Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy is a storm which resulted in at least 177 mortalities, damaged at least 200,000 homes, affected at least 8 billion people with power outages, and even resulted in more than $50 billion in cost of damaged things. This storm originated off the west coast of Africa as a minor tropical wave. This wave then became classified as a tropical depression in the southern Caribbean. Sandy then started moving up north to Jamaica and developed an eye. As Sandy crossed Jamaica, her wind speeds reached up to 90 mph. The storm then left Jamaica and started to head towards Cuba. Once she reached landfall− an arrival at land on a sea− her wind speed was up to 105 mph. This turned her into a Category 2 hurricane; however, the storm soon decreased its speed and power after it lost its eye when it interacted with Cuba’s cordillera− a group of parallel mountains. After leaving Cuba, Sandy turned into a hybrid storm and then an extratropical cyclone. After this, Hurricane Sandy made its way up north and affected the U.S. East Coast. Ways that it affected the East Coast were by flooding the street, ripping away home and boardwalks, eroding the beaches and dunes, and even closing the NY Stock Exchange, which rarely ever happens. Overall, this storm was definitely one of the strongest that the United States ever experienced.