A wave from the 1938 hurricane strikes a seawall in New England. Photo source: NOAA
Excerpts;
As New York City begins evacuating residents from low-lying area ahead of Hurricane Irene, the storm looks increasingly likely to pass across New Jersey or Long Island on Sunday. Hurricanes are rare this far north, and that rarity makes them even more perilous…
New York Hurricane History: Rare, Devastating Storms, Wall Street Journal
NYC Hazards: New York City Hurricane History
Evacuations Ordered In New York City, The New York Times
New York City officials issued what they called an unprecedented order on Friday for the evacuation of about 370,000 residents of low-lying areas at the city’s edges — from the expensive apartments in Battery Park City to the roller coaster in Coney Island to the dilapidated boardwalk in the Rockaways — warning that Hurricane Irene was such a threat that people living there simply had to get out. The M.I.T. team has done more surge simulations using other scenarios for the track of Hurricane Irene and finds some very bad outcomes are possible (up to 10 feet at the Battery)…
