Yes Mitch true but I wont be surprised if some other countrie passes them in the near future since there are couple of other countries who have already picked up their pace and are right behind the Americans.

There's another lesson here, too. Organizations affected by Sandy do have an understanding public, at least for a while. Even the most hard-hearted were surely moved by the pictures of devastation from the area, of the homes and offices destroyed by the elements, and the estimates of how much it will cost people to rebuild. 

But if your company is the sole victim - say a fire, a sprinkler malfunction, a network crash - then customers may not be as understanding. Your competitors will certainly take advantage of your weakness and inability to function.

Like most things that are desired or coveted, they don't just happen. You've got to work for it so that you can reap the rewards and experience the benefits when time comes. Internet resiliency is one of those. But based on success stories of those who were able to pull it off, it is truly worth the effort.

Ever since I read the book "Tubes: Journey to the Center of the Internet," I've been newly awakened to the realization that our metaphors of the Internet as an intangible cyberspace or cloud are just that -- metaphors. The reality is that the Internet is a globe-spanning physical machine or artifact. Like buildings, roads, railroads, and other physical artifacts, it can be hammered by the weather, and requires physical maintenance to keep up and running. 

It's a revelation, particularly for those who -- like me -- think that America doesn't make anything anymore. Of course, the Internet is the creation of most countries around the world, but American has been one of the leaders. 

I've read that installations of stationary fuel cells successfully survived Sandy, both in the Bahamas and on some of the IT and cell equipment in Long Island.

There aren't many of these, but also I've noted that there is a change now from having battery UPS systems to running whole IT Operations centers just on fuel cells.  This is because fuel cells can generate electricity indepedent of the grid, and if using hydrogen, can generate their own fuel indefinitely!

Ballard Fuel Cell Systems Prove 100% Reliable, Providing Backup Power During Hurricane Sandy

Ballard's seventeen ElectraGen™-ME systems, installed in the local telecom network, began operating automatically as grid power was lost when the storm hit on October 25^th. During the three days that Hurricane Sandy passed over the Bahamas, each of the 5 kW systems operated flawlessly as needed to maintain consistent power. As a group, the seventeen systems provided the equivalent of one month of backup power over a concentrated seven-day period during and after the storm; producing more than 1,200 kWh of electricity.

http://www.fuelcelltoday.com/news-events/news-archive/2012/november/ballard-fuel-cell-systems-prove-100-reliable,-providing-backup-power-during-hurricane-sandy

I saw some reports about NYC companies that had colo facilities across the river in NJ. Those sites were impacted by Sandy, rendering the DR sites useless. It emphasizes the need to set up DR or backup facilities far away from HQ in order to decrease the odds of simultaneously being affected by the same manmade or natural disaster.

Interesting question about what powers backup generators, @bolingbroke. Living in Florida, we have a natural gas generator that automatically turns on within 30 seconds of the electricity going out. (We bought it after the year of four hurricanes, between hurricane 1 and 2.) It's a great investment, something that we actually use once or twice a year, no matter whether or not we have hurricanes! But I don't know what commercial buildings use. Our home system powers the A/C, kitchen (including stove, fridge, dishwasher), all home lights, office (no excuse not to work!), and most of the house. Everything, I believe, except the laundry (bummer!).

Exactly you need all of them not just one.

Internet resiliency doesn't just happen. It isn't inevitable in the design of the Internet. It requires planning, hard work, and dedication. 

Out of the estimated $20-$50 billion that it'll take to recover, has anyone seen how much of that will be for IT infrastructure? I'm just curious what fraction of the damage was residential vs business.. and then how much of the business damage was IT-related. I'm guessing the IT-related damage from Sandy was relatively small compared to the residential and non-IT business damage.