Hurricane Sandy: Stronger Than The Storm

Over the past decade, the world has experienced more natural disaster than people can count. Floods, mudslides, earthquakes, and raging fires are just a few of the events that have stripped people away from their families, homes, and possessions. The deadliest of these natural disasters are hurricanes. Extremely strong winds mixed with large waves can cause enormous damage, taking months, even years for towns to recover. Hurricane Katrina left millions of people without homes and families torn apart. Hurricane Sandy demolished the Jersey coast, leaving years of repair work behind. The most recent and powerful hurricane that surfaced is Hurricane Maria. A level five hurricane, Hurricane Maria ripped straight through the United States territory of Puerto Rico. The island lost power, supplies

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.

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.

Few hours before Katrina hit ground, people believed the storm had missed the city. In

Connell, II, Disaster Management Solutions Inc., MA [M] Melody Eady, Georgia Fire Academy, GA [SE] Richard J. S. Karasaki, Jr., Honolulu Fire Department, HI [U] Wesley V. Kitchel, Santa Rosa Fire Department, CA [L] Timothy A. Kovacs, Phoenix Fire Department, AZ [L] Timothy J. Lombardi, Cuyahoga Falls Fire Department, OH [L] Rep. NFPA Fire Service Section J. Michael McCreary, American Emergency Response Training, TN [SE] Robert N. Moody, Montgomery County, Maryland, MD [L] Robert E. Rhea, Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department, VA [U] Brian Rousseau, State of New York, NY [E] Robert J. Schappert, III, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, DC [U] Peter M. Schecter, Government of the British Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands [E] Rep. International Association of Fire Chiefs Ralph Sproul, Chevron Products Company, CA [U] Michael L. Walker, Oklahoma City Fire Department, OK [U] Charles A. Wehrli, Spec Rescue, IL [SE] Ernest R. Wright, Wright Rescue Solutions, Inc., FL [SE] Leonard E. Yox, Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute, MD [SE] Andrea Zaferes, Lifeguard Systems, RIPTIDE, AZ Training, NY [SE] Alternates Brad Eveland, U.S. Air Force, AK [E] (Voting Alt. to U.S. Air Force Rep.) Fred J. Jackson, Cuyahoga Falls Fire Department, OH [L] (Alt. to T. J. Lombardi) Rep. NFPA Fire Service Section Frank E. Florence, NFPA Staff Liaison

Hurricane Andrew, some may say it was the worst hurricane ever to make landfall on US soil. In my research I have found that andrew was the worst for the 90’s time period. In the 90’s the people had very poor storm shelters for such a horrific storm a lot of people died because of this.

Nor’easters are the most common type of coastal storm that affects Connecticut. This type of coastal storm has wind speeds and surges that are lower than from hurricanes, however, they can still inflict a substantial amount of damage because they extend over broader areas and last over numerous tidal cycles. This type of coastal storm is most rampant between December and March (Gornitz et al., 2004). Two recent nor’easters that have hit Connecticut took place between October 31–November 1 of 1991 and December 11–12, 1992, and Milford was among the hardest-hit communities (floodwaters 10 to 12 feet above normal) (Gornitz et al., 2004). The nor’easter storms also caused major coastal flooding, disrupted transportation, and power outages. On the other hand, hurricanes are less frequent than nor’easters coastal storms in Connecticut and form over warm water. In recent years, Hurricane Sandy in 2012 cost Connecticut almost $400 million in damages (Frumhoff et al., 2007). Likewise, many people were unable to access electricity from CT energy suppliers and the hurricane also affected the people from the lower and middle-class communities. Most of the agricultural features in Connecticut were negatively impacted, including shellfish production. Infrastructure items such as dams and levees, transportation, and facilities and buildings were also damaged. The

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.

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.

The article that I picked was Why This Hurricane Season Has Been So Catastrophic by Michael Greshko. Greshko in this article looks at Harvey, Irma and Maria, and looks at why this hurricane season has been so active. When hurricane Irma hit it quickly became known as the strongest Atlantic hurricane in recorded history and Greshko drew comparisons between the last two powerful storms that hit the United States Katrina and Rita. The article looks at how active this 2017 hurricane season forecast has been. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Colorado State University, and the Weather Channel all estimate that we are likely to see more hurricanes than usual spawning in the Atlantic Ocean. It looks like there could be between 15 to 19 names storms and five to nine hurricanes

Even though FEMA has made progress, there is additional work needed in several areas. The response of the storm exposed challenges in how FEMA coordinated Federal agencies, State officials, and preparing and deploying it staff. For example, “difficulties with issuing mission assignment in a timely manner, implementation of incident management structures, and meeting the needs of survivors during the response phase” are some of the challenges that FEMA’s Sandy after action report identified. There were also challenges with delivering disaster relief and services to the seniors and individuals with disabilities trapped in public housing (U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 2013). The report revealed that FEMA had not worked with other federal

Hurricane Ike was a very large, powerful tropical cyclone that formed in the Atlantic Ocean in September of 2008. Ike was especially remarkable due to its extremely large size, very large wind field, and damaging flood surge. Ike made landfall in several different areas, making its affects felt in more than one area. The main areas affected by Ike was parts of the Greater Antilles and North America, especially Texas. Ike’s track started off the coast of Africa, crossed the Atlantic into the Caribbean, and then entered the Gulf of Mexico making its final landfall in Texas. Ike then travelled North-Northeast across the Southern and Midwest regions of the United States and then crossed into Canada. According to NOAA,

Every emergency or disaster, from a small house fire to a hurricane that devastates entire communities, have a distinct cycle. This is

On August 29, 2009, Hurricane Katrina struck the United States Gulf Coast. It was a Category 3 Hurricane, according to the Saffir Simpson Scale. Winds gusted to up to 140 miles per hour, and the hurricane was almost 400 miles wide . The storm itself did a tremendous amount of damage, but the storm’s aftermath was cataclysmic. Many claimed that the federal government was slow to meet the needs of the hundreds of thousands of people affected by the storm. This paper will examine the four elements of disaster management – preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation – as well as an analysis on the data presented.