2015 Call to Service Medal Recipient: Adam Schildge Tags: 2015 Sammies Back to All Videos Hurricane Sandy triggered one of the worst public transportation disasters in U.S. history, flooding and damaging rail yards, train tracks, tunnels, power stations, bus depots and critical operations centers throughout the Northeast, severely disrupting normal subway, train and bus service for weeks and affecting millions of commuters. Congress responded to this devastating 2012 storm with a $10.9 billion special transportation appropriation, including $3.6 billion that could be used for “resilience” grants dedicated to protecting the infrastructure that was repaired after Sandy and would be at risk of damage by natural disasters in the future.