Superstorm Sandy Damage Observed

From November 29 to December 6, 2012, Dean Sakamoto, FAIA, LEED AP; Karl Kim, Ph.D., University of Hawaii Urban Planning Professor, who is also executive director of the National Disaster Preparedness Training Center (NDPTC); along with coastal geologist and land use law expert, Dennis Hwang, of UH Sea Grant, visited the most severely damaged areas along the New York City and New Jersey coasts to support the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) efforts in recovery from Hurricane Sandy. The team was hosted by Professor Ronald Shiffman, FAICP of Pratt Institute’s Graduate Center for Planning and the Environment and met with community leaders, local officials, New York City planning and design professionals, residents, building owners, and those involved in relief and recovery efforts. Coastal storm surge, flooding, and infrastructure failure were the main causes and consequences of Sandy’s impact. Sandy struck the east coast on October 29 of this year. Dean Sakamoto leads the Urban Resilience Lab at UH Planning and is the lead developer of NDPTC's HURRIPLAN, a design-based training course for hurricane resilience. HURRIPLAN will be presented at the Center for Architecture in New York City as part of its September 2013 Design For Risk and Recovery events. Dennis Hwang photo above of the remains of a home on Union Beach, NJ.