Sandy - an update

The death toll from Sandy continues to grow to 63 and it has caused billions of dollars of damage and economic disruption on its wide path of destruction. The super storm reached the northeast of the US to come ashore near Atlantic City closing that city including its famed casinos, heading for New Jersey and New York City forcing Wall Street with its stock exchange out of action. A huge storm with punishing winds, record flooding, heavy snowfall and massive blackouts, wiped out homes along the New Jersey shore, submerged parts of New York City, and dumped snow as far south as the Carolinas.

The Hurricane Watch Net was activated during the super storm with amateur radio station WX4NHC, but has now closed down. It collected reports of significant damage both on air, and through VoIP, Echolink and IRLP. Throughout the disaster numerous trained and well prepared ARES groups set up emergency communications nets to handle the storm in partnership with the relief agencies. They had plenty of advance warning to be well placed with equipment, go-kits and personnel at disaster shelters for evacuations, emergency operation centres, hospitals and other places.

Before reaching the USA it had already caused death and mayhem throughout the Caribbean including Cuba, Dominica, Haiti and Jamaica. Relief efforts are continuing with the flooding starting to subside and blue skies appearing. Flights are resuming slowly and the New York Stock Exchange got back to business on generator power. The railway subways were closed as people walked across the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan to return home and survey the damage.

- Jim Linton VK3PC, Chairman IARU Region 3 Disaster Communications Committee.

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