Dalton Moller Term Paper: Super storm Sandy GEOG 1700 11:30 - 12:50 12/03/13

The second most costly hurricane on the American continent, super storm Sandy. Sandy shook the east coast U.S. with her sheer power. Flooding cities and heavily snowing, Sandy is true to her name. North Carolina, New Jersey, and New York were not prepared for the storm that formed on October 22, 2012. Sandy formed in the ocean waters by Jamaica, moving northward. For the whole duration of Sandy's life she took the life of 285 people, 125 deaths in America. The direct effects or Sandy was massive. 12,000 flights were canceled, three airports shut down, hundreds of homes were destroyed. The New York stock market was closed for two days. Massive destruction on the New York subway system, resulting from the flooding ocean waters. The storm surges generated by the hurricane reached thirteen feet above average low tide. The combination of high waters and 75 mile per hour winds, left over 7.5 million people without power. Most of the inconveniences caused by Sandy were because the electrical transformers in New York were usually stored in the basement where the flood waters were spilling in. Sandy started as a tropical wave in the Caribbean, and only six hours later upgraded to a hurricane on October

24. Over all 24 U.S. states were affected in some way by Sandy. This super storm created a large political impact as well as a physical one. Many people debated if this storm was a cause of global warming. Because the storm hit one week before the united stated general election, the storm also affected the presidential campaign. The storm was dissipated by the time of election Day, but many early voters turned away. Also Romney lost support because of his plans to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The far effects of Sandy went as far as children. The New Jersey hospital reports a spike in births nine months after super storm Sandy. The hospitals report up to a thirty five percent jump, much larger than any other post storm births associated with a natural disaster. The storm started on October 22, becoming a tropical storm Sandy began with winds of about forty miles per hour. Two days later Sandy was upgraded to a Category one hurricane, generating winds twice as fast as compared to two days prior. On October 26, Sandy moved over Cuba generating winds to about 110 miles per hour. On October 27, Sandy headed towards Florida. Sandy briefly weakens into a tropical depression, but quickly returns to a category one. On October 28, Sandy moved parallel to the coast of Georgia. Sandys eye continues to stay in the Atlantic Ocean, as she sent large waves onto the shores of North Carolina. Sandy continued to be a category one storm, with winds of eighty miles per hour. There was a threat of Sandy converging with another storm, due to unusual weather configuration that caused Sandy to

morph into a hybrid type storm as she continued to travel north. Because of a cold front directly ahead of Sandy, the hurricane will start traveling northwest to oncoming cities. Another factor in play in Sandy's destructive power is the tides, Because of the full moon the storm surge is expected to raise many more feet in some places. On October 29, Sandy turned northwest and headed for the Jersey shore. Sandy is converging and interacting with other weather systems, gaining speed and force. In the afternoon rain and winds hit Washington D.C. causing damage and cutting power. At eight p.m. the eye of the storm hits shore near Atlantic City. The mix of high winds, high tide, and a full moon creates a water surge that is about fourteen feet. During this time the flooding in New York and New Jersey is the absolute worst. The flooding will continue though three cycles of the tides. On October 30, Sandy starts to move away from New York and the storm continues to weaken and it moves inland. On October 31, Sandy dissipates over Pennsylvania. This ten day storm hit many places hard, and affected millions of people. Haiti, Cuba, and many other smaller islands in the Caribbean were hit hard by Sandy. More than half of

the deaths caused by sandy were located in the Caribbean. As Sandy traveled north, she caused measurable amounts of damage to the shores of Florida all the way to Maine. Sandy caused about 150 deaths in the United States. There are many linkages to super storm Sandy to explain why Sandy was so powerful. One reason was because the relation Sandy had to the other storms in the area, fueling sandy to grow stronger. Another was the influence of the tides and the full moon causing the sea levels to already be at their peak before the waves surged onto shore. Does global warming play a part in Sandys strength? No one is for sure, many would argue no, but many would argue that the frequency and intensity on natural disasters are increasing and something is fueling them. To some extent this hurricane could have been predicted. Scientist knew about the high tide and the full moon. Scientist knew about the cold front that would force the hurricane west. What had to be predicted was how the combining storms would mix, and how far west Sandy would turn. There were multiple storm, tropical storm, and hurricane watches put into place. New York used the data gathered to evacuate and prepare. But there comes a point when people don't know how much they need to prepare. The probability of this event happening is very low. Multiple things lined up just right to provide Sandy with the destructive force she used to hit the East coast. Sandy proved to be the second most costly hurricane to hit America. The widespread effects of Sandy affected millions of people, cutting power, and destroying property. For another

disaster like sandy to happen again would be rare. But the damage another hurricane like Sandy could do in the future would be equal or much worse. I would give the risk analysis of something like Sandy to happen again a seven. I rate it so high because although it is pretty rare of an occurrence, the affects it has on the surrounding area has proved to be massive. The largest link to hurricane Sandy was the floods that Sandy produced. The flood waters were the single most destructive element in this disaster. The hundred miles per hour winds did some nasty damage but it does not come close to the havoc the flooding caused. There is no question that the fact that we were in the way caused this to be a catastrophe. If New York was not where it currently is, hurricane Sandy would have just been a natural process. If this same thing were to happen 100 years ago, the damage would have been much less than it was in October. New York prepared by sandbagging the area, and evacuating the areas in danger of Sandys onslaught. The fact that people evacuated saved lives, and the fact that people had time to prepare before the storm hit, had such a impact on dealing with a life or death situation. If we would have known how bad this storm was going to get, I am sure that large cites like New York would have evacuated more people, and even tried to protect areas like the subway better. If this were to happen again somewhere else in the world, I would hope we would use Sandy and a lesson on what we need to do to prepare. If all of the power plants had all the machinery in the basement, there

would need to be precautionary measures taken to insure that the flooding waters did to damage them causing a power outage. The only real benefits that resulted from hurricane Sandy is that cites on they east coast will be more prepared if something like this were to happen again. Sandy took her toll on the Caribbean and the East coast, but even after all that damage and death we came out stronger than we were before. Sandy was called a super storm for a reason, and I think the lessons we learned as a country should be applied into future decisions. Because if we do not learn from our mistakes, then we are not to progress as a country. This natural disasters class has taught me some pretty amazing things. The information that I have learned over these last months will be useful to be the rest of my life no matter where I live. This course has not only taught me incredibly interesting things, but things that could one day save my live. I am so thankful that I took this course because it was fun, and I learned more than I thought was possible. This assignment was also very beneficial to me. It showed me how to dig deep for information about a topic, and process it into my own words. It also allowed me to take what I have learned throughout this semester and apply it into a topic that was applicable in my everyday life. I would recommend this corse to everybody because the information is useful and the things you learn can be used in your life. Hurricane Sandy was a horrible event, but I had no idea how bad this storm was until I started doing my research. This project also opened my eyes to understand that even if there is a disaster on the other side of the world the lessons we can learn from it can be useful wherever you live. I am happy I know now all that happened from hurricane Sandy because it allows me to better know of the danger that can be caused by a hurricane. Because I don not live by the ocean does not mean I do not need to know the dangers and horrible consequences that can be cause by a hurricane. Again I am so thankful

for this course it has taught me so much that no other class could teach me. Not only does this class apply towards my schooling, it also apples in my life.

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path-of-destruction/ Bibliography http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2012/11/02/a-timeline-of-hurricane-sandys-

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tag/superstorm-sandy http://www.livescience.com/24380-hurricane-sandy-status-data.html http://www.weather.com/news/sandy-recap-20121030