The October storm was also the deadliest in 40 years, and had wind gusts felt as far west as Wisconsin.
The National Hurricane Center says Superstorm Sandy was the deadliest hurricane to hit the northeastern U.S. in 40 years and the second-costliest in the nation's history.
The center released a report today estimating Sandy caused $50 billion in damage, greater than
any U.S. hurricane but Katrina. That 2005 storm caused $108 billion in
damage, or $128 billion adjusted to 2012 dollars.
The report attributes 72 deaths in the U.S. directly to Sandy, from Maryland to New Hampshire. That's more than any hurricane to hit the northeastern U.S. since Hurricane Agnes killed 122 people in 1972.
The report says New York state had the most direct storm deaths with 48. New Jersey was second with 12. Connecticut had five while Pennsylvania had two.
Outside the U.S., Haiti recorded 54 deaths directly due to the storm, Cuba had 11 and single digits were reported in a handful of other countries.
The report also counts at least 87 more U.S. deaths indirectly tied to the storm, like accidents during cleanup efforts. About 50 were the result of extended power outages, which led to deaths from hypothermia, falls in the dark by senior citizens, or carbon monoxide poisoning from improperly placed generators, the report says.
Local deaths after Sandy included Bethlehem Township, N.J., Emergency Management Coordinator William Hardenburg, who was struck by a vehicle while cleaning debris Nov. 5; Thomas Frey, 44, of Union Township, who died Oct. 31 in a chainsaw accident; and 88-year-old Lysje Slingerland, of Delaware Township, who died from suspected carbon monoxide poisoning.
A Wind Gap teen, Robert Mills, died after he was thrown from an ATV during the storm.
Sandy's effects not only caused destruction up and down the East Coast, it also created wind gusts as far west as Wisconsin and as far north as Canada.
The report describes Sandy's beginnings as a tropical wave off the coast of Africa on Oct. 11 that reached the Caribbean a week later. It temporarily weakened below hurricane strength while passing Cuba, then regained hurricane strength as it approached the U.S. on Oct. 27.
The highest storm surge measured by tide gauges in New Jersey was 8 and a half feet over normal levels at Sandy Hook. The highest surge in New York was more than 12 and a half feet at Kings Point on the western edge of the Long Island Sound.
The 157-page report is available on the National Hurricane Center's website.