Natural Disaster, Hurricane Sandy | featured news

Superstorm Sandy didn't just rattle the East Coast, it also jiggled the ground across the country ever so slightly, scientists reported Thursday. Earthquake sensors located as far away as the Pacific Northwest detected the storm's energy as it surged toward the New York metropolitan region last year. The network typically records the sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust, but it can pick up shaking triggered by ocean waves, mine cave-ins and tornadoes.

The House has approved a $50.7 billion measure for Superstorm Sandy victims. The 241-180 vote sends the measure to the Senate which is expected to take it up next Tuesday. Northeast lawmakers from both parties have been pressing for the aid for more than two months.

The House has overwhelmingly approved $9.7 billion to pay flood insurance claims for the many home and business owners flooded out by Superstorm Sandy. The vote came more than two months after the storm hit and days after Northeast Republicans erupted over House Speaker John Boehner's decision to delay an earlier vote.

The Congressional members, including Republicans, noted their outrage that the Republican leadership did not present the $60.4 billion package already passed by the Senate for a House vote.

There's new evidence that some of the impact of Superstorm Sandy could have been prevented. A bi-partisan report says that for more than three decades New York politicians were repeatedly warned to prepare for a coming superstorm like Hurricane Sandy but those warnings were ignored.

The 2012 hurricane season has come to an end and it's another one for the record books, above and beyond the destruction of Sandy. There were 19 named storms in what meteorologists consider an above-average year that tied as being the third most-active season since 1851. The season runs from June 1st to November 30th, although tropical storms can and do sometimes develop outside those dates.

Two more executives have resigned from the Long Island Power Authority, which came under withering criticism from New York's governor for its failure to restore power more quickly to hundreds of thousands of customers after Superstorm Sandy.

Superstorm Sandy ran up a $42 billion bill on New York and the state and New York City congressional leaders are preparing big requests for federal disaster aid....

...Throughout the week, Gov. Chris Christie and state officials ramped up rhetoric about the need to rebuild the New Jersey shore smarter and stronger in the wake of the storm. But at the same time, an order was signed that temporarily waives permitting requirements, allowing for the immediate reconstruction of the public infrastructure that failed and washed away in the storm’s path.

Charity scams could be steering relief funds away from Superstorm Sandy victims.