Was Sandy a good thing?

In a recent lunchtime discussion with a colleague we wondered whether Sandy would be a long term plus or minus for the New York metropolitan area. On the one hand there's all the short term losses of damage and destruction, plus the lost earnings from closed businesses and lost work. On the other hand there's the economic stimulus of replacing all the damaged and destroyed infrastructure, and all the business and economic opportunities that come with it, plus there's the opportunity of replacing or building better than before. This Wikipedia webpage was cited at one point: This also plays into the most major issue in this years presidential election: What is the proper role of government in a disaster? Should the federal government help New York city? Should New York state help New York city? Or should it all be New York's responsibility? And how much help should government at any level render to private individuals who have suffered significant losses?But the central focus of our discussion was whether in the end New York will come out ahead.--Percy

We used to have a house in Beach Haven, NJ, a 30-mile long barrier island off the coast just north of Atlantic City. It was very hard hit and is closed, no word on when it will reopen, but it will be at least weeks. Residents and business owners are being allowed access only on demonstrated need. Population of the island is around 9000 year round, around 100,000 in the summer.An even longer "barrier island" (in quotes because it connects to the mainland at a tiny sliver at the north end) is just north of Long Beach Island and was even harder hit. Photographs of the famous roller coaster at the rides and attactions pier of Seaside Park lying in the ocean have appeared in the news many times, here's one: It isn't visible in the picture above where just to the right of the foundering roller coaster is the pier itself, the corner where the roller coaster resided gone: Much of the "island" survived but is inundated with sand: One of the major causeways is unusable: And of course at least a million people in NJ are without power, and gas is scarce because so many gas stations do not have electricity to pump their gas, same with the transfer stations where the tankers fill up before delivering gas.AbE: I should have mentioned that the state and federal government have been resistant for some time to residency on barrier islands. Economic interests and sheer numbers of people affected preclude abandonment of these islands, but the debate will likely begin again.--PercyEdited by Percy, : AbE.