On CNN TV: Superstorms are a new breed of weather that put lives
and cities in the eye of their fury. Are we ready for the next
one? Watch CNN's "The Coming Storms" on Sunday, January 6, at 8
p.m. and 11 p.m. ET. Stephen Flynn is founding co-director of
the George J. Kostas Research Institute for Homeland Security
and a professor of political science at Northeastern University.
(CNN) -- Major storms are always dangerous. Superstorm Sandy
left 132 Americans dead, damaged and destroyed tens of thousands
of homes, left millions without power, and crippled the largest
metropolitan area in the United States. The massive human and
economic toll of this disaster came just seven years after
Hurricane Katrina. It marked only the latest in a spate of
deadly and destructive weather events, including the May 2011
tornado that leveled much of Joplin, Missouri. Not being well
prepared for dealing with extreme weather events is very
expensive. Two months after Sandy made landfall near Atlantic
City, New Jersey, the new 113t