Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/233313
SPECIAL / REPORT | by Howard Shingle | A Year of Rebuilding Preparing for the next Superstorm Sandy. Residents of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic coasts marked the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, known as Superstorm Sandy after merging with a weather system from the west and transitioning into an extra-tropical cyclone after making landfall. On October 29, 2012, Sandy came ashore in southern New Jersey, but its impact affected 24 states. Heavy rain, strong winds and record storm surge battered the East Coast including the densely populated coasts of New Jersey and New York. Sandy was unusual in many ways. The extent of its tropical-storm force winds stretched from Maine to South Carolina. The storm, driven by wind gusts up to 60 mph, produced waves of up to 20 feet in the middle of the Great Lakes and dumped as much as 36 inches of snow in the central Appalachians. Across the Northeast, where the shoreline suffered devastating impacts, including flooding and beach erosion, Sandy served as a reminder that tropical systems in the Atlantic are not just threats to the Southeast or Gulf Coast. Costly Damage In Sandy's immediate aftermath, 23,000 people in the Northeast alone sought refuge in temporary shelters and more than 8.5 million customers lost power. Flooding from storm surge covered roads, blocked tunnels, halted transportation and spread debris everywhere. The costs of responding to and recovering from Sandy have been enormous. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reports more than $1.4 billion in individual assistance has been provided over the coarse of the past year to some 182,000 Sandy survivors. Also, more than 11,900 grants totaling $3.2 billion have been approved for emergency work, to remove debris and to rebuild or replace public infrastructure. This total includes $1.3 billion for first responder costs for personnel overtime, materials and equipment used to save lives and protect property; $400 million for repairs to storm damaged homes so survivors could safely remain in their homes; and $19 million for the costs to repair storm flooded and damaged schools. In November 2012, this resident of Ortley Beach, NJ, took a break from cleaning up the remainder of his damaged home after Hurricane Sandy swept through the area. Photo: Patsy Lynch/FEMA 20 STORM & SECURITY PROTECTION / IBS PREVIEW 2014