Environment
This Is What an 11-Foot Storm Surge in New York Looked Like in 1960
The closest comparison we have for Sandy is probably Hurricane Donna.
What can we expect from a storm surge of as much as 11.7 feet, the maximum water level currently predicted for Lower Manhattan and New York Harbor?
To be clear, no one knows. At 900 miles wide, Hurricane Sandy is the largest Atlantic tropical storm system ever recorded and the most intense hurricane in recorded history north of North Carolina -- greater even than the fabled Yankee Clipper of 1938, which destroyed much of the Long Island beachfront. The extent of the damage will depend on whether Sandy's peak storm surge coincides with tonight's full-moon high tide, expected at 8:53 p.m. in New York's Battery Park.