HURRICANE SANDY

What was it?

A deceptive hurricane that formed in the Caribbean on Oct. 22, 2012, whose strength ebbed and flowed as it crossed Cuba and the Bahamas. The storm ran out of steam by Oct. 31. Why was it so destructive? Sandy was massive. Winds stretched over 1,440 kilometres. The storm collided with a cold air mass over the Great Lakes, intensifying rainfall. And finally, the storm made landfall during high tide, creating huge storm surges.

Where did it hit?

Sandy made landfall just north of Atlantic City, New Jersey but the storm affected the entire Eastern Seaboard from Florida to Maine and as far inland as Michigan and Wisconsin. The storm surge affected New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. It also caused rain and high winds in central Ontario through to eastern Quebec and Halifax.

What happened next?

Within a few days nearly half a metre of rain fell in some areas of New Jersey and New York, eight million customers were without power and 20,000 people were in evacuation shelters.

How many died?

Numbers vary. In the United States between 70 and 117 deaths have been attributed to Sandy with drowning the primary cause. About 50 people died in Haiti, and another two dozen in five other countries, including one person in Canada.

How many houses were destroyed?

The U.S. government estimates 650,000 homes were damaged or destroyed and hundreds of thousands of businesses damaged or forced to close (many just temporarily).

What did all this cost?

Early estimates put the damage at US$50 billion. As of June 2013, the costs was estimated at US$68 billion, all but $3 billion in the United States.

Sources: NASA, Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force, Wikipedia, Red Cross, Center for Disease Control, news sources, Environment Canada