Event Summary

Tropical Cyclone Sandy was the costliest natural disaster in Southeast New York. It first formed in the Caribbean Sea on October 22. As it trekked up the Atlantic, Sandy made landfall in Atlantic County Brigantine City just north of Atlantic City at 7:30 p.m. EDT on the 29th. The storm led to 14 ft. of storm surge with sustained winds of 40 to 60 mph and wind gusts of 80 to 90 mph. Emergency managers recommended mandatory evacuations of more than 1/2 million people that lived in low lying areas. Widespread significant power outages of more than 2 million lasted up to 2 weeks. 10 of 14 DEP wastewater treatment plants were damaged or lost power, releasing approximately 560 million gallons of untreated sewage mixed with stormwater into local waterways. Many trees were downed due to the high winds. These extreme conditions resulted in at least 43 deaths and widespread property damage of at least $19 billion dollars in New York City.