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Sandy... The Legacy
Hurricane Sandy – The Aftermath
Now the work begins. News from late October/into November 2012: “A swirl of thunderstorms in the Caribbean, which is a notorious breeding ground for October hurricanes, is expected to coalesce into Tropical Storm Sandy and possibly intensify to hurricane strength as it moves toward Jamaica, eastern Cuba, and the Bahamas by Wednesday and Thursday. But it's what could happen after that that has some weather forecasters pondering some rather bizarre scenarios — think if a hurricane and nor'easter mated, possibly spawning a very rare and powerful hybrid storm, slamming into the Boston-to-Washington corridor early next week, with rain, snow, damaging winds, and potential storm surge flooding. Several computer model runs have shown a slingshot scenario, in which Tropical Storm (or hurricane) Sandy initially moves out to sea east of North Carolina, but is captured by the jet stream and flung northwestward into the Mid-Atlantic or Northeast." (Source: Huffington Post)
Hurricane Sandy was all of this and much, much more. The storm grew to be one of the top five most destructive storms to strike the United States in the past 100 years, with sustained winds of 60 plus MPH, gusts to over 90 and a storm surge of more than 12 feet in some coastal areas.
The storm moved so slowly that it battered some of the most populated areas in the country through three high tide cycles and flooded areas that had never before flooded in anyone’s living memory. Lives were lost and tens of billions of dollars in property and infrastructure resulted, with many buildings totally destroyed. Weeks after the storm more than 40,000 homes and businesses were still without power and many were uninhabitable.
More than any natural disaster event in the past four decades, Sandy has opened the eyes of the American public and their elected officials to the possible impact of climate change -- and the power of nature’s brute force when aimed at the nation’s most populated cities.
What does it all mean and where will the experience take us? This Hot Topic section will present the facts, air the debate and post the reports sure to come -- on such things as the lack of preparedness of public and private sector entities, suggested remedies, preventive steps, and the strong leadership examples of very competent public officials. And now, the work of rebuilding begins.
Should structures and infrastructure be rebuilt "where it was," or, should the region's leaders take this moment as a window of opportunity to harden coastlines and better protect vulnerable parts of the land areas to better withstand the powerful storms of the future? Who will pay for the rebuilding? What are the impacts going to be on business owners and residents? Stay Tuned -- we will bring you information you need to know in this Hot Topic.
Latest on Sandy... The Legacy
Source: Fox News
When a massive blackout does hit – and it will – in literally one second, you can lose access to your money, food, gasoline, communication, medicine, medical attention, heat, air conditioning, and…security
Source: Orlando Sentinel
If experts have learned anything about hurricanes in the last two seasons it’s that wind is not the major culprit in hurricane fatalities. It'’s the water, said Ken Graham Director of NOAA’s National Weather...
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Teams made up of hundreds of volunteers with the Houston-based CrowdSource Rescue organization were searching for more than 1,135 people in Florida who lost contact with friends and family, Matthew Marchetti, co-founder of...
February 22, 2018 Stronger storms mean new 'category six' scale may be neededSource: The Guardian
The increasing strength, intensity and duration of tropical cyclones has climate scientists questioning whether a new classification needs to be created: a category-six storm.
January 9, 2018 Mudslide and flood threat prompts evacuations in burnt Southern California as major storm loomsSource: NBC News
Mudslides and flashfloods, or at least the potential for them, raised new danger for Southern California on Monday as mandatory evacuations were issued for regions already devastated by wildfires and now facing the first major...
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