Hurricane Sandy
Hurricane Sandy made a variety of impacts along the highly populated northeastern Atlantic seaboard in October 2012. USGS received $43.2 million in Supplemental funding, supporting more than 25 projects designed to improve forecasts of impacts and ecological consequences. Improved understanding of these impacts will better prepare us for the next one.
Science to Support Coastal Resilence
Science to Support Coastal Resilence
The USGS Science Plan was developed immediately following Hurricane Sandy. Across five major themes, USGS used a unique geospatial approach to put extreme storms into the greater context of climate change, sea-level rise and coastal vulnerability.
Research Themes
Research Themes
USGS scientists are working to assess forecast effectiveness, improve how we share information, and identify gaps to improve the information and tools we provide.
News
A Decade of Evolution
A Decade of Evolution
Hurricane Sandy Aftermath: Determining the Vulnerability and Resilience of the New Jersey Barrier Island System
Hurricane Sandy Aftermath: Determining the Vulnerability and Resilience of the New Jersey Barrier Island System
Piping Plovers Benefited from Hurricane Sandy
Piping Plovers Benefited from Hurricane Sandy
Publications
Modeling of barrier breaching during Hurricanes Sandy and Matthew
Physical processes driving barrier island change during storms are important to understand to mitigate coastal hazards and to evaluate conceptual models for barrier evolution. Spatial variations in barrier island topography, landcover characteristics, and nearshore and back-barrier hydrodynamics can yield complex morphological change that requires models of increasing resolution and...
Hurricane Sandy effects on coastal marsh elevation change
High-magnitude storm events such as Hurricane Sandy are powerful agents of geomorphic change in coastal marshes, potentially altering their surface elevation trajectories. But how do a storm’s impacts vary across a large region spanning a variety of wetland settings and storm exposures and intensities. We determined the short-term impacts of Hurricane Sandy at 223 surface elevation table...
Effects of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) exclusion on plant recovery in overwash fans after a severe coastal storm
We documented the impacts of a hyper-abundant deer population on dune vegetation recovering from severe storm surge on a barrier island through use of permanent plots and a repeated measures analysis. Three years after landfall of the storm, vegetation cover was dominated by American beachgrass, Ammophila breviligulata, though we observed twelve plant species among plots surveyed. We...
Science
Coastal Change at Fire Island, a geonarrative
For more than two decades the U.S. Geological Survey has been researching Fire Island's offshore, nearshore, and barrier island systems to better understand drivers of coastal change and evolution. This geonarrative delves into how barrier islands change and evolve, demonstrates how seasons, storms and humans change beaches, and explores the role models play in predicting what the beach might look...
Coastal System Change at Fire Island, New York
Fire Island is a 50-km long barrier island along the south shore of Long Island, New York. The island is comprised of seventeen year-round communities; federal, state, and county parks; and supports distinct ecosystems alongside areas of economic and cultural value. In addition to providing resources to its residents, the barrier island also protects the heavily-populated mainland from storm waves...
CMHRP Response to Hurricane Sandy in Estuaries and Wetlands
In late October 2012, Hurricane Sandy made landfall on the eastern seaboard of the United States, affecting the coastline from North Carolina to New York and Massachusetts. In addition to causing more than 200 human fatalities, the storm altered coastal landscapes, geology, hydrology, environmental quality, and ecosystems. Damage to infrastructure from Hurricane Sandy totaled over $75 billion...