JM:
Although Health addressed all three points already, I just want to address your point #3.
The bottom line is that Chazal told us “Kivan sheNitan…” and, as Health said, it seems most applicable to Sandy. So your OP denying that, and especially your persistent denials of this Chazal, as well-intentioned as you may be in trying to not “limit the mussar”, is offensive and incorrect due to your invalidating a Chazal, CH”V.
As Health said, and this is what bothered me most about your OP, is that you can’t decide to ignore a Chazal just because you want to “learn mussar” from something. The mussar is de facto limited if the destruction was due to other factors, despite your emotional wishes to the contrary.
One can still look to improve themselves, regardless of the particular reason for Sandy. But one can’t deny a ChaZa”L, CH”V, even to not “limit the mussar”.