A hurricane is a tropical cyclone formed in the southern Atlantic Ocean. They are characterized by low-pressure centers surrounded by thunderstorms. The thunderstorms produce great winds and rain which contribute to the intensity of the storm. As the water evaporates from the ocean, the saturated air rises leading to the condensation of water vapor.
Hurricane sandy hit the coast of northeast America and was classified as a category 1 storm. On record, it became the largest Atlantic hurricane on record ever. Its winds where wide recorded at spans of up to 1800km. To this end, this aims to look in detail the phenomenal Hurricane Katrina.
In this perspective, the formation of hurricane sandy was attributed to a tropical wave in the west Caribbean Sea. The formation of the tropical wave is attributed to a low pressure system which facilitated sufficient convection. This was on 22 October. In six hours, it had upgraded into a tropical storm. It made a slow movement towards the Great Antilles as it did so did its intensity increase. Two days later 24 October sandy had become a hurricane. It made its landfall at Kingston, Jamaica.
The hurricane later reemerged; this was a few hours later after the landfall. Its re-emergence, however, saw it progress into a category two hurricane. A day later on 25 October the hurricane struck Cuba; this resulted in into intensity going down downgrading it into a category one hurricane. Over to the next day the hurricane made its way to the Bahamas. At some point, the hurricane lost its strength down to a tropical storm, but it later regained its strength into a category one. On October 29th, the hurricane hit Atlantic City, New Jersey and was characterized by hurricane force winds. Hurricane sandy left a wake of destruction in her path. The loss of homes by many individuals was catastrophic. A lot of the money went into repairing destroyed homes. This was money that the government issued and money from charitable sources.
The loss due to interrupted business accrued to amounts estimated at $65.5 billion. This led to many business owners and entrepreneurs losing a lot of revenue. In addition to this, most businesspersons has to suffer the cost of repairing their enterprises as the hurricane destroyed most of them. In the Bahamas, the hurricane reportedly killed two people. However, in terms of damage the hurricane caused damage running to the amount of $300 million. Although other countries were affected by the hurricane, in America, the number of states affected by the hurricane amounted to 24. The entire seaboard of Maine to Florida was also affected. The hurricane was responsible for a massive loss of homes and extensive damage to property. In New York City once the storm hit, the streets were flooded and so were the tunnels and subway. The power was also cut due to flooding and the effects of the hurricane. The estimated value of damages, in the US alone, totaled an amount of $63 billion.
The activities of the hurricane resulted into the cancellation of school activities in some parts of the United States. This was especially in Florida were activities were closed down from 25 to 27 October. In Virginia, the governor Bob McDonnell declared a state of emergency. The hurricane caused a lot of great distress to any people. This distress incorporated trauma to those hurt and others who lost their loved ones. The government spent billions trying to cushion the effects of the storm and trying to get people back on to their feet. While, businesspersons tried to reel back from the losses they suffered. The hurricane put a strain on the American economy. The lost homes, acting as, a reminder of the storm that was hurricane Sandy.
References
Johnston, Lauren. Daily News. 5 November 2012. 17 December 2012
Newman, Andy. 10 November 2012. 17 December 2012
Voiland, Adam. 7 November 2012. 17 December 2012
