The Aftermath and Politics of Hurricane / “Super Storm” Sandy
On October 29, 2012, Hurricane Sandy came ashore near Atlantic City, New Jersey as a Category 1 hurricane.
Although the hurricane wasn’t packing very strong winds (at least, compared to what hurricanes could really do), the primary destruction from the cyclone was from the incredible storm surge. Unfortunately for the coastal residents and businesses stretching from Delaware to Connecticut, Hurricane Sandy came ashore at night during high tide, adding that much more water flooding the region.
Hurricane Sandy approaching New Jersey.
Another factor with Hurricane Sandy and its total area of destruction was a result of the storm’s massive size. As the storm closed in on the northeast coast, Hurricane Sandy had a diameter of about a thousand nautical miles. It wasn’t just a small area that felt the effects of the storm — it was the entire region of the northeast.
Hurricane Sandy making landfall in New Jersey.
Fortunately, residents had plenty of warning about the approaching storm. The computer models were fairly accurate several days in advance of the storm making landfall in New Jersey, giving people plenty of time to leave the area. Many of those who left the area would be completely shocked at the amount of destruction when they return home.
Destruction at Breezy Point, Queens, New York City.
The damage from Hurricane Sandy has been incredible in the U.S., especially in New Jersey and parts of New York City. Although these are coastal towns and technically should be ready for such storms, as we know from history, hurricanes don’t really impact that area of the country. By the time the storms reach that far north they normally make a curve to the northeast and head into the northern Atlantic Ocean. So for a tropical storm let alone a hurricane to actually make landfall at New Jersey, you know that the damage is going to be more severe than a hurricane making landfall at Pensacola, Florida, Mobile, Alabama, or anywhere along the Carolina coast.
Another look at the destruction in Breezy Point.
One of the worst areas of destruction was the Breezy Point community in Queens, New York City. It wasn’t just the flooding that hit that area. At some point as the hurricane was making landfall, a six-alarm fire broke out in the community, destroying a total of 111 homes.
Hurricane Sandy – Casino Pier amusement park, New Jersey
The numbers behind Hurricane Sandy area equally devastating. The damage estimate (including losses from business interruptions) is over $50 billion, making Hurricane Sandy the second-costliest Atlantic hurricane. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 cost an estimated $108 billion.
Time-lapse shot of Hurricane Sandy moving over New York City.
More importantly, the total death toll associated with Hurricane Sandy stands at 185 people killed, with 113 of them being here in the U.S.
Hurricane Sandy – New York City power outage
For me, one of the most compelling shots of the hurricane’s immediate impact (apart from seeing the big waves wash ashore) was seeing the blackouts throughout New York City. That’s just something that you never see or hear about. When there’s a blackout in New York City, for whatever reason, it’s big news. Seeing such a large area of the country’s largest city without power was just beyond belief. It’s the city that never sleeps.
The rest of Hurricane Sandy’s effect had even more shocking numbers.
- Between October 27 through November 1, over 19,729 flights in and out of that area had been cancelled.
- Wall Street was closed and no trading took place for two days. The last time weather caused the stock exchange to be closed for two days was March 12 & 13, 1888 (Great Blizzard of 1888).
- As of November 1, 2012, over 4.8 million customers were still without power throughout New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut.
And then there’s there’s FEMA’s response to Hurricane Sandy.
When you read the news headlines about the conditions in specifically New Jersey and parts of New York City, you have to wonder why the media and general masses aren’t screaming at the top of their lungs like they did after Hurricane Katrina.
Right after Hurricane Katrina people were screaming left and right about the lack of response from not only FEMA but President Bush as well. He signed the federal aid paperwork, but since he was president at the time, he still took the ultimate responsibility for the government’s response.
This time around it’s President Obama and FEMA to the rescue of a significant weather event that wrecked havoc across a region of the country. Sure, Obama signed the requests for federal aid, but that’s about it. He promised the people effected that they wouldn’t be left behind, but Obama was busy on the campaign trail for almost all of the time after the storm. So now that FEMA has been slow in responding to this event and the president is too busy campaigning, where’s the national outcry like we experienced after Katrina?
Hurricane Sandy aftermath – Children and adults forced to go dumpster diving in New York City.
Anything? Anything at all? Are people still enjoying being without power and gasoline? We felt the gasoline pinch in 2005 here in Atlanta after Katrina struck, but that’s nothing compared to the rationing and more significant shortages in New Jersey and New York City. Did the people have fun digging through dumpsters, looking for anything still edible?
Mark my words – If a Republican president was in the White House and there was this same slow response from FEMA while the president was busy campaigning for re-election, there would be a MASSIVE outcry from the citizens and news media. They would be damning him for continuing with a re-election campaign, putting his own job security ahead of the thousands of people who desperately need help.
But there isn’t an outcry this time. The media is keeping the politically damaging stories about the slow recovery from Hurricane Sandy mostly under wraps. We may hear more about it starting in a day or two once the election coverage is finished, but I’m starting to doubt it.
That’s politics and the news media for you. It’s incredibly biased and nobody seems to care. I feel bad for the people still suffering in miserable conditions while The Powers That Be conveniently forget about them.