There
have been a number of stories in the media of surviving Hurricane/Superstorm
Sandy. Tragically more than 200 people
have lost their lives from the Caribbean to the Northeast. Sandy was a hurricane as it moved through the
Caribbean toward Cuba. A number of lives
were lost in Haiti due to the excessive rains.
The country was still trying to recover from the devastating earthquake
in January, 2010. Sandy has been a
setback for the nation.
We
have seen the images and heard the stories of Sandy from those affected in the
Northeast. There have been two stories
that have jumped out at me in the past week.
The first was published here in the New York Times. Stories like this remind me of the
same stories told by hurricane survivors along the Southeast & Gulf coasts. Why would anyone stay after seeing the devastation
brought by Sandy?
 |
| Oblique aerial photographs of Mantoloking, NJ. View
looking west along the New Jersey shore. Storm waves and surge cut
across the barrier island at Mantoloking, NJ, eroding a wide beach,
destroying houses and roads, and depositing sand onto the island and
into the back-bay. Construction crews with heavy machinery are seen
clearing sand from roads and pushing sand seaward to build a wider beach
and protective berm just days after the storm. The yellow arrow in
each image points to the same feature. Image Credit: USGS. |
Then
there is this story of survival by Steve Hartmann of CBS. His is a story of a son who decided to stay
to protect the house. I encourage
everyone to see this. It is one of the
best examples of why you should never stay to protect property. Fortunately no one was killed in this
example.
(For Apple users, use this link)
There
are many lessons to be learned from Sandy.
CBS This Morning briefly mentioned a few thoughts as they interviewed a
reporter from Time magazine.
(For Apple users, use this link)
It
will take time to recover from Sandy.
However, this is the time to think about the next storm. Many will get money from FEMA or some other
source to rebuild. But why build in a vulnerable
spot when the next storm will simply inflict the same result?
Andy
Revkin of Dot Earth wrote an article explaining how so much was at risk in
Sandy. Simply rebuilding as before is a waste
of money in my view. Keep in mind that
much of this is funded by taxpayers. I
do not mind helping victims with their loss, but to simply put the money back in
harm’s way is a waste.
Local
and state governments are reluctant to restrict rebuilding in vulnerable areas,
because of the loss of revenue. To
declare land off limit to rebuilding is to reduce the revenue base. Yet the cost to taxpayers is increasing. Many of the same issues are happening in South Carolina and the result will likely be the same as in Sandy.
Furthermore,
we need to rethink the infrastructure.
Areas need to be fortified and the electrical grid upgraded to weather
future storms. Of course the entire
national grid needs to be upgraded to the 21st century. The frequency and severity of storms is
increasing. If we are to adapt to a
changing climate, then this must be done.
Last
night Nova aired a special program on PBS called Inside the Megastorm. It is a look at the forecasts for Sandy,
surviving the storm, and a look at the future.
If you missed the program, here it is:
The
forecast for Sandy was excellent. I
first wrote about the potential eight days before landfall here. There was plenty of warning that the
storm was coming and that it would be bad.
Yet, there could have been better communication and preparation for the
storm.
Still
Sandy was an unusual hurricane. I will
address this in a latter post.
