This picture of downtown Manhattan seems eerily appropriate for this, our EU Blog centennial! We publish our 100th blog in the aftermath of what was predicted to be the worst storm to hit the East coast in the last 100 years, but in fact Sandy turned out to be a total record breaker, and overpowered the memory of even "the perfect storm" that hit the East coast back in 1991.
This storm made landfall last night in New Jersey with sustained wicked winds of 80mph, causing power cuts to more than 8 million on the east coast from Maine down to North Carolina, had two nuclear power plants standing on edge, and so far has led to a death toll of 38, primarily due to falling trees. Early estimates of the cost of the mass destruction caused are of the order of 20 billion dollars.
Thus far, over 15,000 flights have been cancelled to/from airports on the east coast, and hotels in major metropolitan areas have become overwhelmed with stranded passengers desperately searching for a warm, dry place to sleep. Transportation in general has also been devastated in New York and New Jersey with major bridges and railways shutting down access. This will add to the economic impact of Sandy.
One major side effect of the this monster storm is that it has stopped the presidential race in its tracks, with the President forced to drop his campaigning and get back to his White House HQ. I could be tempted to claim that an event of this nature is about the only thing that could get him to focus on others rather than his own desire for four more years of luxury, but I shall refrain from doing so! ;)
He swallowed it, went back home, and seems prepared to do his real job, which is to provide some true leadership and resources to those in need. Even Republican Chris Christie, Governor of New Jersey and putative presidential candidate for 2016, agreed that thus far Obama has been on the ball. There are many who might choose to politicize the storm, some claiming that it is the clincher for Obama getting four more years if he handles it well, with still others hoping that if the disaster is prolonged enough then it can be another example to use against his reelection.
But that is beside the point, totally. For the millions affected today, I doubt that the election next week is of any interest to them whatsoever, seeing flood waters and/or sandy beach where there were streets and people yesterday. The boardwalk in Atlantic city is more or less gone, and it seems that the city itself was estimated to be 85% under flood waters. I saw footage this morning of a small town nearby that looked like it was a town literally on the beach, but in fact it isn't, it's simply that the beach moved up to it and replaced sidewalk with sands.
The greater metropolitan area of NYC was hit with an historic storm surge in excess of 14 feet at times, and this led to some of the worst flooding ever seen in the 108-year history of the NYC subway system, according to MTA Chairman, Joe Lhota. It's not only that certain stations are flooded which in and of itself causes massive damage but one must also remember that this is salt water, which is even more corrosive.
Even the "always open for business" stock exchange on Wall Street is down for a second day running, which also is a first in over 100 years - the last time was due to an also historic blizzard that hit the city and closed the exchange for two days back in 1888. It is not clear as yet whether Wall Street will open again tomorrow, but I think it is not terribly likely, and that will be historic.
All we can do is to offer support to those impacted and send our power workers south of the border to help people get back to some degree of normality, and Quebec has already done so by sending down teams (mainly line workers) to restore power lines in badly hit areas.
This storm has produced several "first in over 100 years" badges which I think makes it the right subject for this 100th blog in a mere six months or so. EU is here, and we are here to stay, so please keep reading us - we do appreciate your interest! - Kevin Mc
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