Hurricane Sandy: Life After Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Sandy was a tropical cyclone that devastated portions of the Caribbean, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States in late October 2012. The eighteenth named storm and tenth hurricane of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season, Sandy was the largest Atlantic hurricane on record, as measured by diameter, with winds spanning 1,100 miles. Sandy is estimated in early calculations to have caused damage of at least $20 billion. Preliminary estimates of losses that include business interruption surpass $50 billion, which, if confirmed, would make it the second-costliest Atlantic hurricane in history, behind only Hurricane Katrina.

Junot Diaz once said “Disasters don’t just happen. They are always made possible by a series of often-invisible societal choices that implicate more than just those being drowned or buried in rubble” (Junot Diaz, 1). This quote introduces the idea of what is referred to as a social disaster. A social disaster can be a natural disaster such as earthquakes, tsunamis, or hurricanes etc. that are associated with some environmental, cultural, or political problem (Hovenac, 1). These societal problems can be a result of the natural disaster but more often issues that have always been there that are uncovered by the event of the natural disaster. When we look back at natural disasters that have occurred in United States, we notice that societal issues also arise with these events. A known example of this is when Hurricane Katrina hit the United States in 2005. As a result of the storm, researchers claimed that the socioeconomic status of those affected by the storm played a vital role in the damages that they face. This natural disaster brought attention to the pressing issue of the socioeconomic imbalance in our country and how it affects those in a natural disaster.

Hurricanes leave a lot of damage to the states they hit. It also can kill people and leave people injured, my topic is Hurricane Sandy and this affected a lot of people.

Hurricane Katrina claimed over one thousand lives, giving it the title of 5th deadliest hurricane in the history of the United States. Hurricane Katrina was not only very deadly, but it was expensive. The bank-breaking storm racked up over one hundred billion dollars in damage, after reaching land on August 28, 2005, and would show no mercy for whatever stood in its path. The storm has forever impacted the American culture and will continue to do so as many areas have yet to completely recover.

The state of New York was severely affected by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, particularly its suburbs, Long Island, and New York City. The devastation impacted New York City's Subway system, road tunnels, and many communities across the area. Furthermore, the New York Stock Exchange closed for two days, an entire hospital complex had to be evacuated as well as the surrounding neighborhood, and multiple fires destroyed over 100 homes in Queens. Thus, in the end, 53 people lost their lives due to Sandy. The economic impact accrued damage to thousands of homes and an estimate of 250,000 vehicles across New York. The city faced $19 billion in damage, with $32.8 billion required for restoration across the state of New York. (City of New York)

Have you ever driven down the Garden State Parkway and seen car magnets that have “Jersey Strong” written on them? To summarize what “Jersey Strong” means in a few words is that no matter what obstacle strikes the Garden State, the people who live in New Jersey can get through anything together. In the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season, New Jersey was hit by a deadly hurricane that left southern parts of the state in complete ruins. Not only were thousands of homes and businesses destroyed, but also over one hundred people were killed nationwide. This hurricane was a natural disaster that thousands of people could never forget about. The history making hurricane, Hurricane Sandy, did not only leave destruction in New Jersey, but also personal and economic troubles.

In April 2012, the United States of America experienced Sandy, known as one of the deadliest and costliest hurricanes in the American history. It is estimated that the hurricane caused damage of about $75 million. Besides numerous causalities along its path, the deadly hurricane left many cities without electricity, communication system, infrastructure and even shelter in many cases. Within the United States, New Jersey and New, both major socio-economic hubs and highly populated regions, remained the worst hit area of the storm.

Hurricanes are formed over tropical waters. These intense storms consist of winds over 74 miles per hour (Ahrens & Sampson, 2011). The storms addressed here are Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy. This paper will explore the contrasts and comparisons between these two horrific storms.

