Two years after Sandy, experts broke down why the storm was so deadly. At its maximum size the storm covered a quarter of the continental U.S. Even as the remains of Sandy moved west of Pittsburgh, the tempest's immense size continued to push storm surges toward New York and cause additional flooding. On October 30, the storm began to weaken as it moved inland before finally dissipating the next day over Pennsylvania. Power outages from Sandy were experienced as far west as Michigan. Over 8 million people lost power during the story, and outages were seen for days in some major cities, while outlying areas were without power for weeks. As it progressed Sandy dropped a deluge of snow in the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina. Parts of New York City near lower Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Staten Island flooded, temporarily paralyzing the city's subway system. It was ultimately dubbed a superstorm, an unofficial designation given to large storms that don't easily fit into a single classification.Īs the superstorm hit the coasts of New Jersey and New York, it packed a wallop. Sandy's winds now extended 1,000 miles along the coast.īecause it became a hybrid of two storm systems and grew to be so immense, the press dubbed Sandy a Frankenstorm at the time.Ī full moon added to the deadly storm surge that resulted, which increased the tide pushed ashore by a foot.Īs the tropical storm system mixed with cooler air, it lost its hurricane structure but retained its intense winds. A separate high-pressure storm to the north of Sandy prevented it from moving away from shore, effectively trapping the now combined storm systems along the coast. Sandy moved past Delaware and New Jersey, unleashing more havoc as it collided with a cold front heading east toward the Atlantic. Roads were washed away in the Outer Banks. It stayed several hundred miles offshore when passing the Carolinas, but it still pushed large waves and massive amounts of rain ashore. The wide-reaching storm progressed up the U.S. Find out when hurricane season peaks, how the storms form, and the surprising role they play in the larger global ecosystem. Hurricanes are the most powerful storms known to man. The tempest became huge, with a radius that stretched 100 miles. NOAA reports that this reformed structure was unusual and was spurred by warm waters. It weakened to a tropical depression once reaching the Bahamas on October 27, but then it quickly restrengthened into a Category 1 hurricane. Over the next few days, Hurricane Sandy continued north. By October 26, it had passed over Puerto Rico and Cuba, damaging the historic city of Santiago de Cuba. It pummeled Haiti with rain, setting off a torrent of mudslides that killed at least 50 people. ( What are hurricanes, cyclones, and typhoons?) Hurricane Sandy passed over Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti. Two days later, it strengthened and officially became a Category 1 hurricane as it moved northeast. On October 22, 2012, a tropical depression formed off the northeast coast of Nicaragua in the Caribbean Sea. Since the storm, affected regions have rethought their disaster plans to try and increase their preparedness. The disaster showed how vulnerable wider areas of the United States are to extreme weather events, particularly in a time when scientists warn that climate change is threatening sea-level rise and hotter temperatures. Though Sandy is often described as an anomaly, for many it was a call to action. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimates Sandy caused at least $70 billion in damages, making it among the costliest storms in U.S. In the nine days that Sandy raged, it killed 70 people in the Caribbean and almost 150 people in the U.S. An unusual combination of hurricane conditions and cold fronts made Sandy particularly potent. A “ raging freak of nature” is how National Geographic described Hurricane Sandy when it hit land in fall 2012.įrom beginning to end, Hurricane Sandy's progression caused deadly flooding, mudslides, and destructive winds from the Caribbean to the U.S.
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