Recap of Hurricane Sandy

From my various posts

I am trying to answer this question - "Based on the information that

was presented, how should have the public and government responded to

Hurricane Sandy warnings / forecasts ?"

(note - NWS website says "winds over 74 MPH can destroy buildings" -

Fujita tornado scale at Wikipedia shows windows break at 100 MPH ~~~)

(note - Hurricane Irene hit the area 1 year ago - Vermont might have got the worst of it)

10/25 - NYC expected to get hit

10/26 - NJ to get hit by left hook

10/26 - per NWS Taunton - wind gusts possibly at hurricane force (?74)

10/27 - downgraded to Tropical Storm

10/27 - National Hurricane Center wont issue hurricane warnings (local

weather offices will handle duties)

10/27 - 2 feet of snow predicted for West Virginia

10/28 - Long Island bumped up to 5 to 10 feet - catastrophic

10/28 - high wind warning for eastern Mass - gusts to 70

10/28 - "we could see near record flooding" per NYC Mayor Bloomberg - (note : weasel words)

10/28 - Massachusetts (Mass) Emergency Management Agency (EMA)

mentions widespread power outages

10/28 - 838 AM per Marc Rosenthal on WBUR - gusts over 50 knots predicted

10/28 - 1130 AM - per Mayor Bloomberg - surge will be few feet more

than predicted yesterday - now could be 6 to 11 feet

10/28 - AP super storm article - first 2 sentences are dismissive

towards readers

10/28 - National Hurricane Center (NHC) webpage - winds expected to be

near hurricane force at landfall (wherever that might be - they only

show one vague map with projected tract with lots of probabilistic

technical jargon)

10/28 - hurricane tracks at TV7 website are all over the map - but

most show a left turn into NJ - (apparently the Europeans had a better

track 3 days ahead of the USA)

10/28 - weather.gov for 02474 - winds could gust to 60 MPH (and

someone "could" give me $2M tomorrow - but I aint holding my breath on

that)

10/28 - per NHC - maximum winds for Sandy - Sunday 75 - Monday 80 -

Tuesday 80 - Wednesday 70 - Thursday 45

10/28 - gusts to 80 per Boston Herald

10/28 - 2131 PM ET - Boston TV7 text forecast on their website -

Monday gusts 40 to 60 - "perhaps near" 70 on Outer Cape Cod -

strongest along the coast

10/28 - Tweet from NY State DHS - 80 MPH in New York City (NYC) for 24 hours

10/28 - per CNN - Sandy is now 75 MPH (sustained)

10/29 - per Marc Rosenthal WBUR FM Boston - gusts to 55 in Boston -

gusts to 100 MPH on Cape Cod

10/29 - text at TV7 website still says - 40/60 gusts in Boston with 70

on Cape Cod

10/29 - per NWS Taunton Mass - gusts to 70 in the afternoon (no

specific location given IIRC)

10/29 - Marc R says 75 to 85 MPH on Cape today (gusts?)

10/29 - 657 AM ET - WBUR FM Boston - maybe 75 MPH gusts this afternoon

10/29 - 7 AM ET - weather.gov for 02474 - updated 556 AM ET - gusts to

55 MPH today and tonight - tomorrow gusts to 31 - (note this is 5 MPH

lower than 10/28 info)

10/29 - 74 dange - Marc R says Boston gusts to 80 - Cape gusts to 100

10/29 - Sandy stronger than all models predicted

10/29 - WBZ - Boston gusts to 50 and 60

10/29 - Boston Herald - over 100 MPH on Cape Cod

10/29 - The Weather Channel - 90+ MPH in NJ

10/29 - from Fox5 in NYC - gusts expected of 115 MPH in NYC

10/29 - noon - Boston TV7 - Sandy is gaining strength

10/29 - 1220 PM ET - TV7 Boston says Boston gusts of 50 to 70 -

strongest winds 3 to 6 PM (which matched my experience exactly)

10/29 - per CNN - Sandy is at 90 MPH sustained

10/29 - 6PM approx - winds will peak at 11 PM per WBUR reporter at MEMA bunker

10/29 - 730 PM - actual wind gusts per NWS Taunton - Blue Hills Milton

MA 74 (up on 400 foot hill) - Wellfleet on Cape Cod - 81 MPH -

Cuttyhunk (island off Cape Cod) 83 MPH

Recap - confusion over sustained winds versus gust winds - almost no info given about winds versus building damage - forecasts went up and down in regards to wind speeds - projected track was vague from NHC (track from media forecasters was accurate) - no info given about the odds of the storm taking a different track (maybe because it was unprecedented)

Options - evacuate everyone from NY and NJ (within 50 miles of coast) that was not in a 2 story or greater steel or concrete building - cover every window with plexiglass and/or plywood) - turn off all power when winds reach 60 MPH sustained - etc