Sandy 2nd-Costliest Hurricane in US History

The National Hurricane Center says Superstorm Sandy was the deadliest hurricane to hit the northeastern US in 40 years and the second-costliest in the nation's history. The center released a report today that attributes 72 deaths in the US directly to Sandy, from Maryland to New Hampshire. That's more than any hurricane to hit the northeastern US since Hurricane Agnes killed 122 people in 1972.

The report counts at least 87 more deaths indirectly tied to the storm, from causes such as hypothermia due to power outages and accidents during cleanup efforts. The report estimated that Sandy caused $50 billion in damage, greater than any US hurricane but Katrina. That 2005 storm caused $108 billion in damage, or $128 billion adjusted to 2012 dollars. (More Hurricane Sandy stories.)