Hurricane Sandy was the largest hurricane to occur in the Atlantic Ocean and the largest storm in years to hit the East Coast. The hurricane first hit the U.S.coast on October 29th, 2012. Before it reached the United States, it hit many other countries including Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Bahamas, and the Dominican Republic. It caused severe damage in these countries and killed many. In these countries alone it left over 215,000 homeless and caused millions of dollars in damages. It impacted 24 states and caused at least 185 fatalities. A meteorologist called Hurricane Sandy a unique weather event.
The torrential rains, howling winds over 100 miles an hour and snow lead to many challenges in the affected states. The storm spread over 1,000 miles including most of the East Coast. It caused an estimated 7.5 million people to lose power. Power was lost in over 8 million homes. Power was lost at theNew YorkUniversityLangoneMedicalCenter, and after the backup generators failed, they were forced to evacuate all their patients and transport them to other hospitals. As of November 14th, some residents are still without power! The storm’s heavy winds caused flooding in many places and turned many roads into rivers. Some rivers overflowed, andLower Manhattanwas inundated with water. Sandycaused flood tides as high as 13 feet and caused heavy seas which tore down parts of seaside cities. It caused many coastal towns and main roadways to close down. The storm forced many residents to evacuate their homes and towns including Coney Island; a peninsula located inNew York. Many of the affected towns were forced to close all their schools and many colleges and universities cancelled their classes. Some of the colleges made students stay in their dorms until the storm was over and it was clear to come out.
BecauseSandyhit during the election, many campaigns events had to be called off. The early voting polls were shut down and new polling places had to be set up in areas that weren’t as affected by the storm. The Stock Market also stayed closed on the Monday and Tuesday after the storm because they didn’t feel that they could open it after the mass destruction. Many retailers, airliners, home construction firms, and many more similar businesses lost business because ofSandy. 70% of the oil refineries in the countries were shut down because of the storm and theNew Yorkmetro area was damaged. These two areas combined contribute to 10% of theUnited Stateseconomic output.
Sandycaused billions of dollars in damage in theUnited States. It is said to be the second costliest hurricane inUnited Stateshistory with hurricane Katrina being the costliest. There is an estimated 52.4 billion dollars in total damage from the storm. About 20 billion of the damage was in property and housing. It is also estimated that there is 10-30 billion dollars in damage to businesses. The rest of the estimated total will go to other forms of damage and the cleanup of trees, houses, water, etc. There was significant water damage to homes and entire cities from the insane amount of water that leads to the flooding. InOceanCity, half of the pier was washed away by strong waves and flooding. The ship the HMS Bounty sank off theNorth Carolinacoast because ofSandyand the severe weather. Fourteen of the crew members were rescued from the sea, and at this point one person is dead because of drowning, while the one other crew member has not been found.
The hurricane affected many forms of public transportation and shut down most. All flights to and from the East Coast were canceled during the storm. Public transit was show down including the Metro, Virginia Railway Express, and Maryland Transportation System. Two major bridges, theBayBridgeand theMillardF.TydingsMemorialBridgewere closed.
Emotions ran high on the East Coast after the storm. Many people were without shelter, food, and proper clothing. Gas and necessities had to be rationed off to residents because there wasn’t enough. People became frustrated because they felt that they weren’t getting enough help in this disaster from the government, and the help they were getting arrived slowly. High water and debris made it difficult for rescuers to get into heavily damaged areas with food and supplies.
I asked a couple fellow students about how they thought the situation with Hurricane Sandy was being handled. I got mixed reviews. A couple students said that they believe the government was doing the best that they could do to help the victims. Others disagreed. They thought that the residents should all have power back, and should have been helped quicker. One person said that they thought the victims of the storm needed to be the first priority, and felt that they weren’t being treated like they were. Most sides brought up important points. I think that the government could have reacted quicker to the disaster, but I believe that they did an overall good job handling the disaster. What is your opinion on how the government reacted?
After reading this article you might be wondering about how you can help the Hurricane Sandy victims. There are many ways to help. One way to help is to donate money to the American Red Cross who has currently raised over 11 million dollars in donations so far. Another way to help is to donate blood. Over 300 blood drives were cancelled in over fourteen states because ofSandyand people are in desperate need. Many people are cold and lost most of their clothing and supplies. You can help by donating: winter clothes, food, blankets, cleaning supplies, and other necessities. You can look up places in need in the disaster zone and send items directly. You can also hold local car washes and fundraisers through schools, clubs, and churches and donate the money to help the victims of this horrible tragedy. One organization is selling tee shirts and sending the money to the victims in the disaster zone. Do your part and help out.
