Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Funding of Sandys Recovery
This week Governor Chris Christie revised the state’s estimated
damages from the storm and upped it to 36.8 billion from 29.4 billion. With a
walk down the coast it’s easy to see why. Houses were lifted off foundations
and thrown into their neighbors houses. Few were left unaffected. Front yards
were left littered with flat screen TV’s sofas, mangled waterlogged mattresses
and shattered glass. Rooms of houses are filled with sand and windows are blown
out of every floor of many houses. The thought of having to climb over a dune
of sand in my living room to get from my kitchen to the front of the house comes
merely impossible. People like Kevin Williams is living this reality .
With damage cost reaching a ticket price of 80 billion we ask
how will this all be funded? FEMA has approved more then 700 million in federal
aid for NY victems with 230 thousands New Yorkers who have requested assistance
since the storm hit a month ago.
Insurance companies are expected to pay out a total of 20 to
30 billion to those who have suffered. They are paying less then most would
expect because of the fact that many people have suffered flooding damage and
many people suffered from flood damage but don’t have flood policy prior to the
arrival of Hurricane Sandy.
Congress is expected to fund some of the damage in the coming
weeks. They could give out anywhere from 9 to 15 billion for infrastructure
damage and some home owner damage.
Donations in cases of severe natural disasters like these are
higher then some would expect. Donations have raised around 50 million dollars
from major donors and combinations of small donors online. People reach out to
those in need in times like these because we never know when something like
this could happen in our lives and it gives people a sense of good doing when
they know their money is going to a good cause and helping families get back on
their feet. We all know that natural disasters could affect any of us. Let this
be a reminder that we need to protect our family members by protecting and
preventing financial burdens of these as much as we can.
Insurance and FEMA
The aftermath of hurricane sandy is more money than any
individual could dream of having. The total price tag Gov Andrew Cuomo’s of New
York said has exceeded 42 billion. 33 to repair damaged housing and
infrastructure and 9 billion to help protect transit systems the power network
and sewage treatment facilities from future storms. This is just damage in the
state of new York. Rising costs in the state of New Jersey has reached 29
billion. This is what a strong storm can do to an area of high density. Financial
companies, insurance companies, families and the US budget will all suffer
because of the effects of sandy.
The effects of Sandy meant burden to Millions of Americans.
Hundreds of thousands of flood victims face high increase in their home
insurance costs or risk losing it all. Thousands in the New York area are told
by their insurance companies that they’re not covered for damages resulting
from Hurricane Sandy. Adding that because damage to their property was done by
flooding and not by “hurricane or tropical storm”. As many of a quarter million
homeowners in flood prone areas of the city of New York and Long Island may be
in the same situation.
Even though some insurance companies are denying claims since
Sandy hit shores the Obama administration has stepped in fast and been making
sure those who need emergency housing money get it from FEMA. The purpose of
FEMA’s emergency housing money is to allow people whose homes are uninhabitable
to temporarily rent new living quarters
while waiting for insurance companies to give money to make repairs. Since
insurance companies are failing to pay damage claims, homeowners say they have
to use some of the FEMA money to pay for repairs. This is very similar to what happened in the
Gulf with Hurricane Katrina. In the end people got more funding from government
agencies that didn’t have insurance then those who did because insurance
companies made excuses to not have to pay for damages. Slogans like “All in
good hands” is one by All State insurance, might make you question them when
families with their coverage suffer great financial loss even after paying the
premium to these insurance companies monthly.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Sandy and the Presidential Election
The
devastation brought by Hurricane Sandy on the East coast will continue to
affect the people in a negative manner. Some Democratic hopefuls are thinking
that this has been a good sign for the presidential election showing Baracks
leadership skills and passion for the American people.
Sandy is a
reminder to Americans about climate change and the continued denial of the
warming of the planet and melting of the polar ice caps is not a top concern
for Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney. In
recent months Mitt Romney has showed interest in dismantling FEMA and making
disaster relief programs all privatized. With the efforts that FEMA’s crew has been
making during this time Americans are seeing just how much we need and are
benefiting from FEMA.
 |
| President Obama and Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney helping as much as they can with relief efforts. |
As many
leaders are critiquing Obama as he gets closer and closer to Election Day a not
so common supported or Obama is praising him for the work that he’s done thus
far on the Atlantic coast. Republican Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey
spoke warmly about him as the topic came up often in an interview today.
Democrats are making sure people know who is being a successful leader during
this time and that Obama has the skills it takes to lead a country in a time of
great disaster like this one. “He looks like a real president” said a
individual at a Ohio rally for Obama’s reelection.
There are
many issues that come up when talking about climate change and more frequent
storms is one of them. People want a president that is going to be firm about
this issue and not turn a blind eye to the concept that our planet is in a
changing state. Obama pledged to cool the planet by cutting carbon emissions
because if they continue at the current rate we’ll so more super storms like
sandy and eventually boil the planet. These issues are being showed in live action
just days before the election and could possibly change minds of undecided
voters.
