Claudene Christian Dead: HMS Bounty Crew Member Found Unresponsive and Critical

The U.S. Coast Guard has recovered the body of a woman from the HMS Bounty replica sinking. Claudene Christian, 42, was a crew member on the HMS bounty, a replica of an 18th century ship. It now means 15 of the 16 crew members of the iconic boat are accounted for - with 63-year-old captain Robin Walbridge yet to be found.

On Oct. 25, the post on the Bounty Facebook page read, “Bounty will be sailing due East out to sea before heading South to avoid the brunt of Hurricane Sandy.” Another post that day read, “Happy Birthday to Captain Robin Walbridge...with Special Hugs & Kisses from his Family, Shelly, John and Tara.”

The ship was featured in the 1962 film Mutiny on the Bounty and two of the Pirates of the Caribbean films. The three-masted, 180-foot (55-meter) ship, built for the 1962 movie, “Mutiny on the Bounty,” sank.

Sandy leaves millions without power; 33 dead

“Super-storm” Sandy has swept into the US East Coast with hurricane-force winds, bringing flooding, cutting power and claiming at least 33 lives. US President Barack Obama on Tuesday declared that Sandy had triggered “major disaster” in the states of New York and New Jersey and freed up federal aid for those who lost homes or businesses.

At least 50 homes burned to the ground in the Breezy Point neighborhood of Queens, fire officials said, though the cause of the blaze was not immediately released. More than 200 firefighters battled the leaping flames.

Officials blamed at least 33 deaths on the storm — five in New York, three each in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, two in Connecticut, and one each in Maryland, North Carolina and West Virginia. Elsewhere along the East Coast, a US sailor on board a replica of the HMS Bounty was recovered from the sea and later died at hospital, and the captain was missing and feared dead after the tall ship went down off the Carolinas.

Both President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney cancelled campaign appearances little more than a week before the presidential election. US stock markets were closed on Monday, the first time since the attacks on September 11, 2001, and will remain shut on Tuesday.

The federal government in Washington was also closed, and so too were schools up and down the East Coast. Fierce winds will blow from northern Georgia into Canada and as far west as Lake Michigan. Heavy rains will soak New England and parts of the Midwest.

The southernmost parts of New Brunswick as well as southwestern Nova Scotia are under rainfall warnings, while the agency warns winds could gust to 120 km/h in Inverness County to the north Tuesday morning.  A massive explosion at a power substation in lower Manhattan Monday evening contributed to the power outages. Bob Robichaud of the Canadian Hurricane Centre said while Sandy is striking late in hurricane season, there could be more Atlantic storms to come.