Sandy, the second-largest Atlantic storm on record, affected the East Coast from Florida to Maine, as well as states as far inland as West Virginia, Ohio, and Indiana. The storm made landfall in southern New Jersey on October 29, 2012, battering the densely populated New York and New Jersey region with heavy rains, strong winds, and record storm surges. The storm's effects were extensive, leaving more than 8.5 million customers without power, causing widespread flooding throughout the region, and contributing to acute fuel shortages in parts of New York and New Jersey. The storm damaged or destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes, caused tens of billions of dollars in damages, and killed at least 162 people in the United States. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) coordinated a large-scale Federal response that contributed to the integrated, national effort to support affected states and communities. In the days before Sandy's landfall, FEMA worked closely with Whole Community partners— including all levels of government, private and nonprofit sectors, faith-based organizations, communities, and individuals—to prepare for the storm and anticipate survivor needs. The Agency pre-positioned commodities and assets, activated response centers, and deployed over 900 personnel ahead of Sandy's landfall. In the initial response to the storm, the Agency coordinated with its partners to provide Federal resources and to develop innovative solutions to address power restoration, transportation, fuel distribution, and housing needs. As recovery efforts began, FEMA continued to work with its partners to assist survivors and their communities. The Agency executed one of the largest deployments of personnel in its history, delivered over $1.2 billion in housing assistance to more than 174,000 survivors, and obligated over $800 million for debris removal and infrastructure restoration. Despite these successes, the response to Sandy also revealed notable challenges in how FEMA coordinates with its Federal partners, supports state and local officials and disaster survivors, integrates with the Whole Community, and prepares and deploys its workforce. Difficulties with issuing timely mission assignments, the implementation of incident management structures, and meeting survivor needs early in the response phase are examples of challenges that emerged during Sandy. Addressing these and other issues is a near-term priority for FEMA and its partners in order to improve response and recovery operations in future disasters. Ultimately, the Sandy experience demonstrated significant progress achieved in recent years, but also confirmed that larger-scale incidents will stress the Agency's capacity for effective response and recovery. This report was written following response and initial recovery efforts to Hurricane Sandy. Any recommendations or findings that result from other interagency Sandy-related efforts will continue to be reviewed. At the direction of FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, the Agency established the Sandy Analysis Team to review all aspects of the Agency's preparations for, immediate response to, and initial recovery from the storm. This report contains the findings of that review. While FEMA coordinates disaster response and recovery efforts across the Federal Government and works closely with non-Federal Whole Community partners, this report focuses on identified strengths and areas for improvement within FEMA. The analyses detailed in the report concentrate on FEMA activities in New York and New Jersey, where the scale and severity of Sandy's impacts most stressed the Agency's capabilities. By examining the events in these states, the Agency can identify where and how it must improve.
