Hurricane Sandy (Panel)

ECU Author/Contributor (non-ECU co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)

Darlene Johnson (Creator)

Craig Smith (Creator)

Gary Szatkowski (Creator)

Institution

East Carolina University (ECU )

Web Site: http://www.ecu.edu/lib/

Abstract: Mr. Szatkowski described the experience of Hurricane Sandy \n\nfrom the point of view of forecast meteorologists working in New \n\nJersey area hit by the storm. His office in Mount Holly began issuing warnings forty hours before the storm and knew that \n\ncoastal flooding was the biggest threat. They anticipated record \n\nbreaking water heights and made a personal plea to people to \n\nbe prepared by showing photographs of storm damage from the hurricane in 1902 that devastated \n\nthe area. Sandy hit at high tide with a storm tide of 12-15 feet. Mr. Szatkowski said that the governors of New Jersey and Delaware issued the evacuation orders when they needed to and did a \n\ngreat job in the run up to the storm. The New Jersey governor ordered a mandatory evacuation, \n\nbut the New York mayor did not. In extreme events, past experience fails to inform good decisions. For example, the New Jersey railway made the mistake of putting trains in an area that did \n\nnot flood in past hurricanes, but this time lost 400 million dollars in equipment. Some people did not \n\nevacuate because they thought Hurricane Irene the \n\nyear before was less intense than anticipated. In a \n\nstudy, researchers found that 76% of people said that \n\nthey “experienced” a hurricane, but only 37% reported \n\nsuffering damage from Hurricane Irene. Mr. Szatkowski observed if you did not experience damage or other problems, you did not really experience the hurricane. Climate change is also expected to make future \n\nsevere weather events worse. The trend in sea level \n\nrise is acceleration, which will raise storm tide levels. It \n\nIs very difficult to confront this problem because it is \n\nlong term and outside personal experience. Looking \n\nahead– even though forecasting has gotten better and \n\nis expected to improve, it is difficult to get people to \n\nunderstand the impact of a hurricane...

Additional Information

Publication

Other

Greenville, NC: East Carolina University

Language: English

Date: 2023

Subjects

Hurricanes;NCEM;Emergency management;Emergency disaster

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