Whenever a hurricane threatens land, almost all of the focus is on preparing for the strong winds. It’s not always the wind that gets you—it’s the water. The storm surge in a hurricane is arguably the greatest threat with these landfalling terrors, and it’s one that too many people seem to ignore until it’s too late.

Two years ago this evening, Hurricane Sandy made landfall in New Jersey, becoming the second costliest storm in U.S. history behind Hurricane Katrina. The media will talk to you today about Superstorm Sandy. They are wrong. Superstorm Sandy did not exist.

When NASA launched the first weather satellite back in 1960, it was little more than two television cameras strapped to a satellite and shot into orbit. Fast forward through the technological explosion of the late 20th century, and now you can watch the evolution of storms in near real-time, one-minute increments from your living room.