Lessons from Hurricane Sandy:
Analysis of vulnerabilities exposed by Hurricane Sandy and
potential mitigation strategies in the Northeastern US
Anthony Torres, Benjamin Lowden,
Kazuki Ito, Sabrina Shuman
Agenda
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Assessment of Hurricane Sandy
Vulnerabilities
Risk of future storms
Mitigation strategies
Assessment of Hurricane Sandy
Environmental Damage
Flooding
Sewage
overflow &
damage
raleighpublicrecord.org
Transportation
Water quality
Getty, The Observer
Human
health &
wildlife
Environmental Damage
❖ Flooding & Overflow of sewage
➢ No power or damage to over 80 sewage treatment
systems
➢ Estimated 2.75 billion gallons of untreated waste
from Passaic Valley Sewerage Commision
❖ Water quality
➢ Raw sewage in homes
➢ Affected water supply systems
Environmental Damage
❖ Human health
➢ Impacted water quality
➢ Mold growth due to flooding
❖ Wildlife→ coastal waterbirds
➢ High winds and storm-driven water moved
masses of coastal sediments→ changed barrier
landscapes, and eroded nesting islands
Infrastructural Damage
❖ 650,000+ houses destroyed or damaged
➢
305K in New York, 346K in New Jersey
❖ 8 million+ customers lost power
http://www.propertyinsurancecoveragelaw.com/2013/01/articles/commercial-insuranceclaims/there-is-coverage-for-business-income-losses-caused-by-power-outages-during-hurricanesandy/
http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/13/world/americas/hurricane-sandy-fast-facts/
Port of New York and New Jersey
❖ Hurricane Sandy drove a 14 ft. storm surge
❖ Areas of the Port were closed 3-5 days
❖ Severe damage to:
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Oil Refineries
Port Operation Centers/Transformers
Transportation Infrastructure
❖ Also major damage to private marinas
Case Study: NYC Transportation
❖ Subway operations completely shut down
until 11/1
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Full operations aren’t restored until 11/26
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Used to aid with gridlock issues
❖ Bus system fully restored 10/31, free fare
❖ Ferry services restored by 11/2
❖ All tunnels are reopened by 11/13
Economic Damage
❖ Hurricane Sandy was the second costliest in
US history
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Estimate damage of $50 Billion+
$19 Billion to NYC alone
❖ Over 19,000 small businesses suffered
$250,000 in damages
Vulnerabilities
Vulnerability
❖ Coastal regions are highly vulnerable, but attract people
and assets
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13 out of 20 most populated cities
23% of world’s population
❖ Flood losses in 2005 are estimated $6 billion
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Different characteristics, such as geography, cultural
background, and government systems
Developed and Developing countries
❖ Developing countries
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Lower level of mitigation systems, less exposure
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Higher level of mitigation systems, more exposure
❖ Developed countries
Exposed assets to 100-year flood: bar
(left, $billion)
Annual average losses: line
(right, $million)
(Hallegatte, 2013)
Case study: Bangladesh
❖ Tropical cyclone prone country
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44 severe cyclones and 0.5 million deaths (1900-2000).
1970 Bhola cyclone and 1991 Bangladesh cyclone.
❖ Two strategies
➢ Collaboration with
international organizations
➢ Local government &
community’s roles
Rahman (2011)
Decentralization
❖ Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015
➢ (f) Both communities and local authorities should be empowered to
manage and reduce disaster risks by having access to the necessary
information, resources, and authority to implement actions for
disaster risk reduction.
(III. A. 13. (f))
➢ (d) Recognize the importance and specificity of local risk patterns and
trends, decentralized responsibilities and resources for disaster risk
reduction to relevant sub-national or local authorities, as appropriate.
(III. B. 15. (i) (d))
Decentralization
❖ Merits
➢ Encourage local participation
➢ Utilize local knowledge and resources
➢ Provide flexible management mechanism
❖ Challenges
➢ Local technical capacity
➢ Education and public awareness/participation
➢ Funds should be used for disaster management purpose
Challenge: Responsibility
❖ Disincentive
➢ Financial relief for states affected by disasters would weaken
initiative for pre-disaster preparation
➢ $62.3 billion for emergency response and recovery by two
supplementals for Hurricane Katrina
❖ Communication
➢ Push vs Pull systems
➢ Gap between local governments/communities
Assessing Risk of Future Storms
Assessing Risk of Future Storms
❖ Look at past storms in the NE U.S.
➢ How often did they happen in the past?
❖ Identify vulnerable regions-- what makes them
vulnerable?
❖ How is climate change increasing this risk?
➢ sea-level rise
❖ How will growing population influence impact?
