So will this be the biggest storm of our lifetimes once all is said and done?
I think that it wasn't really the biggest storm of our lifetime on any sort of scale. It just happened to hit such an immensely populated and important area in the USA.
Way worse cyclones hit the Carribean nations, Gulf area, and Pacific countries on a much more regular basis. This one just got a lot of media attention because of where it hit. (Not downplaying the gravity of Sandy).
Sandy's about 1/4 of Katrina in damages, less than 1/10 in fatalities.
When all's said and done I wouldn't be surprised to see Sandy climb at least closer to Katrina costs if not more, a lot of Katrina's costs was rebuilding the levees(even the one's that didn't fail) around New Orleans, I suspect after this New York/New Jersey will want to protect those area's from future storms and it certainly won't be cheap.
As for Katrina's fatalities, I hate to say it but probably 90% of those deaths were from stupidity, when you live in an area under sea level and were told to evacuate because of a monster storm pushing water is imitate, a smart person leaves.
As for Katrina's fatalities, I hate to say it but probably 90% of those deaths were from stupidity, when you live in an area under sea level and were told to evacuate because of a monster storm pushing water is imitate, a smart person leaves.
How come the swings are barely moving? Wouldn't they be all over the place, twisting in the wind?
Maybe because the house (where the vid is being shot from) is blocking the wind from a kids swing set but the tree is higher than the house? Hurricane winds don't swirl, they can go one way for hours.
a lot of those people couldn't leave. no cars, no public transit to get them out of the city. were they just supposed to walk a few hundred miles to safety?
a lot of those people couldn't leave. no cars, no public transit to get them out of the city. were they just supposed to walk a few hundred miles to safety?
They were warned at least 2 days in advance,most people took the warning and went to shelters ala superdome (disaster in itself) but they got out of their homes that were under sea level and lived, 12 hours before the storm over 100 police cars were still asking people via load speaker to please leave these areas and the warnings were ignored...ignorance of real danger.
As for Katrina's fatalities, I hate to say it but probably 90% of those deaths were from stupidity, when you live in an area under sea level and were told to evacuate because of a monster storm pushing water is imitate, a smart person leaves.
A smart person looks at all the risks and decides what is most prudent for themselves. Given the socioeconomic situation of the people hardest hit (those weren't great neighborhoods that got wiped out) and the violence and looting that followed the storm, I bet many of them judged the inability to protect their belongings and property to be of greater long term risk to themselves than another storm, which they'd ridden out many times previously. Maybe you lose your home and possessions to the storm, or maybe if you leave, you lose them regardless of whether the storm gets them or not.
One can never rule out stupidity, however I bet if you could ask any of those victims, they had a rationale for why they stayed. But they judged wrong, something even the most informed people do.
There is a gas shortage now, and Airline companies are now filling extra fuel in their planes from other airports before heading to New York. Fuel is expected to start arriving over the next few days. http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local...176973921.html