Politico.com-11-02-12
Hurricane Sandy Aftermath
New Jersey is still suffering from
effects of Hurricane Sandy President Obama gave a word today “the entire
country has been watching what’s been happening.” As they have, we’ve been
wondering what kind of devastating effects this storm would leave for people in
the East Atlantic Coast area. President Obama and the Governor of New Jersey
took a aerial tour of the hurricane ravaged coast.
 |
| New Jersey Residents waiting in line for gas. |
2.1 Million American homes and
businesses are without power, fires are sparking up and ripping through homes
ignited by broken natural gas lines, lines are forming at gas stations, food
supply may become scarce, and temperatures could lower to close to freezing
temperatures, leaving unlivable housing for people without power. The death
toll in the US has reached 55 and is expected to continue to climb.
Some of the deaths are a result of
drowning being crushed by objects blown in the wind and some in fires related
to the storm. FEMA organizers have restoring power as their number one priority
so that people can get power incase temperatures do drop to freezing
temperatures, and so grocery stores can open up again and suit the public. One
thing that often happens in a storm situation like this on is that people take
advantage of being able to easily steal from stores and houses. This storm,
officials are not finding much of that happening at this time. People seem to
just be in distress and too many communities in the area are experiencing
damage ad losses from this storm and they are still living in dangerous
conditions. Emergency managers and response officials will continue their
work.
Physical Analysis of Hurricane Sandy
Tuesday October 30th
super storm Sandy reached land and made its path of destruction across parts on
New England the Appalachia and other parts of the Northeast. Sandy downgraded from a Hurricane just before
landfall and left millions without power at least 51 dead and causing over 20
billion dollars in damage. Sandy won’t
be forgotten for a long time because of its strength and unusual mix of weather
conditions that it brought across the Eastern Seaboard. Here are some of the latest record breaking
statistics
The storm pressure of this
storm is the second highest to ever make landfall. With a reading in just south
of Atlantic, New Jersey was 946mb at landfall. In general the lower the mb, the
stronger the storm. The lowest central storm pressure was recorded in the New
England area was the Long Island Express Hurricane in 1938 with a storm
pressure of 941mb. Records were broken
in many different metropolitan areas such as Philadelphia, PA and Baltimore,
MD.
Wind gusts that developed
with this storm were already strong days before it hammered the coast. Twenty
four hours before reaching landfall areas along the East Coast recorded
hurricane force winds of over 90 miles per hour in New York and New Jersey and
they were felt well into the interior parts of the New England region.
Super storm Sandy might have
hit New York and New Jersey the hardest but, rain fell the hardest southwest of
New Jersey. Sandy dumped more than 8
inches of rain as its winds pelted the cost in Maryland, Delaware and
southeastern Virginia. Sandy broke multiple daily rainfall records including
all three D.C. area airports.
Accuweather has a good list of the highest recorded rainfalls from this
storm and Easton MD recorded the highest at 12.55 inches in a little over 48
hours.
One of the last major aspects
of this unique storm was the snow. Sandy’s unusual development as tropical
storm merging with a winter cold front brought high elevations of snowfall.
Redhouse, MD measured an impressive 28 inches topping the list for the greatest
accumulations amount the eight states that saw measurable snow West Virginia is also a notable state
reaching over 28 inches in some areas and snow is still continuing to fall at
this point. Sandy dropped enormous amounts of snow for this time of the year
and six states received over one foot of snow in areas. Sandy has left a memory
engrained in the lives of people all over the county, leaving us to pick up
after its destructive force.
10/31 Washington Post New York City Braces for Storm
City and State officials braced Sunday for a brutal bearing
by Hurricane Sandy, ordering all public transportation to shut down.
Governor Cuomo ordered the MTA to end
all subway bus and commuter rail service beginning Sunday evening and urged
people to stay home. Areas of evacuation in the low lying neighborhoods and are
being ordered to evacuate to higher grounds adding that all public schools in
the same areas will be closed on Monday stating that “When there’s no mass
transit, and with weather as bad as it’s going to be, we don’t want to put
children’s lives at risk”. Subway and train service will be coming to a
grinding halt by 7pm and by 9pm bus services will be as well. It’s unclear how
long the transit services will be closed down for the governor said but the
storm system from the west and cold air from Canada is expected to wreak true
havoc on the New York region.
Meteorologists are predicting gusts of wind to top 80 miles
per hour and storm surges to reach 11 fee when the killer cane makes landfall
along the central New Jersey coast Monday night right at the high tide. Last
year Hurricane Irene devastated New York for 12 hours and Sandy is expected to
hit for a total of 24 to 36 hours. Governor Cuomo said on Sunday “ This is
nothing to take lightly. You want to stay at home, be prepared, enjoy the
family, read a book”. That sounded pretty luxurious for those individuals but
for the 375,000 people living in Brighton Beach, Battery Park , Broad Channel
and other low-lying zone A neighborhoods Bloomberg ordered evacuated by Sunday
afternoon. The city has close to 72 shelters for those individuals to stay but
most are resorting to family and friends out of the evacuated areas. For those
who are planning on stick out the storm have a “Shove it Sandy” kind of
attitude for the storm. Officials are also activating 1100 national Guard
members 400 on Long Island and 200 in the city. I guess in a situation like
this you wait and prepare for the worst but hope for the best.
New York Daily News – October 28th 2012
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