a rallies in Hillard and Spingfield, Oh. Vice President Joe Biden and former president Bill Clinton campaigned in Ohio for Obama yesterday, both speaking at a rally in Youngstown.

Akron is a city of roughly 200,000 people that is some 35 miles south of Cleveland. It has a pocket of Blacks that are constituents of the 11th congressional district, which is led by Ohio Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge, a Warrensville Hts Democrat whose district also includes the east side of Cleveland and its eastern suburbs.

From Maine to Delaware and New York to West Virginia nature's sweeping attack on America's homelands through a hurricane 700 miles wide that came packing robust wind and rain, Hurricane Sandy has caused airlines to cancel an estimated 13,000 flights and has aroused America in what meteorologists are calling "the perfect storm and a once-in--a-life-time weather disaster."

Among the dead and the homeless are those taken by the super-storm in Newark , Connecticut and  New York, most killed by falling debris and some electrocuted. Hospitals in New York City have been evacuated and at least 80 homes have been destroyed by fire.

Early voting that had been halted in some states that have it like Maryland has resumed.

Reach Cleveland Urban News.Com by email at editor@clevelandurbannews.com and by phone at 216-659-0473.