Unpredictability of Irene in NYC

In the days following Hurricane Irene, many New Yorkers are still cleaning up the mess. The aftermath of the storm, while not as bad as originally predicted, has caused the boroughs of New York City about $6 billion between damages and lost sales. The question many people were left with was whether the hype and worry was really all worth it?

With the national cost of the storm reaching close to $40 billion, the death toll reaching over 40 people along the east coast and some communities still cut off because of flooding and washed away roads, the rain may have stopped but the effects are still present.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said in a news conference, “All in all, we are in pretty good shape because of the exhaustive steps I think we took to prepare for whatever came our way.” With the worst case scenario calling for much of the five boroughs to be flooded by waters by up to 15 feet high from the storm surge, calling for drastic evacuation plans and preparedness was definitely warranted.

Praise came to many officials and FEMA for the responsiveness to this storm, especially after so much criticism for the lack of responsiveness and preparedness for Hurricane Katrina. While some may have found the hype and emergency planning for Irene inconvenient, saving the lives and property of what could have been a disaster up to Katrina standards was much more important.

The infrastructure in New York City was also a major concern. Many bridges and tunnels are listed as being not even moderately up to date in terms of safety. If the full force of Hurricane Irene came in at anything more than the tropical storm it landed as, major roadways connecting the metro areas of NYC and New Jersey would have been impassable, if not destroyed.

This is what caused city officials to make an unprecedented call to close down mass transit in NYC. There was fear of subways being flooded and destroyed. Fortunately, the subway tunnels did not flood and most of the city’s heavily relied on mass transit was almost running back to normal on Monday morning.

It’s rarely the case that a hurricane comes bararlying all the way up the northeastern coast, hitting almost every major city. Irene managed to do so as a category 1. And although most experts would consider this small, it was very slow-moving, yielding constant rain, wind and costly damage.

New York City and it’s surrounding areas were very lucky this time that the damage was not as bad as it was feared. If nothing else, the city’s and country’s response to the storm, as well as continued efforts to clean up, should be praised. The answer to the question then is yes, the hype and worry was worth it.

(Post submitted By PDE, Douglas Elliman Real Estate, brokers of  New York City Condos.)