Late October 2012, the local news channels were spewing out their forecasts of an impending hurricane named Sandy. As a lifetime New Yorker I have witnessed remnants of hurricanes, nor‘easters and blizzards. Generally the reports are over blown and consequences happen only in areas that consistently flood whenever there has been serious weather events. Being a cynical New Yorker I truly didn‘t think that hurricane Sandy was much of a concern to me. I was wrong.
On Monday October 29, 2012 what was called Superstorm Sandy came a calling. She came and stayed for three days moving slowly and pushing water onto the land. This flooding was at a level that none of us were prepared for. The subways and tunnels were severely flooded. Research has shown there had not been a storm like Sandy since 1700. The price tag for the damage done to New York City and New Jersey from Sandy came to $50 billion.
NYC and New Jersey schools were closed for a week, since many were in areas that had no electricity. Other schools were flooded and were closed longer. Some schools were also used for sheltering. Back at my home, my flashlights, emergency radio was not enough to sustain us through this lengthy superstorm. We were fortunate enough to get one of the few generators left. Next we had to get a licensed electrician to hook the generator to our fuse box. This surprisingly wasn‘t the hardest part, that was finding a gas container to transport the gas. We were able to get some smaller gas containers from our mechanic neighbor. Now that we did all this, we should be covered? Not quite! Being hurricane rookies we never realized that gas pumps need electricity too. Eventually, after networking and driving around we got some elusive gas. The electric was important, because my mother in law who lived with us was 87, and she needed heat.
With the return of our television service, we can now see how devastated NYC and New Jersey were as a result of Superstorm Sandy. The reason it was a Superstorm are factors that made it a perfect storm. Sandy started out with the warm water which many hurricanes generate their strength from. Then it traveled into a series of cold fronts. This produced a hurricane wrapped in a snow storm. As if this scenario wasn‘t treacherous enough, there was also a full moon that affected the water’s tides. Hurricanes usually have their highest wind by the eye. Mixed with the winter storm it made Sandy wider and quite dangerous
New York
By October 29, 2012. Mayor Bloomberg ordered the evacuation of 375,000.. These residents all lived near the water and were asked to relocate to higher ground. Shelter space was being offered at the closed schools. Waves crashed over the Battery Park roses walls that measured over 14 ft. There were 106 fires in NYC that were attributed to Sandy. Three thousand people‘s homes were too damaged to stay in. There were 80,000 people who lived in NYC Housing Authority buildings without basic services. “The city that never sleeps“, had become paralyzed from the storm.
New Jersey
On October 29, 2012, 8 pm Sandy made landfall at Brigantine, New Jersey. The Governor of New Jersey at that time Chris Christie had ordered Jersey Shore and barrier islands evacuated. Even Atlantic City casinos were also program ordered to close. After the storm National Guardsman patrolled the Jersey Shore and Barnegat Bay to keep looters out.
The residents that were evacuated did not get to see their ravaged homes until weeks later. What these homeowners saw was heartbreaking. One out of every four homes were destroyed. Boardwalks were destroyed, sand needed to be replaced and the Jet Star roller coaster was now in the water. President Obama visited the destruction that Sandy caused in New Jersey.
Superstorm Sandy’s Ten Year Anniversary (October 2022)
Logically one might think that after Sandy we will have righted all the wrongs. Many homeowners have built back better, which was also the name of a financial assistance program. This helped owners to raise their houses and to make their homes resilient to future storms. Unfortunately, only 4% of homeowners carry flood insurance , although 90% of catastrophes involve flooding. The minority of flood insurance owners found that many things were not covered. Insurance companies took a long time to do inspections and even longer negotiating and paying out money. In some cases it took so long that the home owners could not get workers to do the repairs, because they were busy elsewhere. By the time work was done, which in many cases took years. The amount awarded by the insurance companies was not enough due to the inflationary cost of building materials and labor, since it was in such high demand.
Many of the victims of Sandy had to move elsewhere either permanently or temporarily. Those that were renting temporarily had additional financial burdens. Besides their home mortgages, they were now paying rent. New Jersey offered a mortgage forbearance program, which had been extended to July 1, 2022. Incredibly there are still homes that have not been fixed within this ten year period. This means that the home owners who are renting elsewhere, may have their house foreclosed on. This is a sad state of affairs, since a home is usually one‘s biggest asset. These homeowners in most cases have lost most of their belongings and to now lose a home due to no fault of their own is shameful.
Lessons were learned from Sandy. In NY there were 70,000 New York City Housing Authority apartments affected by Sandy. To be able to withstand another storm, mechanicals were raised, heating systems replaced and generators were installed. Some homes were knocked down, because they were in precarious locations, beaches were replenished with sand, sea walls were built. There is a proposal by the U. S Army Corp of Engineers to build movable storm barriers along the NY Harbor. Price tag $52 billion.
Hurricane Ida
If lessons were learned from Superstorm Sandy, then why on Sept 1, 2021 Hurricane Ida was so devastating? Hurricanes can inflict damage in different ways. Ida caused flash flooding of biblical proportions. Aging sewer systems could not handle the amount of water that Ida produced. As a result basement apartments were dangerously flooded, causing dozens of people to die. Basement apartments were not on anyone‘s radar, until the intrusion of Hurricane Ida. As a result of climate change these torrential rain storms will become more routine. WTH
For those people that were displaced by Hurricane Sandy or Ida, I hope that you are now in homes or apartments that are resilient. My personal experience during Hurricane Sandy was annoying and caused additional expense. However, we were physically safe and our home was not damaged. Super Storms and hurricanes will become more frequent and devastating. Hurricane lan was a stark reminder of this. If you live in a flood zone, keep a go bag and do not leave valuables in your basement. Have a plan where you can go if your home is threatened. Reach out and help others that are in that situation. Lastly, if you can improve your carbon footprint please do. Our children and grandchildren deserve a safe and clean world.
