The costly impact of October 2012’s Hurricane Sandy is second only to the infamous Hurricane Katrina. Sandy is the largest recorded Atlantic hurricane, although the storm fortunately weakened before striking the populous northeastern states. The costs of Hurricane Sandy include damage to homes and businesses, damaged infrastructure, deaths, and lost revenue. At least 125 people were killed in the United States. Haiti also lost 71 people to the storm. The additional costs of inconvenience are difficult to measure – but include the costs of hotel rooms, replacing spoiled food, and emergency supplies.
Estimated Economic Impact
Hurricane Sandy’s estimated damage in the United States is a whopping $63 billion. In addition to the United States, the hurricane affected the Caribbean, the Bahamas, and Canada for total damages of over $65 billion.
Effects on Transportation
Major airports, including JFK and LaGuardia in New York City and Newark in New Jersey, shut down completely. Thousands of flights worldwide were either delayed or cancelled, leaving tens of thousands of passengers stranded.
The subway system in New York flooded and 야마토 릴게임 47 miles of subway track were completely submerged. The subway system and commuter train system move millions of riders daily. Damages to subway stations and lines are still affecting 500,000. On December 6, Metropolitan Transportation Authority chairman Joseph Lhota stated that “nearly half a million of our customers either have no service, reduced service, or have to take alternative routes.”
Power Outages
Power outages affected 8.5 million Americans from Virginia to Maine to Indiana. One week later, power to 1.3 million was still not restored.
Stock Market
The New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ closed down for two days. The NYSE and NASDAQ are the two largest stock exchanges in the world. Several billion shares are traded daily. Despite being shut down, stock trading reopened painlessly, with little negative effect on stock indices.
Property Damages
New York, New Jersey, and Cuban homes and businesses took the brunt of the damages. New York had 305,000 homes and 265,000 businesses damaged or destroyed. New Jersey had 72,000 homes and businesses damaged and destroyed. Cuba lost between 130,000 to 200,000 homes.
If home and business owners did not purchase additional flood insurance coverage, they discovered that their insurance policies would not necessarily reimburse them for repairs.
As of late November 230,000 insurance claims for damaged vehicles had been filed. The bulk of the claims come from New York (130,000) and New Jersey (60,000).
Federal Aid
As of December 7, President Obama is asking Congress for $60.4 billion to aid businesses, homeowners, and government agencies. $47.4 billion will fund repair, while the remaining $13 billion will be used to limit the damages of future storms. With current political tensions over the federal budget, expect the funding to be debated.
Peter Wendt writes and researches from his home in Central Texas. His friends on the Jersey Shore have been rebuilding since Hurricane Sandy. Wendt encourages those affected by the storm to speak with a Hurricane Sandy lawyer for help filing insurance claims.