Three Years Since Sandy

Posted Thu, 10/29/2015 - 11:23

By: Keith Cialino, New England Regional Coordinator for the NOAA Marine Debris Program

Today marks the third anniversary of Sandy’s landfall in the mid-Atlantic. Hurricane Sandy resulted in severe damage to many communities, leaving a swath of destruction and large amounts of debris in coastal waters and marshes.

The Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013 provided NOAA with supplemental funding to support the removal of debris generated by Sandy that was not removed immediately after the storm. NOAA developed formal agreements with the states of Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, as well as New York City, for debris removals. In addition, we provided support to the state of Delaware for the detection of storm-related debris in coastal areas. Many of the debris removal projects are ongoing, and to date have resulted in the removal of approximately 375 metric tons of debris from sensitive coastal habitats, including marshes, wetlands and tidal creeks. As with many events of this magnitude, the impacts of the storm continue to be felt and cleanup efforts are ongoing three years later. However, with the united efforts of many people and organizations, a great deal of progress has been made toward recovery.

Volunteers picking up debris from a marsh.

A crane moving debris into a floating dumpster.

A crane moving floating debris into a floating dumpster.

Volunteers moving a staircase from a marsh.

Volunteers using a machine to move large pieces of debris.

Containers of large debris being dragged to move them out of a marsh.

Links to more information:

Three Years Since Sandy

Posted Thu, 10/29/2015 - 11:23

Tags

Northeast

removal

emergency response

For citation purposes, unless otherwise noted, this article was authored by the NOAA Marine Debris Program.

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So it is almost 5 years now. How is the location hit by hurricane Sandy and debris there? It should be ok by now.

Hi Allan,

When we wrote this blog in 2015, a lot of progress had been made in the areas recovering from Sandy. However, those communities are still recovering even almost five years after the event. Much of the debris caused by Sandy was removed in 2012 and 2013, with some larger debris identified but not removed due to environmental restrictions, being located in remote areas, or a lack of funding. The Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013 funding that NOAA received was used by the affected states to address that debris.

I see. Good thing there are lots of progress happened since the incident. Hopefully you can gather enough budget to fund the removals of the remaining big debris.