Hurricanes

Migratory seabirds make Jamaica Bay Wildlife Sanctuary a popular place for bird fanatics and other nature lovers. But Hurricane Sandy took its toll, wiping away boardwalks, stripping away vegetation, and limiting both bird and human access to this refuge. “Hurricane Sandy: Before and After,” a photo exhibit showcasing the effect of the storm on the park, opens at the Visitors Center this Sunday.

President Obama days before the election as he toured the region hit by Hurricane Sandy. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

President Obama made the news for his silence on climate change for much of the 2012 presidential campaign. That changed in his inaugural address on Monday. In a move that heartened many environmentalists, he said that climate change is not a subject he can ignore in his second term.

Check out some of the stories we posted this week on Audubon...

Central Park Conservancy

Thousands of trees never stood a chance against hurricane Sandy’s merciless winds that blasted the Northeast last week. And when those trees faltered, they fell with crushing force. Uprooted, splintered, and draped over houses and utility wires, downed trees continue to be a reminder of the unprecedented super storm that pounded the region. In Central Park alone, an estimated 650 trees toppled, including a 160-year-old pin oak. 

Post-hurricane, birds don’t declare disaster areas, request FEMA housing, or have to wait for mass transit to be restored. But, like our human communities—Staten Island, Hoboken, New Orleans, and many others in recent decades—bird habitats can be destroyed or altered in ways that make them unrecognizable to our feathered friends. Here’s what can happen to birds and their natural environment during the course of a storm, what you might encounter, and ways to help out (but remember to put your safety first).

Sandy was a thousand miles wide and had winds of close to 90 miles per hour as she approached the coast of New Jersey. Most migratory birds weigh only a few ounces, or even less than an ounce for some smaller birds like warblers. Considering the collision of tiny birds and big winds, it stands to reason that bird migration would have been disrupted by the powerful storm. But the effects on birds varied quite a bit, depending on the species involved; here are a few noteworthy examples. 

The Union Square Greenmarket, the centerpiece of a five-block plaza at Broadway and Park and GrowNYC’s flagship market, reassuringly sprouts up every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. But during what became a long, dark week for many New Yorkers, the market didn’t appear, shuttered by Hurricane Sandy.

It wasn’t the only one. When the storm hit hardest—Tuesday and Wednesday of last week—all 20 of the farmers’ markets that typically run those days were closed. Slowly they’re reopening, relocating when necessary, to ensure the availability of fresh, local produce for city-dwellers and a return to normalcy for the farms that count on the markets for income.

We spoke with three farmers about their Hurricane Sandy experience.

Storms like Sandy take from humans but give to birds. 

^{The sanderlings were frantically feeding along the Connecticut shore as the tide went out. Photograph courtesy of Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds}

^{Audubon Connecticut director of bird Conservation Patrick Comins provides a firsthand account about how Hurricane Sandy affected the state’s beach habitat.}

As floodwaters poured into New York City’s tunnels and subways, rodents that make their homes in the holes and crevices underground found themselves inundated, a result of Hurricane Sandy that may have more effectively eliminated the pests than years of poisoning.