A Year Later, Sandy Recovery Shows That Building Resilience Takes Time

"One year after Hurricane Sandy hurled itself at the Eastern seaboard, causing more than $68 billion in damage and leaving millions of people in shock, communities are still reeling from the aftereffects," writes Ariel Schwartz. "It's fair to say that New York, New Jersey, and other hard-hit states were unprepared for the storm."

"But is the East Coast any better prepared now? What would happen if another Sandy hit the region tomorrow? Based on discussions with experts in a number of sectors affected by the storm, the answer is that not much has changed. It seems that creating a culture of resilience is an extremely slow process."

Schwartz reviews some of the lessons learned, and steps taken, to protect the electricity grid, critical buildings, water-dependent industries, and vulnerable coastline.