How Hurricanes are Great for Brainstorming (A Few Lessons Learned from Sandy)

If you've ever dealt with a hurricane you know it can be the most excruciating 24 to 48 hours you'll ever experience. The sound of winds pounding your house and not knowing if the next gust of wind will be the one that peels back your roof, sends a tree through your house, or water through your basement. Whether if the power goes out how long will it take to come back on.

Thankfully we got through unscathed but many parts of the East Coast did not. That time period you spend in a hurricane can get you thinking about a lot of the important stuff. Like how could one storm knock entire region of the US on its ass. Here are some lessons learned:

Seaside Heights

Global Warming Is Real and it's Already Happening - Prior to Hurricane Irene last year it had been 60 years since the Northeast was hit with a major storm. And there was perhaps a false sense of security that hurricanes were about as rare to the actual Jersey shore as sobriety was to the cast of MTV's 'The Jersey Shore'. I won't get too climate wonky here but there were two things that essentially protected the Northeast from violent storms.

First, the ocean temperature around the Jersey shore/Northeast was colder than down South. While this didn't always make for good swimming, it did provide a barrier since hurricanes need warm water to thrive and most storms simply fizzled out before reaching the Big Apple much like Tim Tebow. Second, the jet stream was like a good wing man at the bar, always helping to deflect any problem storms out to sea and pawn them off to the unsuspecting Canadian Maritime provinces.

That's About Right

Now with ocean temperatures rising and melting arctic ice causing the jet stream to shift, those protections are now gone. While scientists, can't 100% prove it was global warming, 2 hurricanes in 2 years should lead to an obvious culprit.

Ronald Reagan might have been wrong - Just as they're no atheists in a foxhole, there really are no small Government libertarians in a natural disaster. While Reagan said the scariest phrase he ever heard was 'I'm from the Gov't and I'm here to help', these past few days these that phrase to many people meant lifesaving help was on the way. While a lot of things Federal and State Gov't do is debatable, disaster response and emergency management should not be one of them. Why having things like FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) is even controversial is beyond me. Every state in the Union is susceptible to some sort of natural disaster whether its tornadoes in the Midwest, Earthquakes on the West Coast, wildfires in Mountain West, or Texas in and of itself. No one is bigger than nature and I find it amusing all these rugged individualists are the first ones to complain when Gov't left them to their own devices and now find themselves in a World of s**t.

Helping evacuate including pets

Jersey City

Wouldn't It Be a Good Idea To Bury Powerlines? - Although the show 'Revolution' is riddled with more plotholes than swiss cheese, it's basic premise is correct that society without reliable electricity will inevitably collapse. So why not bury our powerlines like we do with water, gas, sewer, and cable lines? Much of the power outages are result of trees falling on power lines so why not just bury the powerlines if trees are around. Because of Sandy people are looking in upwards of a week or more without electricity, while a minor inconvenience for people who can't access internet porn. But for hospitals, schools, businesses, first responders, etc. electricity is kinda of needed.

The Power of Sharing

And while were' at it, why not completely revamp our National electricity grid seeing as it dates back to the 50's and is rapidly deteriorating and becoming obsolete. Or perhaps embrace alternate forms of energy like solar and wind. One thing that won't run out in a hurricane is wind powered electricity.

America needs to rediscover its love of civil engineering - Infrastructure isn't sexy. Does a politician score points with voters by saying they overhauled an old sewer system or built a new bridge to alleviate traffic? Nope but when we lose it or it suddenly fails (ie: St.Paul, MN bridge collapse, New Orleans levy failure, etc.) it becomes disastrous for everyone. Remember when we used to build great, cutting edge public works projects like bridges, tunnels, airports, mass transit, and the Interstate freeway system? This contributed to the common good by allowing easy flow of goods, people, and most importantly ideas between places. Yes, it cost money but in the end we all benefited because things like running water, sewers, and public transportation all contributed to increased quality of life.

Lower Manhattan Subway

While the Dutch may be more known for legalized weed, prostitution, and really good beer. It's their system of levies, canals, and dams which effectively tamed the North Sea that is a true engineering marvel. Notice the Dutch only fret about storm surges when they're being sarcastic about storm coverage in the US and stoned out of their gord: 'ohhh..noo...the water gonna get us (feigning panic)...quick get my clodhoppers...I may have to swim to the red light district! (to loads of laughter)....hey where'd my joint go?'

Since sea levels are expected to rise and it only took a nine foot wall of water to bring Lower Manhattan to its knees. Perhaps learning from the Dutch at how they planned Amsterdam, we can implement for New York, Atlantic City, and other low-lying shore points to prevent the flooding that occurred during Sandy.

Isn't it kinda of stupid to build luxury homes right on the beach? - The largest monetary damage to come from this storm will be all the luxury homes that have cluttered the entire Jersey shore and sit unoccupied for most of the year except summer to be rented out one week at a time at exorbitant prices (for contrast see Outer Banks, NC). These gawdy, overbuilt palaces often exceed $1 million dollars and now after Sandy are essentially floating in the bottom of the ocean or reduced to a large wood pile. Their owners will obviously want to rebuild but not by private insurance but using Federal disaster funds since most insurers figured out long ago homes built on a beach make really inviting targets for Mother Nature thus not wise to cover.

North Wildwood (or what's left of it)

But before that happens we have to utilize a concept called smart growth, where any new construction should be built in harmony with natural surroundings and sustainable which means stop building homes in low-lying flood prone areas. And if the real estate developers insist on having properties with a waterfront view, then create construction codes mandating it have certain amenities like being able to withstand 100mph plus winds and being elevated above any potential storm surge level. Oh yeah one other little thing, mandate owners of said homes must either have flood insurance or ability to pay for it out of pocket if destroyed. Because it not fair to taxpayers that they must now subsidize a beach house where a hotshot Wall Street exec can sneak off to snort coke off a hooker's ass while his wife tends to his real house in North Jersey or Long Island.

Long Beach Island

The human spirit is alive and well - While East Coasters are often stereotyped as being gruff, inpatient, and kinda dickish. It took me only one week after moving from Ohio to Philadelphia to learn that the stereotype was actually..well...sort of accurate. But this week for every story of heartbreak there's a story of people helping out their fellow humanity. Even as many areas are still without power, society has not descended into chaos with rioting and looting everywhere. Instead people have largely banded together to help each other get through these trying times.

If one thing this storm has taught all of us is that we are all in this together. And only by working together can we all survive and prosper as many instead of merely get by as an individual. Perhaps no greater example than the NICU nurses of NYU Hospital who when the power went out carried 20 sick babies down nine flights of stairs. Many of these babies were dependent on respirators so nurses manually supplied oxygen while huddling these babies in warm blankets down darkened stairwells and hallways to waiting ambulances and stayed with them until they reached safety at other hospitals.

NYU NICU Nurses

There are thousands of these stories like this around the Mid-Atlantic region. Many selfless heroes who when confronted with an unimaginable situation rose to the occasion for themselves and their fellow human beings. They say adversity doesn't build character it but instead reveals it. So I can proudly say my adopted home State of New Jersey has plenty of it.