Surfing Sandy

An image of recreational dare devils surfing waves on Lake Michigan due to high winds caused by Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy brought some unexpected media coverage to Lake Michigan Tuesday October 30, 2012. Jim Hoop, a 50-year old real estate agent and former lifeguard, takes every opportunity given him to surf waves on Lake Michigan. Waves with surfing potential like the 20-foot waves caused by 54 mph winds on Tuesday only happen about once a year on Lake Michigan, and are normally caused by winter storms. These waves were caused by an unusual scenario, they were the outcome of hurricane Sandy who was more than 600 miles away on the east coast. Wind and waves were so extreme in this area they caused 1,000 foot freighters with loads of iron ore, coal, and other bulk commodities to take refuge in the harbors to escape the storms wrath.

This image shows waves that got as high as 20 feet on Lake Michigan due to Hurricane Sandy

When we think about this scenario in terms of risk assessment we can consider Jim’s actions of surfing the 20-foot waves as a voluntary risk, he was aware of the danger he was putting himself in and did it anyways. We can also calculate the risk, risk = hazards * element at risk * vulnerability, here the hazard would be the high waves, the element at risk would be Jim and the vulnerability would be him placing himself in the way of the dangerous waves.

Despite his Knievel like ways Jim came out of the lake safe and will more than likely continue to ride waves on Lake Michigan in the future.

Article Source: http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/248281/group/News/

Image Sources: http://kmsp.images.worldnow.com/images/19941289_BG1.jpg
http://media.mlive.com/kzgazette_impact/photo/11777052-large.jpg