Hurricane Sandy Research Paper

Introduction

On October 29th, 2012, Superstorm Sandy devastatingly hit the eastern coast of the United States, damaging much of the region, with a majority of New Jersey’s shore-towns and communities off the coast (many previously affected by sea level rise) destroyed. The often, vibrant and dynamic, yet gentrified city of Hoboken, New Jersey, soon became a swimming pool. The severe rain and storm surge, left many residents stranded in their homes and without power, for as long as two weeks. The storm quickly raised awareness for the city’s environmental vulnerability, and created strong need for resiliency in rebuilding, and being prepared when looking forward to other storms.

The Recovery Process

Although Superstorm Sandy had dreadful affects on the region, there have been certain benefits

to a fierce storm, within the community, and raising awareness of the region’s vulnerability. Prior to the storm, Hoboken, despite being threatened by flooding before, was incredibly underprepared for state of emergency evacuations, flooding and natural disasters. As a result, the community has a grown sense of their environmental susceptibility, and having been preparing for future storms, shortly after the storm, Mayor Zimmer of Hoboken, released a multi-pronged resilience plan (Zimmer, 2013). The plan is science – based, looking at the city’s sustainability plans and policies, and hopes to engage the community with better action and preparedness for the next natural disaster.
One of the key components for flood mitigation, which has been a procrastinated project for years, are “wet weather” pumps, which will relieve some flooding issues.

Many community locals have been working towards long-term solutions for some of the smaller issues faced during the storm. Food, and accessibility to food was a grave concern when residents were stranded in their homes. In the wake of the storm, Mayor Zimmer asked for food trucks to drive the streets with any meals available, and with this, a few businesses were created, most famously, Dark Side of the Moo. Local residents and students helped victims of the storm with gathering and delivering of food and supplies, as well as rescuing those stranded, and treating any emergencies (medical). The stranded residents, for the most part, struggled with the storm’s effects due to not evacuating, as suggested by the Mayor of Hoboken and Governor of New Jersey (Chris Christie). Since 2012, New Jersey has not faced many severe storms, in the same measure, but hopefully the lack of preparedness and evacuations from 2012, and then living without power, will resonate with the community, when facing future

storms.
In terms of policy, moving forward, Mayor Zimmer, Governor Christie and President Obama must connect further for community support and preparedness. Beyond addressing terms of rebuilding, much of the process is to avoid similar issues in the future. With the science – based policies that Mayor Zimmer has placed together and President Obama’s Climate Action Plan (released in June 2013), local communities should prepare to handle the consequences of their environmental impact. The Climate Action Plan looks to prepare for climate change, resiliency and reduce energy and transportation use, often in reference to urban environments. Superstorm Sandy, although tragic for many homes and lives, should be referred to as a learning experience, as we prepare for future storms, and hope to lessen the severity of their consequences.