“A disaster is any event that causes a level of destruction, death, or injury that affects the incident using available resources” (Nies, & McEwen, p. 559, 2016). A natural disaster that has occurred in the NY area is hurricane Sandy, October 29, 2012. Hurricane Sandy was the deadliest and most destructive storm of 2012. Classified as a superstorm, the 2nd deadliest in US history. “Superstorm Sandy was actually several storms wrapped together, which made it one for the most damaging hurricanes ever to make landfall in the US” (Gibbens, Feb., 2019). An unusual combination of hurricane conditions, cold fronts, and a full moon made Sandy particularly potent. Sandy’s progression caused deadly flooding, mudslides, destructive winds, and a deadly storm surge. You can view Hurricane Sandy on Utube, Hurricane Sandy as it happened @ https:www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeaG1jRLIBw.
New York was severely affected by Hurricane Sandy. There was major flooding of the subway systems, roads, and tunnels. Communities lost lives, homes, stores, vehicles, and power. The NY economy lost roughly 19 billion and an estimated 32.8 billion required for restoration. NY airports were shut down for over two days. Major NYC City events were cancelled, such as the NYC marathon, and NYC Halloween parade. There were many evacuations and resources before, during, and after the storm. Emergency medical services encountered many serious challenges and setbacks. Hospitals and other health care facilities were closed, evacuated, and relocated. There were many fires, structural damages, looting, and burglarys.
Numerous changes have been made and lessons learned to preparedness because of Hurricane Sandy. Changes include people are more hurricane prepared and ready. If the storm warnings call for evacuation this warning is taken more seriously than Sandy was. The rebuilding was directed at building more resilient communities. For example, building homes close to the shorelines higher to avoid future flooding, mandatory flood insurance for homes within close distance to the shore, suggested back up generators for high risk businesses and homes, the development of wireless and data communications, and improved national flood insurance programs. Many changes have been made in previous hurricanes, many more with Sandy, and even more to come with future hurricanes.
Gibbens, S. (Feb., 2019). Hurricane Sandy, explained. nationalgeographi.com
Nies, M.A., & McEwen, M. (2016). Community/Public health nursing: Promoting the health of populations (6th ed). St. Louis, MO: Saunders/Elsevier
Utube, Hurricane Sandy as it happened. https:www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeaG1jRLIBw.