Sandy was Northeast’s deadliest hurricane in 40 years, report says

The storm that ravaged parts of New Jersey and New York in October was the deadliest hurricane to hit the Northeast in 40 years, and the second costliest hurricane in the nation’s history, according to a new report by the National Hurricane Center.

Seventy-two U.S. deaths have been attributed directly to Sandy. That is the most deaths caused by a hurricane since 1972, when Hurricane Agnes killed 122 people. The report noted that there were at least 87 other deaths that were indirectly caused by Sandy, such as incidents of carbon monoxide poisoning or accidents during clean-up.

Damage caused by Sandy has been estimated at $50 billion, more than any other storm except for Hurricane Katrina which cost $108 billion in 2005 (equal to $128 billion in 2012).