Katie Hensley
On October 22, 2012 a tropical storm in the Western Caribbean Sea was quickly
upgraded to Tropical Storm Sandy. Tropical Storm Sandy moved northward toward the Great
Antilles. On October 24, 2012 the tropical storm was classified as a Hurricane and made landfall
in Kingston Jamaica. On October 25, Hurricane Sandy hit Cuba. On the 26th Sandy made its way
through the Bahamas. And finally on the October 29th Hurricane Sandy curved northwest and hit
near Brigantine, New Jersey.
A total of 286 people
died from effects of
Hurricane Sandy. People
from the Greater Antilles,
Bermuda, The Bahamas, Eastern Canada, and the Eastern United States were affected. The
deaths that were directly related to Hurricane Sandy are as followed; Canada 1, Cuba 11,
Dominican Republic 3, Haiti 54, Jamaica 1, Puerto Rico 1, The Bahamas 2, United States, 73.
Jamaica was the first to be affected by Hurricane Sandy when it made landfall in
Kingston on October 24. It left 70% without power. More than 1,000 Jamaicans evacuated to
shelters. In Haiti as a result of 4 days of ongoing rain, 200,000 were left homeless. Because of
the rain damage to crops, over 1 million people had food shortages. In the Dominican Republic
8,755 were evacuated. In Cuba 55,000 people were evacuated. Waves reached 29 feet, and 6
foot storm surges occurred in some parts, an incredible 132,733 homes were damaged. In Puerto
Rico 100 families were forced to leave their homes. Seven hundred million dollars in damages
occurred in The Bahamas. The United States was affected the most. Sixty eight billion dollars
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worth of damage occurred. Throughout the United States 19,729 flights had to be cancelled. Two
days after the hurricane 6 million people were still without power. In Florida the waves reached
10 feet high. In Virginia side effects of the hurricane left 180,000 powerless. There was a severe
amount of sewage overflow due to power outages in Maryland. In Delaware 45,000 were without
power. In Pennsylvania 1.2 million people were left without electricity. In West Virginia some
areas received 3 feet of snow in correlation to this great hurricane. Ohio had 250,000 without
power, and winds were recorded at 68 mph in some areas. In Michigan 120,000 lost power.
Kentucky received one foot of snow. In New
Jersey 50,000 people were evacuated. In Many
areas there were five feet of water in the streets.
2,600,000 people had no electricity. In New
York two million people did not have power,
10 billion gallons of raw sewage was released
due to the storm. A record breaking storm surge
occurred in New York, the surge was 13.88
feet. Also in Canada 145,000 were without power.
Many people believe that Hurricane Sandy hit so strongly and had such an impact
because of global warming. The entire Eastern Seaboard was about 5 degrees higher than normal
at the time of year when the hurricane hit. This has caused people to believe the increase in
temperature was the reason behind the hurricane coming so late in the season. Another reason
people believe Hurricane Sandy hit was due to the lack of sea ice. They believe the loss of sea
ice is changing the flow of the atmosphere enough to intensify the risk of severe weather in
multitude regions like the United States.
Katie Hensley
There were many direct and indirect effects of Hurricane Sandy. Of course some of the
direct effects were heavy rain, snow fall, strong winds, storm surges, floods and death. These
affected people from The Greater Antilles, Bermuda, The Bahamas, Eastern Canada, and the
Eastern United States. However, there was an overwhelming amount of indirect effects as well.
Fires broke out because sea water came in contact with electrical systems. In Breezy Point,
Queens, 122 homes were decimated from fires. The loss of power also was an indirect effect of
Sandy. 8.5 million people lost power during this hurricane. In many cities there was a release of
sewage because of the storm. Public Health Officials cautioned everybody of the dangers and
diseases that were potentially in the water. They warned of vibrio a bacterial infection that forms
from untreated sewage in the water. They also warned of parasites, E.coli, and potential
dangerous debris that could be hidden in the water. Another indirect effect of Hurricane Sandy
was the property damage, whether a home or a business, millions of people lost their property,
many with no hope to salvage their buildings. There were also many deaths from the indirect
effects as well. Many people died from diseases, home collapses and fires.
Hurricane Sandy was very well forecasted and warned. Hurricane Sandy was followed by
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) from the point it turned from a
tropical depression into Hurricane Sandy. As soon as the depression turned into a hurricane the
NOAA issued public advisories on October 22. The hurricane was forecasted, warnings and
watches were set all along the East Coast. On October 24 watches were set for the East Coast of
Florida as well as the Upper Keys. On October 25 the hurricane was in the Caribbean Sea and
still being closely watched. Also on the 25th the Red Cross warned New York to get readied. On
the 26th they added warnings for North Carolina and South Carolina. The US Coast Guard and
the National Guard got called to set up for the storms all along the East Coast. President Obama
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was also notified and briefed on the hurricane. On the 28th President Obama signed emergency
declarations and over a thousand FEMA officials were deployed to the East Coast. Although
they could not predict exactly where Hurricane Sandy would hit, or how hard, they were very
aware of the situation and were warning and forecasting it.
