New England last night braced itself for the worst as Hurricane Sandy slammed into the US, while commuters in Bermuda were also impacted by the giant storm with many ferry services disrupted yesterday.The majority of flights to and from the Island were cancelled yesterday, as were three cruise ships due to visit Bermuda. Meanwhile, the container ships Somers Isles and Bermuda Islander have been put a week behind schedule due to the storm.Hurricane Sandy made landfall in New Jersey last night, and was expected to pass through Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and upstate New York.The storm, downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone shortly after reaching land, had already battered the Caribbean, killing 69 people, and sunk the tall ship HMS Bounty (see separate story).Bermudian student Ryan Whiting, in New York, said he was well prepared for the hurricane, but expressed some concern that the city is treating the storm too lightly.“The problem in my mind, though, is that, because Irene turned out to be mostly a non-event, that New Yorkers are expecting Sandy to be the same,” he said.“I have not seen the level of preparation that I witnessed in Irene. Last year most stores were boarding up their windows and setting schedules to close well in advance of the arrive of the hurricane.“Even Mayor Bloomberg, I think, is taking the storm much more lightly than he did Irene, and his 'wait-and-see' attitude, wherein he waits until the day before to decide upon closures, is unnerving.”While he said he was not afraid of the storm, he believed the impact would be greater than Irene, noting the size and storm surge associated with Sandy.“New Yorkers should not take any weather event lightly, something that, as a Bermudian, I have more than learned not to do,” he said.Bermudian Broadway star Rebecca Faulkenberry said that with her performances cancelled due to the storm she was taking advantage of the “hurrication.”“I feel pretty safe where I am, but it does worry me what the flooding will do to some parts of the city,” she said.“If I were anywhere in southern Manhattan I definitely would have gone elsewhere — watching the weather channel the water’s supposed to come up pretty high. Fingers crossed I keep power for as long as possible.”The storm’s impact on Bermuda however has been greater than simply the wind and rain recorded in recent days.Ferries were cancelled yesterday morning due to the weather, angering many would-be passengers.One agitated Rockaway ferry user said: “No wind, no rain, no surf, no chop. Why were the ferries suspended?”She said when she called the Department of Marine and Ports, she was told by staff that the decision to suspend the ferries happened the previous night.“They said they made the decision last night because the winds were 55 knots,” she said. “There were no 55 knot winds this morning. He said they knew they made a poor decision and inconvenienced the public but they would work to make sure it didn’t happen again.“It’s a good thing I didn’t decide to take the 8.20am ferry. If I had, I would have been walking into work at 10.15am. I would have been good and late.”A Marine and Ports spokesman said the decision to cancel the ferries was made after ferry pilots arrived on duty at 6am.“A combination of their personal observations as well as a check with the Duty Officer at Bermuda Radio pointed to occasional wind gusts of 40-50 knots as having been experienced through the early morning hours,” the spokesman said. “This resulted in a decision being made to suspend ferry operations.“The Department apologises for the inconvenience caused. We are taking steps to provide an improved evaluation prior to ferry services being cancelled in the future.”Flights and cruise ship visits were also cancelled, while shipping vessels were forced to remain in port.Only two commercial flights arrived on the Island yesterday, Delta 656 from Atlanta and American Airlines flight 308 from Miami.As of press time last night, several flights scheduled for today were listed as cancelled due to the storm, including American Airlines flight 1416 from New York to Bermuda, AirTran flight 1812 from Bermuda to Baltimore, JetBlue flight 1732 from Bermuda to New York JFK and United flight 1416 from Bermuda to Newark.The Enchantment of the Seas, which was scheduled to arrive on Sunday, The Caribbean Princess, scheduled to arrive yesterday and the Regatta, which was scheduled to arrive today, cancelled plans to visit Bermuda due to the storm.l For more on the Hurricane Sandy, see today’s overseas news , Page 8, and business news, Page 21