loading map - please wait...
 |  Tottenville High School served as an evacuation center during Hurricane Sandy. 100 Luten Avenue New York, United States of America |
| Curtis High School served as an evacuation center during Hurricane Sandy 105 Hamilton Avenue New York, United States of America |
| Susan E. Wagner High School served as an evacuation center during Hurricane Sandy. 1200 Manor Road New York, United States of America |
 | A FEMA Disaster Recovery Center was set up at this location in the wake of Hurricane Sandy 6450 Hylan Boulevard New York, United States of America |
| a FEMA Disaster Recovery Center was set up at this location in the wake of Hurricane Sandy 10 Richmond Terrace New York, United States of America |
| A FEMA Disaster Recovery Center was set up at this location in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. 239 Fingerboard Road New York, United States of America |
| A FEMA Disaster Recovery Center was set up at this location in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. New Dorp Lane New York, United States of America |
| A FEMA Disaster Recovery Center was set up at this location in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. 1581 Hylan Boulevard New York, United States of America |
| This location served as an evacuation center during Hurricane Sandy 455 Huguenot Avenue New York, United States of America |
| This location served as an evacuation center during Hurricane Sandy 20 Houston Street New York, United States of America |
25 markers per page | |
Rebuilding and Preventing: Effects of Hurricane Sandy on Staten Island
Staten Island was one of the hardest hit areas in New York City during Hurricane Sandy. Some may blame the time taken for Staten Island to recover on the government not providing enough protection and resources to islanders, due to Staten Island’s reputation as the forgotten borough. However, it is more likely that Hurricane Sandy had such a big impact on Staten Island due to the geography of the borough, and it likely took so long to recover due to the extent of damage left behind. This was a learning experience for both Staten Islanders and government officials, and steps for recovery and future prevention are still in progress.
Hurricane Sandy formed in the Caribbean in late October 2012. Sandy progressed from a tropical wave to a tropical depression, then a tropical storm, and finally a hurricane.1 Jamaica was the first place to get hit by Sandy on October 24, and then came Cuba and finally the Bahamas were hit by Sandy, which had strengthened to a Category 2 Hurricane at that point.2 In the time between October 24 and October 27, Sandy had claimed at least sixty-seven lives in the Caribbean.3 Sandy traveled north towards the United States and landed on the northeastern coast on October 29, claiming over 100 lives. Sandy set records for its strength, storm surge, and size. When measuring the strength of a hurricane, a lower pressure correlates to a stronger storm, and Sandy “had the lowest barometric reading ever recorded for an Atlantic storm to make landfall north of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.”4 Sandy also brought a record storm surge of 13.88 feet to New York City as well as record waves at 32.5 feet.5 The only hurricane on record that had winds stretching a further distance than Sandy’s was Hurricane Olga, which hit the Bahamas and Florida in 2001.6 Sandy destroyed homes throughout the Caribbean and across the northeastern coast of the United States. People had to put their lives on hold for a week in order to clean up the destruction. There were also power outages and fuel shortages throughout the affected areas making relief efforts even more difficult.
Prior to Hurricane Sandy hitting the northeastern coast of the United States, government officials stressed the importance of heeding evacuation warnings as well as how severe Hurricane Sandy could be. On Staten Island, the College of Staten Island even sent out a Severe Storm Survival Guide in order to educate the community on how to properly protect their properties. This guide also provided important information regarding Staten Island flood zones and the locations of evacuation centers. However, there was only so much that could be done to protect Staten Island from Hurricane Sandy due to its geographic location and the way the Island has been settled.
Staten Island was hit harder than any of the other boroughs during Hurricane Sandy, suffering over half of New York City’s total deaths. This is largely due to Staten Island’s location along the New York Bight, which is an indentation in the sea floor.7 The New York Bight and the positions of Long Island and New Jersey helped funnel the storm towards Staten Island. Once the storm hit Staten Island, the Raritan Bay, along the southeastern shore of Staten Island, prevented flood waters from receding.8 Thus, Staten Island’s location makes it very susceptible to flooding. During Hurricane Sandy, storm tides on Staten Island reached sixteen feet.9 It also didn’t help that parts of Staten Island’s marshland had been built on. According to the author of the article “Rebuilding Staten Island: After Sandy” from The Economist, “[a] century ago, the south-eastern parts of the island were mostly uninhabited swamps. Development should never have been allowed.”10 Building homes in this neighborhood not only puts the people in that specific neighborhood at a higher risk of flooding, but those in the surrounding neighborhoods as well. When marshes are not built upon, they can function as natural flood protection because, “[m]arshes also help to reduce damage caused by a flood by storing and slowing the water.”11 Thus, developing areas like Oakwood Beach not only puts those residents in danger, but also the rest of Staten Island. The expansion of residential neighborhoods into wetlands resulted in Staten Island consisting of “the highest percentage of people living within the flood plane, according to a city report,” and “16% of the borough was inundated with flooding, impacting approximately 75,651 residents” when Sandy hit.12
The location and development resulted in the severity of Hurricane Sandy on Staten Island reaching the extent that it did. Despite Staten Island being the least populated of all the boroughs, the Island suffered the most deaths during Hurricane Sandy. Most of these deaths occurred along the southeastern shore, consisting mainly of Zone A flood zones. The leading cause of death was drowning, likely because many decided to ignore the evacuation warnings and ride out the storm at home.13 “Evacuation orders were in effect for 375,000 people in low-lying neighborhoods across the city, though many didn’t heed them. Only 3,100 people, and 73 dogs, had taken up residence in 76 city public-school shelters.”14 One reason for this could be that Hurricane Irene, which hit Staten Island in August 2011, provided a false sense of security to those living in flood zones. Hurricane Irene was downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm just before it hit New York City, and it left behind very little destruction in New York City while other areas of the world were hit much harder by Irene.15 This false sense of security combined with not wanting to leave the comfort of their own home is most likely what made many people ignore the warnings to evacuate. Hopefully people will not make the same mistake the next time there is a dangerous storm.