Living anywhere near the ocean has its obvious risks that a hurricane might occur.
Anybody who lives near the ocean is aware of the potential threat of a hurricane. However,
knowing that one may occur in the future, and thinking that one will happen in your lifetime is a
very different thing. Most of the people that were affected by Hurricane Sandy obviously
believed that the risk of living near the ocean was worth the reward or living near the coast.
However that risk lead to 8.5 million people without power, and 68 billion dollars in damages.
Hurricane Sandy was linked with coastal
erosion. Many areas near where Sandy hit had
very severe damage because of coastal erosion.
Hurricane Sandy led to severe weather up and
down the Eastern United States. In Ohio winds
reached 68 mph. Florida experienced 67 mph
winds. Delaware had high winds and rain.
Maryland also had high winds as well as snow
fall. North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and
Kentucky all had snow storms.
Hurricane Sandy was a catastrophe, however the effects would not have been nearly as
bad even 50 years. In the last few decades more and more people have been swarming to the
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coastlines to live. Because New Jersey and New York are so densely populated, it caused the
effects of Hurricane Sandy to be worsened. If it wasn’t as thickly populated it would not have
been so costly and there would not have been as many casualties.
The state of New Jersey has preparedness plan set in place for hurricanes. It has basic
steps to follow before hurricane hits, with tips and procedures on how to prepare your home and
family for a hurricane. The plan also has a chart to find out if you are in a high risk area. The
plan stresses to listen to emergency alerts and follow all official instructions. These plans were
all in place before Hurricane Sandy hit. However it could have been a more affective plan if
more people would have followed the procedures. The areas near the coast should all make sure
they are prepared and know what to do if a hurricane hits, as they are people who will be firstly
affected. Although these plans and procedures are in place, I believe they could be more strongly
encouraged. They will not help anybody if they are not followed.
After Hurricane Sandy it seems the force of the storm surges lead to three breaches where
the ocean water flows freely to the bays at Fire Island. Many hospitals in New Jersey have
noticed a post-Sandy baby boom. The Monmouth Medical Center saw a 35% jump in births nine
months after Sandy, and two other hospitals saw a 20% increase. There may be many more
natural service functions that we learn about in the years to come, however right now the areas
that were hit by Hurricane Sandy are still focused on rebuilding their towns.
Katie Hensley
References
Gillis, Justin. “Did Global Warming Contribute to Hurricane Sandy’s Devastation?”
www.nytimes.com. New York Times, October 30, 2012. Web December 01, 2013.
Paddock, Barry. “Hurricane Sandy’s 21 most serious fires caused by sea water hitting electrical
systems: FDNY” www.nydailynews.com. New York Daily News, December 24, 2012. Web
December 01, 2013.
Stone, Daniel, Shyr, Luna. “How Superstorm Sandy's Floods Can Make You Sick”.
www. nationalgeographic.com. October 30, 2012. Web. December 1, 2013.
“Hurricane Sandy: Timeline.” www.fema.gov. October 23, 2013. Web. December 01, 2013.
“Hurricane Sandy.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. November 29, 2013. Web. December 01,
2013.
“Hurricane Sandy Pre- and Post-Storm Photo Comparisons - New Jersey.” www.usgs.gov May
09, 2013. Web. December 01, 2013.
“Family Preparedness: Hurricanes and Tropical Storms.” NJ Office of Emergency Management.
State of New Jersey. 2013. December 01, 2013.
Katie Hensley
Reflective Writing
I learned a great deal in Geography 1700: Natural Hazards. I was unaware of many
natural hazards that the world has. I found this course to be challenging at times, however
learning about things I never knew about before was very rewarding. In this class we did five
supplemental assignments. During the first assignment we wrote a paper about a hazard
mitigation plan in our current city or home town. I chose to write mine about my home town of
Logan, UT. I found the information I discovered to be quite interesting. Had I not taken this
course I more than likely never would have looked into this information. During our
supplemental assignment three I did a radon test kit in my apartment to test for radon. We were
able to send our results to a test center and get the results. I found this to be one of the most
fascinating things we did in the course. I don’t think I would have ever performed a radon test or
even understood what radon is, if I hadn’t taken this course. Another of my favorite assignment
was our supplemental assignment five. We used a carbon footprint calculator to calculate out
carbon footprint. The information I learned was very enthralling. I found out that my family was
well below the US average; this made me very happy. But I also learned of a few easy steps to
reduce my foot print. I’m glad I was able to find this information out.
My biggest accomplishment in this course was writing my term paper. I wrote my term
paper on Hurricane Sandy, when I began I wasn’t very familiar with Sandy. However as I wrote
my paper I learned so much. I read many articles as I researched for my term paper, and with the
knowledge I gained in the course I was able to understand more than I would have ever
understood before.
I’ve lived in Utah my entire life; because of this I haven’t experienced very many natural
hazards. Honestly, the idea of most natural disasters really scared me. However the more I
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learned in this class, and the more I understood the less scared I became. I now understand ways
to forecast certain disasters, as well as how I can be prepared I am very glad I took this course
and I feel like the knowledge that I gained will help me in many areas of my life.