Philip Orton is a Research Associate Professor of Ocean Engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ. His research interests include estuary and coastal ocean physics, storm surges and sea level rise, urban flood adaptation, air-sea interaction, urban and coastal atmospheric science, and computational ocean and atmosphere modeling. On the 10 year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, he discusses the factors that made it such a destructive storm in New York City; primarily the path it took and the timing of high tides. He describes how the region was completely unprepared for a storm of this magnitude, how climate change and rising sea levels contributed to the damage, and how its very hard to predict sea levels rise and its effects going forward. He also describes how government supported flood insurance for people living in flood plains contributes to the devastation of storms.
A decade ago, Superstorm Sandy's floodwaters surged over New York City's Rockaway Peninsula, a far-flung neighborhood by the sea. To help prevent it from happening again during a future storm, contractors for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are now putting two and a half million cubic yards of sand on the beach and building dunes around reinforced steel sheet pilings.
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Before and After: Photos from Hurricane Sandy recovery
Superstorm Sandy Recovery
This combination of photos shows church-goers leaving Mass in the New Dorp neighborhood of Staten Island, N.Y., Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012, amid destruction caused by Superstorm Sandy and the same view five years later on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Seth Wenig
Superstorm Sandy Recovery
This combination of photos shows a woman walking through floodwaters with a stalled ambulance in the background in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy in Hoboken, N.J. on Oct. 30, 2012 and the same view five years later on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes, Julio Cortez)
Charles Sykes, Julio Cortez
Superstorm Sandy Recovery
This combination of photos shows the remains of a house destroyed by Superstorm Sandy in the Oakwood section of Staten Island, New York, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2013 and the same view five years later on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Seth Wenig
Superstorm Sandy Recovery
This combination of photos shows yellow cabs in a flooded parking lot in Hoboken, N.J., on Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012 in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, and buses in the same spot five years later on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes, Julio Cortez)
Charles Sykes, Julio Cortez
Superstorm Sandy Recovery
This combination of photos shows a sailboat tossed onto a waterfront pathway in Hoboken, N.J., on Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2012 in the wake of Superstorm Sandy and the same view five years later on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017. The Manhattan skyline is in the background. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, Julio Cortez)
Craig Ruttle, Julio Cortez
Superstorm Sandy Recovery
This combination of photos shows Cristian Dobles, left, escorting his 87-year-old mother-in-law, Patsy Roberts, from her house after they retrieved some documents in the Belle Harbor section of the Rockaways in New York on Dec. 5, 2012, and the same view five years later on Oct. 12, 2017. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
Kathy Willens
Superstorm Sandy Recovery
This combination of photos shows debris piled on a street in the New Dorp neighborhood of Staten Island, N.Y., in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy and the same view five years later on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