Alan Benimoff is a geology professor at the College of Staten Island and William Fritz is the president of the College of Staten Island, and they both have PhD’s in Geology. Michael Kress is the former Vice President for Technology Systems at the College of Staten Island, and he has a PhD in Computer Science. Through the use of the College of Staten Island’s Supercomputer, Alan Benimoff, William Fritz, and Michael Kress were able to formulate a five-point plan in order to prevent future destruction. In their plan, they stress the importance of educating the public so the public understands the importance of heeding evacuation warnings. However, they stress the importance of education not just for residents but also for builders. Education should “guide appropriate building codes and construction styles when decisions are made to rebuild.”16 Today it is clear that some areas of Staten Island have realized the importance of how their homes are built, especially in hard hit areas such as Midland Beach and New Dorp Beach. When driving in these areas it is hard to avoid seeing a house that has now been rebuilt on stilts, which hold the home about ten feet above the ground in order to prevent flooding. Other steps in their five-point plan include “rebuild[ing] and restor[ing] coastal dune fields and marshes,” as well as “rezoning high-risk areas for day use and recreational purposes.”17 It can be seen that these steps are in progress through the state buyout, which approximately 300 homeowners are participating in, that will prevent future development of the neighborhoods that were built on wetlands.18 According to Seth Diamond, the director of the state’s Office of Storm Recovery, these areas will be turned into “an area of natural resiliency, protecting thousands of residents of Staten Island from future flooding.”19 There are also visible signs that these steps are in progress. For example, while driving along Father Capodanno Blvd, one can see the sand dunes that line the beach, which weren’t present prior to Hurricane Sandy.
Hurricane Sandy was devastating to the Staten Island community, but there are signs present today that show that Sandy was a learning experience and steps have been taken to prevent future destruction. The devastation left behind by Hurricane Sandy was largely due to Staten Island’s unfortunate geographic location, but other factors include the expansion of residential areas as well as the rising sea level. There also would have been fewer fatalities had people heeded the evacuation warnings. This was an important lesson for Staten Islanders to take evacuation warnings seriously, and it was an important lesson for government officials and builders about where and how to build homes.
Notes
- Sharp, Tim. “Superstorm Sandy: Facts About the Frankenstorm.” LiveScience. November 27, Accessed May 19, 2017. http://www.livescience.com/24380-hurricane-sandy-status-data.html.
- Ibid
- Ibid
- Duke, Alan. “Superstorm Sandy breaks records.” CNN. October 31, 2012. Accessed May 19, 2017. http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/30/us/sandy-records/.
- Ibid
- Ibid
- Gammon, Crystal. “Why Hurricane Sandy Hit Staten Island So Hard.” LiveScience. November 07, 2012. Accessed May 19, 2017. http://www.livescience.com/24616-hurricane-sandy-staten-island-effects.html.
- Ibid
- Ibid
- “After Sandy.” The Economist. March 16, 2013. Accessed April 30, 2017. http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21573587-struggle-to-work-out-how-or-whether-put-things-back-together-after-sandy.
- “Why are marshes important?” Gundersen Envision. March 21, 2014. Accessed May 19, 2017. https://gundersenenvision.wordpress.com/2014/03/21/why-are-marshes-important/.
- Dejohn, Irving. “Sandy’s Wounds Still Fresh In Staten Island, Which Saw Most Storm Deaths”. NY Daily News. N.p., 2017. Web. 29 Apr. 2017.
- “Mapping Hurricane Sandy’s Deadly Toll.” The New York Times. November 16, 2012. Accessed May 26, 2017. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/11/17/nyregion/hurricane-sandy-map.html?_r=0.
- “Hurricane Sandy hits New York City in 2012.” NY Daily News. October 29, 2015. Accessed April 30, 2017. http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/hurricane-sandy-hits-new-york-city-2012-article-1.2416531.
- Dolnick, Sam. “Recovery Is Slower in New York Suburbs.” The New York Times. August 28, 2011. Accessed May 26, 2017. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/29/nyregion/wind-and-rain-from-hurricane-irene-lash-new-york.html.
- Benimoff, Alan I., William J. Fritz, and Michael Kress. “Superstorm Sandy and Staten Island: Learning from the Past, Preparing for the Future.” Learning from the Impacts of Superstorm Sandy, 2015, 21-40. Accessed March 1, 2017. doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-801520-9.00003-1, 49.
- Ibid
- Dejohn, Irving. “Sandy’s Wounds Still Fresh In Staten Island, Which Saw Most Storm Deaths”
- Ibid
