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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| Superstorm Sandy – your questions answered | Superstorm Sandy – your questions answered |
| (5 months later) | |
| Was it really a hurricane? No, by the time it made landfall in the US it had been reclassified to a post-tropical storm. | Was it really a hurricane? No, by the time it made landfall in the US it had been reclassified to a post-tropical storm. |
| Why was it called Sandy? That seems a very fey 1920s name for a hurricane/tropical storm. There are six lists of names for tropical cyclones in the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and North Atlantic, with names chosen mainly for their pithiness. Sandy was on the 2012 list. But once a storm causes destruction on this scale, it is delisted. Like Katrina and Mitch, we have heard the last of Sandy. | Why was it called Sandy? That seems a very fey 1920s name for a hurricane/tropical storm. There are six lists of names for tropical cyclones in the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and North Atlantic, with names chosen mainly for their pithiness. Sandy was on the 2012 list. But once a storm causes destruction on this scale, it is delisted. Like Katrina and Mitch, we have heard the last of Sandy. |
| How great was the death toll? In the US the number is put at 18 (though that may rise) – about the same number that died in the great storm of 1987 in the UK. Sandy has killed several times that number in Cuba and Haiti. Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans in 2005, led to more than 1,800 deaths. | How great was the death toll? In the US the number is put at 18 (though that may rise) – about the same number that died in the great storm of 1987 in the UK. Sandy has killed several times that number in Cuba and Haiti. Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans in 2005, led to more than 1,800 deaths. |
| How will Sandy affect the presidential election? Obama hopes that by flying back to Washington ahead of a rally in Florida and declaring a disaster, he will look presidential. Pundits reckon the storm has blown away any momentum his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, might have had. But it is also likely to deter early voters from turning out, and they tend to be disproportionately Democrat supporters. | How will Sandy affect the presidential election? Obama hopes that by flying back to Washington ahead of a rally in Florida and declaring a disaster, he will look presidential. Pundits reckon the storm has blown away any momentum his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, might have had. But it is also likely to deter early voters from turning out, and they tend to be disproportionately Democrat supporters. |
| Might the election have to be delayed? According to constitutional experts, this is a "legal black hole". It has never happened, and law-makers are eager to avoid a postponement, but some experts suggest states do have the right to delay if holding the election on the designated day (6 November) is problematic. If any did so, however, they could open themselves up to challenges by Congress. Given that there is still a week to go and the level of destruction appears to be containable, the odds are that no state will opt out. | Might the election have to be delayed? According to constitutional experts, this is a "legal black hole". It has never happened, and law-makers are eager to avoid a postponement, but some experts suggest states do have the right to delay if holding the election on the designated day (6 November) is problematic. If any did so, however, they could open themselves up to challenges by Congress. Given that there is still a week to go and the level of destruction appears to be containable, the odds are that no state will opt out. |
| Why did the lights in the Goldman Sachs building stay on while New York City hospital had to be evacuated when its back-up power system failed? Because Goldman Sachs is a global investment banking and securities firm, and a hospital is – in the last analysis – just a hospital. | Why did the lights in the Goldman Sachs building stay on while New York City hospital had to be evacuated when its back-up power system failed? Because Goldman Sachs is a global investment banking and securities firm, and a hospital is – in the last analysis – just a hospital. |
| What's happening to the homeless? The New York City Department of Homeless Services relocated nine homeless centres, evacuated more than 1,000 people and made strenuous efforts to encourage the use of shelters, but some of New York's 50,000-plus homeless population preferred to take their chance on the streets, perhaps relying on reflected light from Goldman Sachs Tower. | What's happening to the homeless? The New York City Department of Homeless Services relocated nine homeless centres, evacuated more than 1,000 people and made strenuous efforts to encourage the use of shelters, but some of New York's 50,000-plus homeless population preferred to take their chance on the streets, perhaps relying on reflected light from Goldman Sachs Tower. |
| Did the dangling crane next to the luxury apartment building near Central Park ever collapse? When last seen, it was still dangling. | Did the dangling crane next to the luxury apartment building near Central Park ever collapse? When last seen, it was still dangling. |
| Did no one think that a 50-metre-high crane might pose a risk? Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the crane had been inspected and deemed not to be a risk, but that God moved in mysterious ways. "Just because it was inspected, that doesn't mean God doesn't do things or that metal doesn't fail." | Did no one think that a 50-metre-high crane might pose a risk? Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the crane had been inspected and deemed not to be a risk, but that God moved in mysterious ways. "Just because it was inspected, that doesn't mean God doesn't do things or that metal doesn't fail." |
| What will the disaster cost? Storm damage is put at about $20bn, of which $8bn will be insured losses. Hefty sums, but only about a quarter of the cost of the damage wrought by Katrina. | What will the disaster cost? Storm damage is put at about $20bn, of which $8bn will be insured losses. Hefty sums, but only about a quarter of the cost of the damage wrought by Katrina. |
| How will the US economy cope? Rather well, bizarrely. Destruction is ultimately thought to be good for business, producing investment – especially in reconstruction – that more than offsets what has been lost. Analysts say that in the long term Sandy will give a $40bn boost to the economy. At a macroeconomic level, God does indeed move in mysterious ways. | How will the US economy cope? Rather well, bizarrely. Destruction is ultimately thought to be good for business, producing investment – especially in reconstruction – that more than offsets what has been lost. Analysts say that in the long term Sandy will give a $40bn boost to the economy. At a macroeconomic level, God does indeed move in mysterious ways. |
| How will the economy of Haiti, which was also battered by Sandy, cope? The absence of tweeters, bloggers and corporate analysts in Port-au-Prince makes that difficult to answer. | How will the economy of Haiti, which was also battered by Sandy, cope? The absence of tweeters, bloggers and corporate analysts in Port-au-Prince makes that difficult to answer. |
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