Storm Stories: Epic Challenges, and Three Epic Responses

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Members of the Moonachie, N.J. police and fire departments and emergency medical units gather in the lobby of a business continuity center operated by SunGard Availability Services in nearby Carlstadt in the early morning hours of Oct. 30 during Hurricane Sandy. (Photo: SunGard Availability Services)

As SuperStorm Sandy brought destruction and death to the East Coast, data centers in New York and New Jersey faced extraordinary challenges. There were many stories emerging from DCK's coverage of the storm. We believe these three stand out, and are worth revisiting on the one-year anniversary of Sandy.

SunGard Data Center Takes in Flood Victims: Disaster recovery data centers are designed to be strongholds, offering a secure home for corporate data and staff, set apart from any disaster. But when SuperStorm Sandy struck on the night of Oct. 29, the disaster came to the neighborhood surrounding the SunGard Carlstadt facility. As the flood waters rose at an alarming rate, the center opened its doors and served as a refuge for more than 100 residents forced from their homes, who received food, shelter and medical attention.

After Sandy: Datagram Recovers From 'Apocalyptic' Flood: As SuperStorm Sandy came ashore on the evening of Monday, Oct.29, the staff at Datagram believed they were as ready as they could be, and hunkered down for a busy night. They had no idea how busy. As the storm surge from Sandy pushed into the south end of Manhattan, water poured into the streets surrounding 33 Whitehall Street, home to Datagram’s primary data center. “It was apocalyptic,” said Datagram CEO Alex Reppen.

Diesel 'Bucket Brigade' Keeps Peer 1 Online at 75 Broad - A determined team of employees of Peer 1 Hosting, blog host Squarespace and Fog Creek Software formed a “bucket brigade” to relay 5-gallon buckets of diesel fuel up 17 flights of stairs at 75 Broad Street to refuel a generator providing emergency power to the Peer 1 data center. It was a decidedly low-tech, brute-force solution to the challenges at 75 Broad, the hobbled data center building in Lower Manhattan.