theatlanticcities.com - October 28th, 2013 - David Wachsmuth
The northeast Atlantic seaboard is the most densely urbanized area of the United States. And over generations, a bewildering patchwork of governance has evolved, with thousands of municipalities, hundreds of special-purpose agencies, dozens of cross-state partnerships, and a handful of states all sharing—and fighting over—governmental responsibilities.
The state of New Jersey alone has 565 municipalities representing a population only slightly larger than the single municipality of New York City.
Today marks the first anniversary of Superstorm Sandy hitting the New York region, becoming one of the most destructive storms in the nation’s history. On October 29, 2012, the hurricane blasted New York City with a record storm surge as high as 13 feet, as well as the Jersey Shore and New England, ultimately killing 159 people along the East Coast and damaging more than 650,000 homes. The storm caused $70 billion in damage across eight states. Millions were left without power in the New York region, some for weeks. We are joined by two women who have played key roles in the region’s recovery: Terri Bennett, a founder of Respond and Rebuild, one of the first groups to help low-income residents of the Rockaways rebuild after Superstorm Sandy, and also focused on providing free mold remediation that eventually inspired the city’s similar program, and Jessica Roff, a founder of Restore the Rock, a nonprofit created by Sandy volunteers who met while working out of a space in the Rockaways called YANA, or You Are Never Alone, where they operated a free health clinic, legal clinic and trained and dispatched hundreds of volunteers.
elitedaily.com - by Christian La Du - October 28, 2013
One year ago, the east coast was ravaged by SuperStorm Sandy, a freak occurrence combining a hurricane, Nor’easter, high tide, and a full moon, which wrought particular destruction on the tri-state area.
Although the enduring legacy of Sandy is not measured in tallies of destruction, numbers like 8.6 million homes and businesses without power, gas and water, 650,000 destroyed houses, 200,000 damaged businesses, and 286 deaths afflicted over 13 states. Approximately 50 million people felt the effects of the storm over 800 mile stretch, and an estimated $65 billion in economic damages were incurred.
The real, lasting effect of Hurricane Sandy, however, is in the radical life shifts that people forcibly underwent.
theforumnewsgroup.com - October 3rd, 2013 - Anna Gustafson
Democratic mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio traveled to Far Rockaway Sunday to discuss his long-term recovery plan for residents still struggling after Hurricane Sandy.
Nearly a year after the storm devastated much of the Rockaways and South Queens, as well as other parts of the city, de Blasio stressed that far too many residents are still struggling and need help from the government in a variety of different ways – among them “quality health care and good-paying jobs with community leaders outside the now-closed Peninsula Hospital.”
Peninsula Hospital was shut down by the state Department of Health last year, leaving just one hospital to service the entire Rockaway peninsula.
Light Our Way To Recovery is a candlelight commemorative gathering of the constituents of the Canarsie community, one of the many disaster impacted communities on the Eastern USA coastline. This event is given in remembrance of those persons who lost their lives as a result of Hurricane Sandy; to honor the people who volunteered and who continue to help; to highlight the need for support for Canarsie disaster victims who continue to struggle to rebuild, recover and survive the emotional maelstrom caused by the life changing events of October 29th 2012.
factcoexist.com - November 2nd, 2012 - Anya Kamenetz
The darkened stairwell of the tower on Broome Street on the Lower East Side is like a dripping, foul-smelling cave lit only by a few headlamps and flashlights. A group of eight 20- and 30-somethings are climbing to the top floor of the 23-story building to check on public housing residents who have been stuck without power or water since Monday night.
"Hello? Hello? We’re volunteers! Do you need help? Water? Agua? Ayuda?" The women do the talking in hopes that people won’t be intimidated. Theo, a resident on the 18th floor who escorts us up, says that this is a dangerous building in the best of times.
Image: GOES-13 satellite image captured on Oct. 31 at 1240 UTC. Credit: NASA GOES Project.
sciencefriday.com - November 2nd, 2012 Communities along the East Coast are reeling from the impact of Hurricane Sandy, dealing with electric outages, flooded streets, damaged sewage plants, and fractured transportation lines. Can cities rebuild stronger, more resilient infrastructure to weather the storms of the future?
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