Sandy was not Katrina.

The storm that rocked the Eastern seaboard this week was a monumental event by any measurement. The death toll in New York City alone was 26 at last count, and dozens more died along the coast, as wind, water, fire and, often, falling trees claimed lives.

Indeed, for all of us who watched the storm ravage the Jersey Shore, or for that matter, saw the explosion at the Con Edison plant on 14th Street in Manhattan, or surveyed the damage in sections of Brooklyn and Queens, it’s hard to imagine a more destructive disaster.

But as the inevitable comparisons between the two storms gather force, it bears remembering that 1,833 people died in the U.S. during Hurricane Katrina, according to the National Hurricane Center, and that the economic costs related to the storm topped $74 billion. Read More