Hurricane sandy is a tropical cyclone that devastated 24 states in America on October 2012. The storm had a particularly severe damage in New Jersey and New York. It hurricane hit the city of New York on October 29, causing great damage by flooding the streets, tunnels and subway lines and disrupting power in and around the city. The hurricane destroyed thousands of homes, leaving many people homeless and killed at least 131 people, making it the worst to hit America after Hurricane Katrina (White house).
The great American spirit was however evident by the swift response from the government, organizations and the American people. At the forefront is Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which immediately established staging locations for important resources such as water, meals, generators and medical supplies, in order to distribute them to the affected regions after the storm subsided (Hunter). About seven thousand personnel from FEMA were then deployed to the impacted area to assist in rescuing the affected population and offering communications and logistical support (Hunter). More than sixty Disaster Recovery Centers were later set up to assist the affected people.
On November 15th President Obama traveled to New York for the second time since the storm hit the area (White house). During his visit, Obama met with the victims of the disaster and local leaders and directed that all available resources be brought in to aid the community in recovery. After the visit, the president declared the Hurricane Sandy a major disaster in the country. The department of defense also provided fuel to affected population, and helped drain the flooding water from the city of New York. FEMA has since provided approximately one billion dollars to assist the households affected by the disaster (White house). In general, the manner in which the U.S. government responded to the Hurricane Sandy was commendable.
Walker Hunter. ‘Government’s Sandy Response Earns Mix of Applause and Criticism as Obama Visits Staten Island’. Politicker. Retrieved on December 1, 2012
http://politicker.com/2012/11/governments-sandy-response-earns-mix-ofapplause-and-criticism-as-obama-visits-staten-island/, November 11, 2012.
White house. Ongoing Response to Hurricane Sandy. Office of the Press Secretary.
Retrieved on December 1, 2012 http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-pressoffice/2012/11/15/ongoing-response-hurricane-sandy, November 15, 2012