Hurricanes and the New Normal

摘要

It has been over four years since New Jersey discovered its vulnerability. No longer are hurricanes the stories we hear about, but what we remember ourselves. In late October 2012, Superstorm Sandy slammed the coast. Heavy wind and waves caused $75 billion in damage to infrastructure in New Jersey and surrounding states. Commuter rail trains in floodplains ended up underwater. Major regional transformers were also located in floodplains and quickly submerged. Beaches were inundated in ways we have never seen, prompting millions in shore protection and board-walk repair, much of which is still ongoing. Today, thousands of people are still without their homes and angry with government bureaucracies designed to help them. Sandy exposed these weaknesses, dramatically changing our trajectory in resiliency design.