11 Facts About Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy was a post-tropical cyclone that swept through the Caribbean and up the East Coast of the United States in October of 2012.
The hurricane began as a tropical wave in the Caribbean and quickly turned into a tropical storm in just six hours. It was upgraded to a hurricane on Oct. 24 when it reached 74 mph winds.
The National Hurricane Center says that the tropical force winds extended 820 miles at their widest.
Sandy’s pure kinetic energy for storm surge and wave destruction potential reached a 5.8 out of 6 on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s scale.
The total death toll reached 285, including at least 125 deaths in the United States.
The hurricane caused close to $62 billion in damage in the United States and at least $315 million in the Caribbean.
Hurricane Sandy is the nation’s most expensive storm since Hurricane Katrina, which caused $128 billion in damage.
New York was most severely impacted due to damage to subways and roadway tunnels.
In New York and New Jersey, storm surges were 13 feet above the average low tide.
At the height of the storm, over 7.5 million people were without power.
The government wants to prevent future disasters from storms by having electrical transformers in commercial buildings hauled to upper floors, the ability to shutter key tunnels, airports and subways, and more.

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- Teresa Roca is a NYC writer who is obsessed with celebrities, sports and movies. Her favorite cause is bullying and violence.