When devastation hits the nation, it’s people coming together to clean up the mess that truly reflects the strength of America’s citizens. Beginning on Oct. 29, Hurricane Sandy hit the United States, and from this moment it became one of the most damaging storms in history.
Hurricane Sandy touched down on six states including New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and West Virginia. Surrounding states were also affected by the storm and felt the indirect strength of Sandy.
With a storm as powerful as this, there were bound to be immense repercussions to everything in its path of destruction. Sandy’s devastation created not only physical damages, but it also affected the lives of countless people.
In order to gain a better numerical understanding of how much damage Sandy caused, professionals turn to Eqecat, a device that tracks hurricanes and examines the destruction of each hurricane. According to Eqecat, the total estimated losses for Sandy are around $50 billion. An estimated $12 billion of these damages are said to be towards the New York metropolitan area, which appears to have received the most damage.
Sandy falls in line with the damages of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, costing nearly $108 billion, and Hurricane Andrew in 1992, $25 billion. It is important to take note that these losses are measured in dollar amounts that were corresponding to the economy at the current time. Being a part of the top three most expensive and damaging storms is not something to be taken lightly.
As mentioned, New York City received the bulk of Sandy’s rage as many roads and subways were flooded. Because of this, city-goers struggled to get to work on time, if at all. Schools were canceled for the duration of the storm for safety reasons. Citizens’ concerns ranged from how to get to work to how to stay warm without any electrical heat. The Department of Energy noted that Sandy knocked out the power of more homes and businesses than any storm has before. The citywide blackout in New York created an ominous shroud of darkness to be cast over the city, fitting the mood of the situation especially considering the fact that Halloween was right around the corner.
The storm finally started to settle down around Thursday, Nov. 1, with the death toll totaling close to 100 people. These tragic deaths are not the only calamities that were results of Sandy; many lives were permanently altered by the wild wind tunnel. People were trapped in cars, subways and buildings, and homes were completely destroyed. At the time, there was nothing anyone could do to stop mother nature; but, now that the storm has past, it is up to the nation to come together to pick up the pieces and attempt to restore everything to its rightful place.
The loss of friends and family members will unfortunately never be fixed, but with much effort and resources, the physical aspects of the restoration process may be sped up. It is interesting to note that this natural disaster occurred during the crucial presidential election. The reactions of each potential candidate acted as another unplanned method to evaluate the candidates.
Perhaps in the future there can be more preventative measures taken so that a storm such as Hurricane Sandy does not have such a significant impact; however, going through an event such as this is a learning experience for the nation if nothing else.