Hurricane Sandy - a recent tropical storm in a HIC
- Created by: caramorton
- Created on: 12-01-18 19:47
View mindmap
- Hurricane Sandy - a recent tropical storm in a HIC
- Basic facts
- Became a tropical storm on October 22nd 2012
- October 24th 2012 became a hurricane
- Primary hazards
- Storm surges - waves reached up to 20ft, flood defences were breached due to the severity
- Strong winds - Wind speed reached 115mph but below 94mph hitting the US
- Heavy rain - some Caribbean countries suffered up to 4 days of heavy rain causing flooding
- Secondary hazards
- Heavy rain - triggered landslides in certain areas near the Atlantic coast
- Strong winds - debris was carried along the way, damaging property and often injuring people
- Storm surges - caused reprecussions of flooding- flood defences were breached due to the severity of the storm surges
- Impacts
- Social
- 117 US deaths
- Damaged 200,000 homes
- US power outages affected more than 8 million residents
- 80% of Atlantic city underwater
- More than 15,000 flights into New York & other east coast airports were cancelled
- New York subways were flooded - worse damage in 108 years of history
- Environmental
- 80/369 wastewater treatment plants were damaged
- 378,000 gallons of diesel oil spilled in surrounding creeks
- 70/604 water facilities were 'in distress' during and after the storm hit
- Political
- Affected the election campaign as it hit a week before the presidential election
- Beneficial to some extent as voters could see presidental leadership by helping to provide relief
- Economic
- Physical damage cost the US financial state up to $30 billion
- Damage to infratrcture has slowed business e.g. Food industry experienced rotting food
- What factors affected the severity of the hurricane?
- Level of education - Caribbean less prepared
- Technology - faster evacuation in the US
- US HIC - more effective mitigation plans
- Social
- Responses
- Short term
- Several thousand people evacuated from Manhattan in 6 days
- Red Cross deployed 4,000 disaster workers providing food, water and generators
- Long term
- Congress passed a $50.5 billion bill for constructin in order to rebuild along the coast
- The UN & world food programme promised humitarian aid to at least 500,000
- New York has offered coastal homeowners a buy out programme so people will move away from the coast
- Problems
- Months after, those affected still struggling to recover
- Less than half of those affected who required assistance hadn't received any and 30,000 residents still remained displaced
- What factors affected effectiveness of the response?
- Barrier islands were hard to evacuate and reach for rescue efforts
- A shortage of trained, experienced personnel
- Destroyed infrastructure made rescues difficult e.g. flooded roads slowed response
- Short term
- Application to the hazard mangement cycle
- Mitigation
- Closure of schools, reinforced building materials, early curfews- lower crime
- Mitigation
- Basic facts
Similar Geography resources:
Teacher recommended
Comments
No comments have yet been made