Hurricanes and Tropical Storms (Hurricane Sandy)
from The New York Times, November 2, 2012
The Storm:
Hurricane Sandy battered the mid-Atlantic region on Oct. 29 and 30, with powerful gusts and storm surges that caused once-in-a-generation flooding in coastal communities of New Jersey, New York and Connecticut, knocking down trees and power lines and leaving more than eight million people — including a large swath of Manhattan — in the rain-soaked dark.
The mammoth and merciless storm unexpectedly picked up speed as it roared over the Atlantic Ocean. When it made landfall near Atlantic City around 8 p.m., it packed maximum sustained winds of about 80 miles per hour, the National Hurricane Center said. That was shortly after the center had reclassified the storm as a post-tropical cyclone, a scientific renaming that had no bearing on the powerful winds, driving rains and life-threatening storm surge that accompanied its push onto land.
Forecasters attributed the power of the storm to a convergence of weather systems. As the hurricane swirled north in the Atlantic and then pivoted toward land, a system known as a midlatitude trough — which often causes severe winter storms — was moving across the country from the west. It drew in Hurricane Sandy, giving it added energy. A burst of Arctic air swept down through the Canadian Plains just as they were converging. That led to several feet of snow in West Virginia.
The Aftermath:
The storm was blamed for more than 80 deaths in the United States, including 41 in New York City, 8 in New Jersey and 4 in Connecticut. Before it began its crawl toward the Northeast, the storm left more than 60 people dead in the Caribbean.
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| Hurricane victims waiting for food in Long Beach, New York |
To donate, visit American Red Cross or call 1-800-RED-CROSS, or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.
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| Haley Rombi, 3, was rescued from flooding on Staten Island. |
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