From NY Magazine:There was a time, not so long ago, when hurricane season had little to do with New York City. Then Hurricane Irene hit in 2011, as did Hurricane Sandy in 2012, with devastating consequences. It's impossible to know if New York will find itself staring down another major storm this summer, but NOAA has already predicted that hurricane season — which officiallly began Saturday — will be unusually strong this year. "The outlook calls for a 70% chance of an above-normal season, a 25% chance of a near-normal season, and only a 5% chance of a below-normal season," a recent NOAA report warned.
So here's the $19 billion question: Are we ready for the next Sandy?
And here's the answer: It depends, obviously, on what aspect of storm preparedness you focus on. But in general? No. Not really.
17 comments:
The end is a near'er
Couple of facts left out of the article.
Sandy was NOT a hurricane. NYC never had hurricane conditions.
NOAA has predicted above normal hurricanes for the past few years, and they have always were way off. Currently we are in a period of few hurricanes.
NOAA, like most other agencies of the government, understand that scaring the beejeezus out us gets them more funding.
Not sure what your point is. If it wasn't a hurricane and kicked our asses that badly, then we are in even worse shape than we thought.
The plywood in the photo was stolen by a homeless person about 3 hours after the MTA installed it.
Maybe this time, idiots in the Rockaways will HEED EVACUATION ORDERS. And maybe the DOH will clear the hospitals.
So, if Sandy was not a hurricane and it did what it did to NYC, we all ought to be very scared of what a hurricane can do to us!
We do not care.
The city has continued with plans to develop the waterfront and not a single credible voice in a city of 8 million has made the slightest effort to say how stupid this is.
Actually, we're quite ready - to screw over a lot more people, to support profits for those who are continuing their flood-zone developments, and generate beau coup bucks for the disaster capitalists. Feh.
"The city has continued with plans to develop the waterfront and not a single credible voice in a city of 8 million has made the slightest effort to say how stupid this is."
Actually, MANY of us, quite credible (look at how many academics have weighed in on the issue!) have been saying how stupid this is - lawsuits are pending; community boards and civics have been demanding action from the electeds, the electeds have been pushing the Administration, but the Administration ONLY cares about supporting the deep-pocketed real estate interests.
Actually, MANY of us, quite credible (look at how many academics have weighed in on the issue!) have been saying how stupid this is - lawsuits are pending; community boards and civics have been demanding action from the electeds, the electeds have been pushing the Administration, but the Administration ONLY cares about supporting the deep-pocketed real estate interests.
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I could believe you if I could accept that there is a massive public relations effort to make the ant-waterfront development invisible, but when I ran into the words the 'elected have been pushing the Administration' I conclude, with due respect sir, that you are full of crap.'
The anti-waterfront development effort is for all intents and purposes non-existent.
Irene was more powerful than Sandy which was barely a hurricane when it hit NYC. Sandy hit at high tide and a full moon when the water is naturally a few feet higher. like when you go to the beach and toward the end of the day the water start rising and the waves get a little higher.
the last major hurricane to hit NYC was 1938. it was a Cat 3 with 135mph winds when it hit long island. killed 600 people. and these storms happen once every 70 years or so here in NYC so get ready.
Evacuating or not evacuating is only about protecting life. Ergo, when ordered people should evacuate. However, whether or not people evacuate does not prevent the massive property damage. It remains to be seen what mitigation actions the administration will undertake to help prevent future damage.
We actually lucked out with Sandy. If we had received a few inches of rain we all would have been flooded, as the water would not have had anywhere to flow to because of the tidal surge.
@ Alen
Sandy was a 945 millibar storm at landfall. It was more powerful than Hurricane Ike (950 millibar) or Irene (tropical storm landfall in NJ) at landfall. There is mass public blindness that does not consider the size of the high speed wind field when evaluating a storm's impact. That resulted in the mass deaths on the Bolivar Peninsula during Hurricane Ike and in NY-NJ area during Sandy.
Ike was a Cat 4 the first time it hit Cuba. 145mph winds
Irene was a Cat 1, but it made landfall at 9:30am at low tide and with a New Moon.
Sandy made landfall in the evening at high tide, and a full moon.
i even remember gloria which had more powerful winds when it hit and there was almost no damage in NYC.
go look on wikipedia. NYC has a long history of being hit by Cat 3 storms with 140mph winds. the one in 1815 made the barrier islands into separate islands. they used to be one island.
Sandy was fairly weak compared to past hurricanes to hit the area
I'm no expert, but it was the storm surge the did the damage--I remember an old saying - you can fight fire wit water, but you can't fight water-----as for the damage, I think a certain nyc Politian with land developer friends will buy up and make mega bucks before the next storm--and by that time everyone will forget, and it will be buyer be ware------
No....new york is not ready! New York will never be ready. Too many damn people in this city to help!
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