Hurricane Sandy Research Paper

Introduction Hurricane Sandy brought devastation to the Atlantic coast in late October 2012. The storm claimed lives and caused major destruction, ranging in billions of dollars’ worth of damages. Throughout this paper, topics covering the storm will be discussed such as conditions leading to its formation, the path of the storm, landfall and its destruction, and ending with rebuilding efforts and future readiness.

The Formation Hurricane Sandy began as a tropical wave in the Caribbean on October 19, 2012 (Sharp). On October 21 it appeared as a low pressure center in the southwestern Caribbean Sea, and then turned into a tropical depression on October 22, 2012 (Shen, DeMaria and Li). According to National Weather service in their report

The first area to be hit by the hurricane was Jamaica. Sandy first made landfall in Jamaica on October 24, 2012, several days before heading north to the U.S. Trees and powerlines were easily blown down and small shanties were destroyed. Winds were recorded at 80 miles per hour (CNN). Only several deaths were recorded in Jamaica due to the hurricane.

On October 25, 2012 the hurricane next made landfall in Cuba (CNN). It hit land at a recorded category 2 hurricane with winds of 105 miles per hour. The total deaths for the country of Cuba totaled 11 people, many of which died due to being trapped in their homes from damage and debris caused by the hurricane. During the same day, October 25, 2012, Sandy also hit Haiti. 44 deaths were confirmed by Sandy in Haiti. On October 26, 2012, Sandy registered as a category 1 hurricane and the states of New York, Maryland, Washington D.C., Pennsylvania, and North Carolina declared a state of emergency (CNN). The governor of Maine also calls for, and allows help from power companies in neighboring Canada to help the state prepare for

This was not only due to the size and devastation of the storm, but an effort by the federal government to better themselves in responding to natural disasters. The lesson was learned when the federal government was slow to call for response during hurricane Katrina years earlier. In the days immediately following Sandy’s impact, rescue missions were in full swing, rescuing trapped families in the New York Metropolitan area and Staten Island, mostly by use of helicopter. In January of 2013, three months after the storm, congress and the President passed legislation and signed the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act which provided $50 billion in to support rebuilding to the region (Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task