Superstorm Sandy Takes Coney Island for a Ride

By KYLIE FREYMAN, age 9

SandyFloodHurricane Sandy flooded the streets of New York, the worst storm in the city’s history. PHOTO: Kylie Freyman

Kylie Freyman and her family live in Sheepshead Bay, near Coney Island in Brooklyn, where she witnessed flooding and power loss.

Have you ever seen a hurricane as strong as Superstorm Sandy? Such a powerful storm was a first for New York City. Floods covered Coney Island Beach and Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn. High water levels lifted parked cars and drifted them. The Associated Press rreported 8.2 million people from the Carolinas to Maine lost power and 15,000 flights were canceled due to the storm. As of November 11, 43 people died as a result of the storm, more than half the deaths were in Staten Island. Many buildings and homes were flooded, forcing people to move into shelters as the city recovers.

Sandy originated in the Caribbean Sea as a tropical wave and developed into a hurricane with wind speeds up to 80 miles per hour. Mike Wall, a science writer, explains in The Christian Science Monitor that water levels rose so high because Sandy coincided with a full moon. “Tidal ranges are especially high at this time because the gravitational tugs of the sun and moon on our planet reinforce each other,” Wall says.

Sandy’s high winds, heavy rains and storm surges killed people and devastated property and crops in Haiti, Cuba, Jamaica, Bahamas, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.

DID YOU KNOW?

Even before the Federal Emergency Management Agency came to help New York City, local community groups such as Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence, Occupy Wall Street, 350.org and Recovers.org sprung to action, helping hard hit neighborhoods get the information they need and organizing supplies, food, water, shelter and volunteers.

HOW TO TALK TO YOUR KIDS ABOUT SANDY

The New York Coalition of Radical Educators compiled compiled a list of resources to help parents and teachers discuss social, emotional and environmental justice issues surrounding Superstorm Sandy.

9 thoughts on “Superstorm Sandy Takes Coney Island for a Ride”

  1. it is an amazing article about Hurricane Sandy hitting New York. it is an amazing article,i think Kylie Freyman did an amazing job on this article.

  2. Why do people name hurricanes? Why can’t you number them? I was just wondering but I feel terrible about what happened! I hope that the people that died to rest in peace!

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