Hurricanes

Without a doubt, more than one insurance company will face bankruptcy as a result of the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy that struck the Northeast United States during the last week of October, 2012. The destruction caused by what is now being called a super-storm is what some scientists believe is the result of global warming.

The damage is so wide spread, in terms of the cost of life and property, that the true cost of the event will never be known. Entire towns were destroyed within New Jersey, New York, as well as the damage in Massachusetts and other States. The damage is beyond belief. More than three feet of snow fell on West Virginia. The wind and the rain and/or snow resulting from Hurricane Sandy extended as far West as Illinois and as far South as North Carolina. 

The damage was so severe that it will be weeks or even months before all the ruble from destroyed homes, trees and power lines is removed and repairs made to public property. As of this date many streets remain under water. Rivers are in danger of overflowing their banks within the areas where as much as three feet of rain fell within 72 hours.

More than seven million people now know what it is like to become a victim of a hurricane. Many places are still without electric service and those displaced people who lost their home must seek shelter elsewhere, like a storm shelter, a hotel or a motel. Some of those people will be provided shelter by a friend or a family member until they can purchase another home or rent an apartment.

Many factories and other places of employment might never be open for business again and tens of thousands of once employed people will have to find another place in which to earn a living. Some people will never move back into the communities where the storm serge caused by Hurricane Sandy destroyed hundreds of buildings. It is a storm event that will be remembered by its surviving victims until the day that they die.

The American Red Cross is feeding thousands of displaced people. The Federal Government, as well as the Local Governments within the States in question is providing assistance. The Coast Guard, as well as the Nation Guards of those States is also providing help to feed and rescue people who are unable to leave the damaged areas.

It is sad but true that some people will never fully recover from the loss or their home and the loss of the personal property within the home. Some items can never be replaced and now those people must realize that their life has changed and might never be the same as it was before one of the worst storms in recorded history struck their community.