Tropical cyclones within 200 nm of NYC
since 1842
(NOAA)
All hurricanes within 200 nm of NYC
since 1842
(NOAA)
Major hurricanes within 200 nm of NYC
since 1842
(NOAA)
Westward turning tropical cyclones
since 1842
(NOAA)
Hurricane Risk
98 tropical cyclones within 200 nm of NYC
since 1842:
● 33 hurricanes (category 1 - 5)
● 17 hurricanes (category 2-5)
● 6 major hurricanes (cat 3-5)
● 1 category 4 hurricane (Esther - 1961)
Sandy westward turn
Sandy moves west
North American Mesoscale (NAM) model initialization 00:00 UTC Oct 30, 2012
Sandy: Storm Surge (USGS)
(feet)
Climate: Sea Level Rise
(NOAA)
Climate: Sea Level Rise
(NOAA)
Flooding vulnerability
Increased cost from storms is
better explained by increased
wealth, not increased frequency
or intensity of storms. (Pielke
Jr.)
image:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/29/hurricane-sandyimpact-infographic_n_4171243.html
Future storms risk
❖ Large hurricane battered NE coast in 1821
❖ Insurance estimates if the same exact storm
occurred today, there would be $100 billion
USD in damages.
https://ams.confex.com/ams/95Annual/webprogram/Paper257982.html
Mitigation Strategies
What Was Done: NYC
❖ Coastal Storm Plan, Evacuation
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CSP is a blueprint that includes plans for:
■ Tracking storm
■ Decision Making
■ Evacuation at-risk populations
■ Sheltering
■ Addressing the public
■ Recovery and restoration
Mandatory evacuation for Zone A, 10/28
What Was Done: New Jersey
❖ State of Emergency, 10/27
Chris Christie ordered mandatory Barrier Islands
evacuation (10/28)
➢ Atlantic City casinos must be evacuated too
➢ Hoboken and Jersey City 1st floor apartments must
be evacuated
➢ President Obama signed emergency declaration
prior to landfall
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Shifting Responsibilities
❖ Re-organize preparedness and recovery
responsibilities
Less to FEMA
➢ More to states and municipalities
➢ More to National Guard and Coast Guard
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❖ State Governments have started to rely on
FEMA
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Less funding is put towards preparing for disaster
Coastal Storm Plans
❖ Create Coastal Storm Plans for at-risk cities
and towns
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Following the example set by NYC
Cities such as Boston, Providence, Washington D.C,
and other at risk municipalities
Prevent vs. Prepare
❖ Analyze flood risk
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Flood hazard mapping with Advisory Base Flood
Elevation (ABFE) maps
❖ Slow down (and stop) building on the
immediate coast
➢ Barrier Islands, Long Island, Cape Cod and popular
coastal areas will not withstand large storm surges
Thank You!
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References
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Manuel, John. "The Long Road to Recovery: Environmental Health Impacts of Hurricane Sandy." Environmental Health Perspective. Web. 20 Apr. 2015. <The Long Road to
Recovery: Environmental Health Impacts of Hurricane Sandy>.
Kenward, Alyson. "Sewage Overflows from Hurricane Sandy." Climate Central. 30 Apr. 2013. Web. 20 Apr. 2015. <http://www.climatecentral.org/news/11-billion-gallons-ofsewage-overflow-from-hurricane-sandy-15924>.
http://www.decidenyc.com/issues/infrastructure-sandy-recovery-disaster-preparedness/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/12/hurricane-sandy-second-costliest_n_2669686.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/29/hurricane-sandy-impact-infographic_n_4171243.html
http://www.dailyfinance.com/on/hurricane-sandy-anniversary-economic-cost/#!slide=982170
http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/13/04/09/hurricane-sandy-leaves-state-with-2-6b-tab-for-water-infrastructure/
http://wagner.nyu.edu/files/rudincenter/sandytransportation.pdf
http://www.nyc.gov/html/oem/html/planning_response/planning_coastal_storm_plan.shtml
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2013/10/after-hurricane-sandy-time-to-learn-and-implement-the-lessons
Hallegatte, S., Green, C., Nicholls, R. J., and Corfee-Morlot, J. (2013). “Future flood losses in major coastal cities.” Natural Climate Change 3, 802-806.
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Huffington Post, cited 2013: Hurricane Sandy's Impact, By The Numbers (INFOGRAPHIC). [Available online at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/29/hurricane-sandyimpact-infographic_n_4171243.html]
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NOAA Office for Coastal Management, cited 2015: Hurricanes. [Available online at http://coast.noaa.gov/hurricanes/?redirect=301ocm]
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Mohleji, S. and Pielke, R., Jr. (2014). "Reconciliation of Trends in Global and Regional Economic Losses from Weather Events: 1980–2008." Nat. Hazards Rev.,
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USGS, cited 2015: Hurricane Sandy Storm Tide mapper. [Available online at