When it comes to natural disasters, New Jersey primarily experiences blizzards, wildfires, river flooding, occasional droughts, and coastal storms. While rare, it does have its share of large-scale disasters that make it into history accounts and records, for instance, the Great Blizzard of 1888, the Ash Wednesday Nor’easter of 1962, and Hurricane Ida in 2021.
These powerful storms have wrecked homes, disrupted New Jersey’s economy, and forced the state to rewrite its safety laws. In fact, in terms of property damage costs, the state ranks in the country’s top 10, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).
But, which of these extreme natural disasters is truly the worst? One stands out and remains unmatched in terms of its sheer size, financial impact, and the widespread destruction it left behind.
Superstorm Sandy Was the Worst Natural Disaster in New Jersey
On October 29, 2012, Superstorm Sandy slammed into the coast of New Jersey and went on to become the most catastrophic natural disaster in the Garden State.
- Widespread Destruction
When Sandy made landfall near Brigantine, it was accompanied by 80 mph sustained winds. These hurricane-force winds brought blizzard conditions to the mountains and storm surges to vulnerable coastal areas.
- Storm Surge
With its massive wind field, Sandy had a very long fetch. Together with its strong winds, the super storm pushed an enormous volume of water toward the coast. The shallow sea floor off the coast of New Jersey meant that a massive pile of water was being pushed forward.
With nowhere to go but up, the result was a storm surge that reached as high as 14 feet. This was recorded at Sandy Hook, but the storm surge along Raritan Bay and the Monmouth County coast caused the most damage.
The record-breaking storm also occurred during a full moon. This astronomical alignment only raised the water level. In other words, the high tide only amplified the damage along the Garden State’s coast.
The water engulfed the streets, swept houses off their foundations, and toppled trees and powerlines. In addition, schools and buildings were destroyed, and many of the famed amusements and landmarks at Jersey Shore were wrecked. For instance, the skeletal hulk of the Jet Star roller coaster in Seaside Heights became an iconic image of the storm’s devastations in New Jersey.
- Direct and Indirect Deaths
Many people were drowned, killed by carbon monoxide poisoning, or crushed by fallen trees. During the storm, the primary cause of death was drowning. This was followed by death due to trauma from falling trees crushing houses or cars.
However, days and weeks after Sandy had passed, there were still people dying. The main culprit: carbon monoxide poisoning. When the power went out, many residents ran gas-powered generators in enclosed spaces like garages or basements, unaware of the odorless, deadly gas building up.
In the aftermath of super storm Sandy, a total of 38 fatalities were recorded.
- Financial Cost
A total of around 346,000 homes were either damaged or destroyed, and 2 million residents were left without power in the Garden State. According to the Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP), 190,000 businesses were also affected by Sandy.
Across the United States, Sandy’s total damage reached $68 billion. New Jersey bears nearly half of that total with $30 billion total storm damages, according to the National Weather Service (NWS) records, making it the costliest natural disaster in the history of the Garden State.
However, a separate report puts the storm cost for New Jersey at more than $37.1 billion. This includes $13.6 billion in direct physical and economic damage and $23.5 billion in remediation costs.
“We believe this is the most comprehensive cost analysis of the storm so far,” said Marc Holzer, founding dean of the School of Public Affairs and Administration at Rutgers-Newark.
According to the report, 35 towns, spread out across 11 counties, were the most significantly impacted. Mantoloking in Ocean County and Moonachie in Bergen County were the hardest hit towns.
Of all the people impacted by Sandy statewide, more than half of the 1.1 million low-income and ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) households faced lost wages, added expenses from the power outages and gas shortage, and residential damage. A majority of these families don’t have homeowners or flood insurance and were already struggling to afford basic necessities like food. The most affected of these demographics were from Hudson, Bergen, Monmouth, Middlesex, Ocean, and Essex counties.
“Low-income and ALICE families were disproportionately impacted by Sandy,” Stephanie Hoopes Halpin, the report’s author and assistant professor, said, “incurring more than half of all residential damage, but receiving less than 30 percent of the recovery assistance.”
How Superstorm Sandy Was Formed
Sandy began as a classic hurricane. It was powered by the warm waters of the Caribbean and was on a northward trajectory along the Gulf Stream. However, it forsook that route and instead made a sharp left turn, resulting in a direct hit on the coasts of New Jersey and New York.
This sudden change of course made the hurricane collide with a winter-like storm system, which meant the warm ocean waters no longer powered it. The warm tropical hurricane had merged with the cold, winter-like storm system and had now morphed into a wintertime cyclone, becoming significantly bigger. In other words, it was now a behemoth super storm.
At its peak, the hybrid giant’s gale-force winds stretched an incredible 1,000 miles or more. This was the Superstorm Sandy that hit New Jersey, and its sheer size was a major reason why it was so damaging.
In addition, Sandy’s barometric pressure at its center dropped to a record low of 940 millibars (27.76 inches). This was the lowest barometric reading ever recorded for an Atlantic storm to make landfall north of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, according to CNN. The previous record holder had been the 1938 “Long Island Express” Hurricane with 946 millibars. In meteorology, lower pressure means a stronger storm, and Sandy’s pressure was so low that it broke records in cities across the Northeast.
Bottom Line
Superstorm Sandy was considered to be the deadliest natural disaster in New Jersey. One analysis found that the super storm’s damage represents the worst weather-related or natural disaster damage in the history of the Garden State. It remains to be the most expensive natural disaster and serves as a benchmark for resilience planning in the state.