Hurricane Sandy, the second most powerful hurricane in modern history, surpassed even Hurricane Katrina in terms of its strength relative to its size. Researchers determined this by measuring the hurricane’s Integrated Kinetic Energy index (IKE), which quantifies a hurricane’s power based on how far its tropical-storm force winds extend from the center. Sandy’s IKE was found to be 140 Terajoules, surpassing Katrina’s by about 20 Terajoules. In fact, Sandy’s IKE was over 140 Terajoules, which is equivalent to generating more than twice the energy of the Hiroshima atomic bomb. It is important to note that hurricanes contain more energy than an atomic bomb in their surface winds alone, even excluding higher elevation winds and latent heat energy. While Sandy was only classified as a Category 1 hurricane at landfall, its high IKE allowed it to produce significant storm surge over hundreds of miles of densely populated coastlines. This is the main reason why Sandy may potentially become the second costliest hurricane in history, following Hurricane Katrina, despite its lower wind speed classification. The estimated cost of damage caused by Sandy is at least $20 billion, while Katrina incurred approximately $106 billion in damages.
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