Take Two for November 2, 2012

Damage from Hurricane Sandy estimated to cost $50 billion

Take Two | November 2nd, 2012, 9:48am

East Coast Begins To Clean Up And Assess Damage From Hurricane Sandy

Andrew Burton/Getty Images

A truck drives through a flooded street, caused by Hurricane Sandy, on October 30, 2012, in the Lower East Side of New York City. The storm has claimed at least 16 lives in the United States, and has caused massive flooding accross much of the Atlantic seaboard. US President Barack Obama has declared the situation a 'major disaster' for large areas of the US East Coast including New York City.

Hurricane Sandy's damage is estimated to cost $50 billion, which could make it the second most expensive storm in U.S. history.

That $50 billion number came out yesterday from a company called Eqecat. For more on how firms like Eqecat come up with these figures, we're joined by John Osteraas, Vice President of Exponent Failure Analysis Associates in Menlo Park