You forgot one:
5. Compare what was NOT learned after Storm Irene, 14 months before Storm Sandy, to what WAS learned from Storm Sandy.
BTW, although incredible to consider, IMHO, it IS possible for the New Jersey and NYC emergency planners to actually learn by reviewing, (I will put this a tactfully as I can), ABSOLUTELY, HEAD-THE-SAND, IT-HAS-NEVER-HAPPENED-HERE-BEFORE, BONE-HEADED, MISTAKES-OF-JUDGEMENT! ( Well, I tried to keep it PC also.)
What will happen if another, even bigger storm, such as a Hurricane Andrew visits NYC? DUH!
My solution would be - move out of the city. What if a bomb was dropped, would want to be several hundred miles away.
It would be near impossible for a Cat 5 hurricane to hit NYC. For that matter, even a 4.
A 3 would also be unlikely.
Hurricanes need warm 80+ degree water to spawn and maintain. Cut off the warm water by either land or colder water, and they diminish rapidly.
I think what happened with Sandy is about the worst case scenario as storm surge is biggest destroyer of property.
Winds can down trees and take off roofs but precious little can stand being battered by tons of (incompressible) water for hours on end.
I bigger hurricane might actually do less damage if it didn’t come with a storm surge at high tide.