Climate Adaptation

New York Prepared for Another Sandy But Got Isaias Instead

  • Blackouts linger, despite $3.5 billion spent on power grid
  • Utilities focused on floods yet remain vulnerable to wind
A flood barrier stretches across a street during Tropical Storm Isaias in New York on Aug. 4.Photographer: Angus Mordant/Bloomberg
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

After Hurricane Sandy plunged much of the New York region into darkness in 2012, local electric utilities spent more than $3.5 billion to ensure it wouldn’t happen again.

And yet, one week after Isaias roared through, more than 40,000 New York-area customers remained without power. Over 1 million homes and businesses were still in the dark as late as five days after the storm. Why?