![]() ![]() Learn more about how USGS brings diverse scientific expertise to understanding powerful storms like hurricanes. The USGS New England Water Science Center will continue to collect comprehensive meteorological and water level data to other USGS staff and partner agencies to improve storm forecasting, inform communities about the probabilities of coastal change, guide emergency management and public safety, and to estimate economic and ecological consequences of large storm events like Hurricane Sandy. Additionally, these storm-tide sensors can record many observations per second, rather than taking measurements at 30-second intervals as they did before, and during, Hurricane Sandy. These locations are pre-surveyed for elevation and equipped with permanent metal brackets for easy sensor deployment and retrieval. USGS established a large network of pre-identified sites where the storm-tide sensors could be placed ahead of a large storm. ![]() At least 191 people were killed along the path of the storm in seven countries. Preliminary estimates of losses that include business interruption surpass 50 billion, behind only Hurricane Katrina. The immense storm-tide of Sandy prompted USGS to expand storm-tide sensor usage by providing Water Science Centers with a greater number of sensors. Sandy is estimated to have caused damage of at least 20 billion. The USGS Water Mission Area used a portion of this money to develop the Flood Event Viewer, a map that displays all data associated with large flood events, and the Short-Term Network, which archives and processes these data for use in flood and coastal change modeling and flood insurance mapping. Eastern Connecticut and Rhode Island saw lower storm tides, on average, between 6 to 8 feet.Ī rapid deployment gauge that was installed ahead of Hurricane Sandy on a bridge in Newburryport, Massachusetts.ĭamages from flooding and wave impact were significant along the coast, damaging homes, commercial buildings, boats, motor vehicles, and infrastructure such as piers, boardwalks, bridges, roads, and sidewalks.īeyond the coastline, Sandy’s storm surge raised river water levels far inland – with the Connecticut River in Hartford, Connecticut rising by 4 feet.Īfter Hurricane Sandy, USGS received $43.2 million in supplemental funding to launch research projects and to expand storm-tide data collection efforts, processing, and accessibility. Sensors recorded storm-tide elevations of up to 7-to-8 feet on Cape Cod and up through to Ipswich County in Massachusetts. However, the Atlantic coastline of New England also experienced significant flooding. In New England, these data recorded the highest storm-tide levels in Connecticut with peak inundation averaging between 8 to 12 feet on the western end of Long Island Sound in Fairfield and New Haven Counties. In addition to USGS’ permanent tidal gauge network to measure and transmit real-time water levels, we also positioned rapid deployment gauges (RDGs) to collect the water-level and climate data in flood-prone areas without permanent gauges.Īfter the surge and winds subsided, USGS retrieved the storm-tide sensors, RDGs, and measured high water level marks. Two storm tide sensors installed on a piling attached to a boardwalk on Short Beach in Stratford, Connecticut ahead of Hurricane Sandy.
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