HURRICANE SANDY

Hurricane Sandy began in Jamaica on October 22nd, developing from an elongated tropical wave near the Caribbean sea.

 More than 12,000 flights were canceled due to the hurricane and the three main airports which serve New York City were shut down for two days.

 In one of the worst affected areas, more than 100 homes were destroyed by an overnight blaze in the Irish enclave of Breezy Point in Queens.

 There was no trading for two days on Wall Street as a result of the storm damage. The last time the New York Stock Exchange closed for two consecutive days for weather-related reasons was 1888.

 During the height of the storm, estimates suggest there were over three and a half million tweets with the hashtag #Sandy, according to the New York Times. Instagram's chief executive officer Kevin Systrom told the Associated Press that about 10 pictures per second were being uploaded to Instagram with the hashtag #sandy. The scope and cost of the recovery is estimated to cost at much as $50 billion. Speaking the day following the hurricame, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey called it “incalculable.” In comparison, Hurricane Irene, a New York storm which hit in August of 2011, cost the city alone $55 million, according to the New York Daily News. As a result of the storm, the Greenwich Village Halloween parade was postponed for the first time in the parade’s 39-year-history.