A black swan is an event or occurrence that deviates from what
is normally expected of a situation, surprises the observer, has
a major impact, and is difficult to predict. And Hurricane Sandy
is the election season’s black swan. Here’s why: Hurricane Sandy
has broken all sorts of records. It’s barometric pressure is now
940 millibars, the strongest to ever hit the North Atlantic. By
comparison, the pressure of Hurricane Wilma, the strongest
pressure on record, was between 882-888. Hurricane Andrew, which
devastated Miami-Dade County in 1992, had an internal pressure
of 922. It created a storm surge of nearly 17 feet and caused
$27 billion of damage. Sandy brought high storm surges to New
Jersey and New York City, coinciding with a full moon and high
tide. It has merged with a nor’easter to become a huge, hybrid
storm impacting 60 million people in seven states. Millions will
lose power. And it’s all happening 7-8 days before the
presidential election. Millions of people will lose electrical
power and some pl