NHC HURDAT2 · OpenFEMA · NWS Storm Events
Hurricane Sandy (2012)
Sandy in the federal records: the 1,344 cities near its track, flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and NWS reports.
Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated
Hurricane Sandy (2012) passed within 75 miles of 1,344 cities on this site in 9 states, 258 of them while it was at hurricane strength. Its peak wind on the NHC track was 115 mph (Category 3); the track runs from October 21, 2012 to October 31, 2012. It is on this list for the 2nd most flood insurance claims of any tropical system on record. The most cities within 75 miles were in Pennsylvania (660), New Jersey (254), Maryland (180) and Ohio (154).
- Cities within 75 mi
- 1,344
- Peak wind
- 115 mph
- NFIP claims
- 144,848
- Deaths in NWS reports
- 135
258 at hurricane strength
Category 3
$8.66 billion
784 reports
The full track, landfalls and every city it passed →
Where it came closest
| City | Closest | Wind on the track | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ocean City, MD | 65 mi | Category 1 (86 mph) | October 29, 2012 |
| Berlin, MD | 72 mi | Category 1 (86 mph) | October 29, 2012 |
| Bethany Beach, DE | 59 mi | Category 1 (85 mph) | October 29, 2012 |
| Ocean View, DE | 61 mi | Category 1 (85 mph) | October 29, 2012 |
| Millville, DE | 61 mi | Category 1 (85 mph) | October 29, 2012 |
| Frankford, DE | 66 mi | Category 1 (85 mph) | October 29, 2012 |
| Selbyville, DE | 66 mi | Category 1 (85 mph) | October 29, 2012 |
| Bishopville, MD | 68 mi | Category 1 (85 mph) | October 29, 2012 |
| Rehoboth Beach, DE | 55 mi | Category 1 (84 mph) | October 29, 2012 |
| Millsboro, DE | 66 mi | Category 1 (84 mph) | October 29, 2012 |
| Dagsboro, DE | 66 mi | Category 1 (84 mph) | October 29, 2012 |
| Wildwood, NJ | 33 mi | Category 1 (83 mph) | October 29, 2012 |
The 12 cities with the strongest wind on the NHC best track at its closest point, of 1,344 within 75 miles. Wind on the track is not the wind felt in the city.
Flood insurance claims and federal declarations
National Flood Insurance Program policyholders filed 144,848 claims under its name and were paid $8.66 billion for buildings and contents, in the dollars of the time; that is the 2nd most of the 104 tropical systems with claims under their name. New Jersey had 74,983 of them (52%), then New York with 57,405 and Connecticut with 6,199. Among the cities on this site, the most claims came from Ship Bottom, NJ: 9,812, paid $380.1 million. Claims data as of September 8, 2026. FEMA issued 13 major disaster declarations and 12 emergency declarations naming it, covering 561 designated areas in 13 states and territories; the first came on October 28, 2012.
| City | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Ship Bottom, NJ | 9,812 | $380.1 million |
| Long Beach, NY | 6,505 | $462.8 million |
| Ocean City, NJ | 5,344 | $157.3 million |
| Staten Island, NY | 4,096 | $232.6 million |
| Toms River, NJ | 3,812 | $273.6 million |
| Brooklyn, NY | 3,560 | $303.1 million |
| Lavallette, NJ | 3,421 | $228.8 million |
| Little Egg Harbor Twp, NJ | 3,146 | $204.1 million |
FEMA, OpenFEMA FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims – v3 (claims whose flood event carries the storm's name, ZIP codes summed by city) and Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2, retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
What the National Weather Service recorded
The National Weather Service logged 784 reports whose account names it, in 25 states: 297 high wind, 102 flood, 98 coastal flood, 53 strong wind and 49 heavy snow. They record 135 deaths and 30 injuries, and $25.21 billion in estimated property and crop damage.
October 29, 2012, Richmond (Staten Is.), New York: coastal flood, 23 killed
NWS: “Widespread record coastal flooding occurred in Lower New York Harbor exceeding the FEMA 100 year base flood elevations.”
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, reports dated within the storm's track whose account names it. Damage is the NWS estimate in the dollars of the year, not insured losses; some reports are unverified.
More notable storms
Why these storms and how each figure is counted: methodology.