CONDITIONS ON DAYS SIX AND SEVEN (Nov. 4-5) post passage of Hurricane Sandy - Over 1.3 million residents still without electricity, waiting in cold, damp houses without cell phone service, refusing to go to heated shelters because of fear of looting if they leave their homes. - Fuel oil spills in New York Harbor. NOR’EASTER’S NEGATIVE IMPACTS EXACERBATE RECOVERY • Wind of up to 50 mph (85 kph) in New Jersey and New York, with downed trees and power outages from a blanket of heavy, wet snow • Prolonged power outages Powerpoint presentation courtesy of Dr Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction

1. SNOW IN NEW YORK:
THURSDAY, NOV. 8

2. NOR’EASTER

3. FORECAST OF NOR’EASTER:
THIRSDAY, NOV. 8, 2012

4. POST-SANDY RESPONSE AND
RECOVERY
OCTOBER 30 – NOVEMBER ??, 2012

5. MORNING OF OCT. 30
NEW YORK CITY ON LOCK
DOWN
ROADS CLOSED
TUNNELS CLOSED
SUBWAY, TRAINS, AND AIRPORTS CLOSED
WIDE-SPREAD POWER OUTAGES
HIGH VOLUME OF 911 CALLS THAT CAN’T BE
ANSWERED EFFICIENTLY
STOCK EXCHANGES CLOSED
SCHOOLS CLOSED

6. FLOODING IN BROOKLYN

7. MORNING OF OCT. 30 :
NEW JERSEY FLOODED
NO PART OF NEW JERSEY WAS
ABLE TO ESCAPE THE
EXCEPTIONAL AND UNTHINKABLE
FLOODING FROM SANDY’S SURGE

8. HOUSES IN RUINS: SEASIDE
HEIGHTS, NEW JERSEY

9. OCT. 30
The President ordered FEMA
to organize Federal
assistance under standing
legislation (the Stafford Act)

10. HELP FROM EVERYWHERE
BEGINS
• Millions of $ donated by strangers.
• American Red Cross providing food,
water, medicine, and temporary shelter.
• Samaritan’s Purse (just one example)
providing food, water, counseling, and
assistance in removal of mud and mould
from flooded homes.
• Utility crews from nearby states coming
to help restore power and services.

11. VOLUNTEERS CLEANING UP
IN QUEENS, NEW YORK

12. POST-SANDY PROBLEMS IN
CARIBBEAN AND BAHAMAS
• Sandy has come and gone, but serious
response and recovery problems of
many kinds linger on in the Caribbean
and the Bahamas.
• The threat of cholera in Haiti, already
hit in 2010 and 2011 by an earthquake
and a hurricane, is but one example.

13. THE INITIAL CONDITIONS IN
NY AND NJ WERE GRIM
• Widespread power outages
• People with little or no food stranded
in homes that are flooded and cold
because of the power outages and
change in the weather.
• Standing water and debris everywhere.
• Burned-out areas in Breezy Point,
Queens Borough, NY

14. A DARK NEW YORK CITY

15. BURNED-OUT AREA, QUEENS
BOROUGH, NEW YORK

16. NEW JERSEY: ATLANTIC
CITY UNDER WATER

17. HOBOKEN NEW JERSEY:
TAXIS UNDER WATER

18. UNUSUAL DEBRIS: BOAT ON
METRO NORTH’S TRACKS IN NY

19. THE INITIAL CONDITIONS IN
NY AND NJ WERE GRIM
• Salt water in tunnels, subways, and
homes (Note: Salt water is a conductor)
that could burn when the electricity is
restored to homes and businesses).
• Additional dead bodies being
discovered.

20. FLOODED CAREY TUNNEL, NY
(AKA BROOKLYN BATTERY)

21. SEVENTY-TWO DEATHS
ALONG EASTERN
SEABOARD
(as of NOV. 3)
Preliminary Loss Estimate:
$50 Billion

22. DEBRIS IN NEW JERSEY

23. THE INITIAL CONDITIONS
WERE GRIM (continued)
• Millions are weary and discouraged
• Inadequate communication is the norm.
• Millions are unable to commute to jobs,
many of which are not open anyway,
due to impassable roads, traffic jams,
and no metro or no gas.
• Food and water shortages.

24. NEW JERSEY: NOV. 2, 2012

25. DEALING WITH GAS
SHORTAGES
• New Jersey’s Gov. Christie signed an
Executive Order on Friday night, Nov.
2, to ration gasoline for cars in 12 New
Jersey counties.
• Under Christie's order, car owners with
odd numbered license plates can get
gas on odd days, and car owners with
even numbered license plates can get
gasoline on even days.

26. TAXIS UNDER WATER: NEW
YORK CITY

27. OTHER CONDITIONS THE FIRST
FIVE DAYS (Oct. 30-Nov. 3)
• Horrific traffic jams in downtown
Manhattan (if you could drive)
• Long lines of people and cars waiting
for gas at all local service stations
• No gas at many service stations
• Gas at some service stations, BUT no
generators to provide the electricity to
pump the gas.

28. CONDITIONS ON DAYS SIX AND
SEVEN (Nov. 4-5)
• Lines over 1-mile-long (1,6 km) of
angry people and cars waiting 1-2
hours for 1-2 gallons of gas and power
generators.
• Feeling of isolation and abandonment,
especially at night, for millions.
• Growing mountains of trash in some
locations creating a fire hazard.

29. DEALING WITH COMMUTING
PROBLEMS IN NEW YORK
• The first limited bus and train
services came to life, but many of
the buses were quickly filled to
capacity, creating enormous lines
to get on them and forcing drivers
to skip stops and roll past hordes
of waiting passengers

30. CONDITIONS ON DAYS SIX AND
SEVEN (Nov. 4-5)
• Over 1.3 million residents still without
electricity, waiting in cold, damp
houses without cell phone service,
refusing to go to heated shelters
because of fear of looting if they leave
their homes.
• Fuel oil spills in New York Harbor.

31. BAD NEWS
A Nor’easter is expected on
Wednesday-Thursday,
November 8-9.

32. NOR’EASTER

33. FORECAST OF NOR’EASTER:
THIRSDAY, NOV. 8, 2012

34. NOR’EASTER’S NEGATIVE IMPACTS
EXACERBATE RECOVERY
• Wind of up to 50 mph (85 kph) in New
Jersey and New York, with downed
trees and power outages from a blanket
of heavy, wet snow
• Prolonged power outages

35. SNOW IN NEW YORK:
THURSDAY, NOV. 8

36. SNOW IN NEW YORK:
THURSDAY, NOV. 8

37. SNOW IN NEW YORK:
THURSDAY, NOV. 8

38. SNOW AT NEW YORK’S UNION
STATION: THURSDAY, NOV. 8