Survey of Damage and Relief Actions in New York after Hurricane Sandy
Hiroyuki Ito, HeadFlood Disaster Prevention Division, Research Center for Disaster Management
Keywords: Hurricane Sandy, storm surge, city damage, crisis management actions
1. About Hurricane Sandy
Hurricane Sandy formed in the Caribbean Sea onOctober 22, 2012 and landed in New Jersey around 8:00
p.m. on October 29. Upon landing, it was a huge storm
with an average wind speed per minute of approx. 36 m/sand scope of 1400 km. From October 28 to November 1,the strong winds and storm surge (record-high sea levelof 13.88 ft in Manhattan) caused damage mainly in thestates of New York and New Jersey. Since this is an
important case where a modern city was hit by flooding,we conducted an on-site survey jointly with societies
related to disaster prevention, from the viewpoints ofgrasping the aspects of damage to city services anddisaster response.
2. Damage by Hurricane Sandy
In New York and New Jersey, coastal areas wereflooded by storm surge (Figure). Main aspects of thedamage are as follows.

Area specified with ultra-highresolution(Feb. 14, 2013)
Area specified with highresolution(Feb. 14, 2013)

Figure: Flooded Area of Hurricane Sandy(Source: Federal Emergency ManagementAgency)(i) Human damage: Hurricane Sandy reportedly killed a
total of 132 persons in the U.S. and Canada as ofNovember 16, 2012. The main causes of death were"drowning", "fallen trees," "external injuries," and"carbon monoxide poisoning."(ii) Damage to transportation facilities: Subway tunnels
and stations, street tunnels, etc. were flooded (Photo).
(iii) Damage to electric power facilities: A substation
flooded and exploded in the City of New York and power
supply stopped. A total of 8 million households in 17
States were affected by the blackout.
(iv) Suspension of business in stock exchanges: Stockexchanges were closed on October 29 and 30 to ensure
the safety of employees.

Photo: Flooded Subway Station(Source: Metropolitan Transportation Authority)
3. Response to disaster by government, etc.
The following findings were obtained concerning
disaster response.
(1) Preparation and implementation of a timeline ofdisaster-response actions
Measures for a big hurricane as well as a time schedule(time line) for implementing those measures are prepared
during ordinary times, and based on these, drastic
measures, including evacuation orders involving
hundreds of thousands of people and the suspension of
public transportation, were carried out by the day prior to
the arrival of hurricane.
(2) Establishment of the joint local task force by theFederal and local governments, etc.
A joint local task force was established by the Federal,
State, and municipal governments, and each organization
acted efficiently by sharing roles and in close cooperation
with each other.
(3) Communication by the heads of administration
Governors, mayors, etc. actively appeared on
mass-media to call for evacuation and responsive actions,etc.
(4) Verification of implemented disaster response
PDCA was establishment to verify the actions made in
response to the disaster and utilize results for future
responses.
[Reference]On-site Survey on the U.S. Hurricane Sandy
http://www.mlit.go.jp/river/kokusai/disaster/america/index.html