Recently and historically hurricanes have caused catastrophic amounts of damage to individuals, property, and society as a whole. Given this immense amount of destruction caused by hurricanes, a president’s response to these storms is not only extraordinarily significant but necessary for society to recover from the damage. Not only does the president need to provide aid and support to the victims affected directly by these hurricanes, but also unite America in these times of crisis. A president’s ability to deal with these dire situations is crucial to their success and a representation of their leadership skills. Hurricane Maria and Hurricane Sandy were both similar storms that resulted in contrasting results. Two deadly storms with two very different responses: one from Obama and the other from Trump. President Obama’s response to Hurricane Sandy was swift and respectful, while Trump’s to Maria was sluggish and demeaning to the people of Puerto Rico, demonstrating the contrast between Obama’s heart and intellect and Trump’s idiocy and heartlessness.

As the Assistant Administrator of National Preparedness with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (F.E.M.A.) when Super Storm Sandy made landfall on October 29, 2012, in New Jersey it brought with it storm surges of more than 11 feet, killing more than 100 people (including 43 in New York of which 34 occurred in Queens and Staten Island), destroying or damaging thousands of homes, and leaving more than 8 million people without power.

Hurricane Katrina was the storm of the century. Hurricane Sandy earned the nickname Super storm Sandy. If anyone had any doubts as to what Mother Nature is capable of, these storms are perfect examples of the fury she can dish out here on planet Earth. The sheer amount of energy those storms had is almost incomprehensible. Katrina had sustained winds of 174 mph and wave heights of over 40 feet in some places. (Knabb) Sandy had winds of 115 mph and dumped over 10 inches of rain (Blake). By all measures, they were both extremely powerful weather systems capable of taking lives.

One of the most costly hurricanes in U.S. history was the 2005 hit from Hurricane Katrina where the total damages were estimated to exceed $100 billion to the U.S. The storm was a category 3 when it finally struck land at the Louisiana and Mississippi coast but out at sea it reached a staggering category 5. This massive storm caused massive flooding to New Orleans after it had caused the levees to break due to the strong surges. The breakdown of the levees grew much attention because it was revealed about how vulnerable the coastline really was to these types of strong storms which in return caused such a catastrophe to the communities in its path. The flooding catastrophe was to follow the storm due to the vulnerabilities which grew worldwide

There is an estimate of $50 billion in damages according to David Abramson in Hurricane Sandy: Lessons Learned, Again (Abramson, 1). In the effort to restore some that was destroyed, government agencies were set out to help. “As of July 2013 FEMA and the Small Business Administration (SBA) had helped more then 270,000 individuals or households and 3,900 businesses to get back on their feet through $3.8 billion in SBA recovery loans and FEMA individual assistance.” (US Department of Housing and Urban Development) The repercussion of this storm could’ve been prevented with better preparation behaviors. In an article from The Nations Health, Natalie McGill talks about those living in public housing and shelters during the storm. She describes how residents in shelters went without main necessities such as electricity and food for weeks after the storm (McGill, 2014). In another article Nancy Solomon describes a family from Long Island whose bay house was completely destroyed by Sandy yet she was gratified to see that process was being made. (Solomon, 2016) So although not all affected by the storm feel abandoned by the efforts of the government it is a pressing issue for a majority that

One of the major hurricanes that made headline news was Hurricane Katrina. It was said that Hurricane Katrina was one of the most deadliest hurricanes to ever hit the United States. The damages done by Katrina was absolutely devastating. Costing at about an estimated $75 million dollars in repairs, Hurricane Katrina is one of the most costliest hurricanes in the history of U.S. hurricanes. The disaster lasted about eight days, starting on August 23rd and ending on August 31st of 2005. On August 28th, 2005, the tropical storm turned into a category five hurricane with winds of 175 miles per hour. The storm took away the lives of approximately 2,000

Hurricane Katrina not only tore the city apart and forever changed the lives of the people living in New Orleans, but truly hit home for the rest of America as well. Nothing of this brutal disaster had really hit the nation before August 23th, 2005, so the shock of it all struck the nation at an all time high. The after math of Katrina was catastrophic on the worst levels. Families were torn apart, homes and vehicles swept away or completely ruined by the massive amounts of water, and all that was planned to save lives was partly ironically what drown them. In a situation like this one would expect a hospital to be sophisticated and more equipped to keep it together, but it ultimately the opposite happened entirely. When the lives lost were