They even mentioned the coastal low land areas like it was storm surge and not rainfall that was the problem. Yes there may have been a little extra moisture because of warmer water but I am not sure 55 vs 59 inches of rain would have made that made that much difference.

After we had the batch of Hurricanes hit with Ivan, Katrina and Rita we were to that would be the new norm. Sandy is the only major storm to hit since then and it was only a big deal because of where it landed and how unprepared the northern coast is for that kind of storm. Super storm or no super storm it was a cat 2. They don't even close the schools for a cat 2 in Florida