Blog Post 7 (SANDY GOT MAD)

The article “Lessons Learned From Hurricane Sandy and How We Need to Apply Them Everyday,” discusses what we learned from the experiences of Hurricane Sandy.  It also proposes what we can do to better prepare for such a situation in the future.  The first lesson is that most people are good hearted.  In times of trouble, people in the Tri-state area come together to help each other.  Strangers opened their doors to people who lost their homes and volunteered their time.  Also politicians from different political parties forget their differences and come together.  President Obama and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie worked together to help the people and forgot about their political disagreements.  Additionally, New Yorkers have finally accepted that they too are vulnerable to natural disasters.  New Yorkers never had to deal with such extreme weather, but now they have a firsthand experience on what it is like lose it all.  The final important lesson learned from the storm is that the infrastructure of the city is not up to the mark.  Buildings, bridges, subways and roads suffered significant damages from Sandy causing the entire city to come to a halt.  This showed that the city needs to invest more is strengthening its infrastructure.

          This article does an excellent job of looking retrospectively at the disaster.  It is very important to reflect on such a situation and take lessons from it before beginning to rebuild.  Due to global warming, I feel this type of extreme weather events will become more frequent.  Therefore it is essential for us to make our infrastructure much stronger so they can withstand the force of nature.   We should also reconsider building so close to the coast.  The government also needs to learn to better deal to with such situations so people can receive aid at a quicker pace.  This is the second year in a row that the city had to come to a standstill because of a hurricane.  This year we get a hurricane and a Nor’easter within two weeks of each other.  It’s hard to argue against climate change after such unusual weather patterns.  Therefore we need to reflect on the situation and take lessons from it just as it is suggested by the article.