Essay On Hurricane Sandy

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Recommended: Emergencies after Superstorm Sandy

Hurricane Sandy, nicknamed “Superstorm Sandy,” struck the New Jersey area on October 29, 2012. Over 1,000 miles in diameter, the hurricane was the largest Atlantic tropical storm in history, and the second costliest hurricane in United States history, following Hurricane Katrina. In preparation for the hurricane, Federal, State and City authorities moved into emergency mode as the storm approached. On Sunday, October 28, 2012 President Obama declared a state of emergency in several states across the east cost, including New Jersey. This allowed federal support to become available, allowing FEMA to provide resources directly to state and local governments, as well as allowing states to request funding for actions before Sandy’s landfall. The National Guard positioned more than 61,000 personnel along the east coast, FEMA positioned more than 1,500 personnel, and the American Red Cross provided disaster response workers and shelters in communities. Amtrak canceled certain branches and services for October 29 and 30th, and more than 13,000 flights were cancelled on October 29th. To avoid casualties, Gov. Chris Christie declared a state of emergency in New Jersey, ordered evacuations of NJ barrier islands from Sandy Hook South to Cape May by Sunday, October 28th at 4pm as well as closing all state offices for that Monday. On October 28, Mayor of Hoboken Dawn Zimmer ordered residents of basement and street level residence units to evacuate due to possible flooding. On October 29 residents of Logan Township were ordered to evacuate as well. The timing of the storm’s landfall coinciding with a high tide and full moon led to catastrophic damage on the New Jersey coast, an estimated $30 billion. A third of NJ transportation was damag... ... middle of paper ... ...using law.” This has not been the case in New Jersey. Adam Gordon, a lawyer for the Fair Share Housing Center discussed state data published in January, which showed African-Americans being turned away 2.5 times the rate of whites, and Latinos being turned away at 1.5 times the rate. Furthermore, not enough money was given to rebuild rental properties, which more than 2/3 of African-Americans and Latinos were living in. In the future, there must be more oversight of how funds get appropriated, to ensure that the poor are not cast further into despair. To ensure what still needs to be done in New Jersey gets done, the state has to make sure that the contractors they hire to manage recovery programs are competent and do not lose applications, or mislead and turn away victims – something the contractor hired by Gov. Chris Christie did until he was fired in December.

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