Hurricane Sandy (Panel)
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Date
2013-05-22
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Authors
Johnson, Darlene
Szatkowski, Gary
Smith, Craig
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Abstract
Mr. Szatkowski described the experience of Hurricane Sandy
from the point of view of forecast meteorologists working in New
Jersey area hit by the storm. His office in Mount Holly began issuing warnings forty hours before the storm and knew that
coastal flooding was the biggest threat. They anticipated record
breaking water heights and made a personal plea to people to
be prepared by showing photographs of storm damage from the hurricane in 1902 that devastated
the 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
great job in the run up to the storm. The New Jersey governor ordered a mandatory evacuation,
but 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
not flood in past hurricanes, but this time lost 400 million dollars in equipment. Some people did not
evacuate because they thought Hurricane Irene the
year before was less intense than anticipated. In a
study, researchers found that 76% of people said that
they “experienced” a hurricane, but only 37% reported
suffering 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
severe weather events worse. The trend in sea level
rise is acceleration, which will raise storm tide levels. It
Is very difficult to confront this problem because it is
long term and outside personal experience. Looking
ahead– even though forecasting has gotten better and
is expected to improve, it is difficult to get people to
understand the impact of a hurricane...
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Greenville, NC: East Carolina University