Hurricane Sandy: Recovery

Hurricane Sandy: Recovery

Hurricane Sandy battered the mid-Atlantic region with powerful gusts and storm surges that cause epic flooding in the coastal communities of New Jersey, New York and Connecticut, knocking down trees and power lines and leaving more than eight million people – including large parts of Manhattan – in the rain-soaked dark. The mammoth storm packed maximum sustained winds of 80 mph. Those powerful winds, driving rain and storm surge are blamed for 98 deaths in the United States (although numbers still vary), including two small boys who were swept out of their mother’s arms. The toll of the storm is staggering, including a rampaging fire that reduced more than 100 houses to ash in Breezy Point, Queens. New Jersey took the brunt, officials estimating that the state suffered many billions of dollars in property damage. Residents began the long, slow process of recovery. – Paula Nelson ( 46 photos total)

An American flag is raised among the wreckage homes devastated by fire and the effects of Hurricane Sandy in the Breezy Point section of the Queens borough of New York, Oct. 31, 2012. The U.S. Northeast began an arduous journey back to normal after historic storm Sandy crippled transportation, knocked out power for millions and killed at least 64 people with a massive storm surge that caused epic flooding. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

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Homes are surrounded by sand that washed into neighborhoods with Hurricane Sandy, Oct. 31, 2012, Seaside Heights, New Jersey. The death toll continues to rise in the U.S. with New Jersey suffering massive damage and power outages. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)#

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Jim Margiotta climbs under his garage door, which was flooded with ocean water and sand by Hurricane Sandy, October 31, 2012, Long Beach, New York.The storm has claimed many lives in the United States and has caused massive flooding across much of the Atlantic seaboard. U.S. President Barack Obama declared the situation a 'major disaster' for large areas of the U.S. east coast, including New York City, with widespread power outages and significant flooding in parts of the city. (Andrew Burton/Getty Images)#

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Burned houses are seen next to those that remain in Breezy Point, a neighborhood located in the New York City borough of Queens, after they were devastated by Hurricane Sandy, Oct. 31, 2012. Sandy, the massive storm that tore through the U.S. East Coast is being blamed, so far, for the deaths of 98 people, many of whom were killed by falling trees or branches. The storm, at one point extending 1,000 miles in diameter, knocked out power for millions and crippled transportation systems along the densely populated coastal region. (Adrees Latif/Reuters)#

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Neighbors Lucille Dwyer and Linda Strong embrace after looking through the wreckage of their homes devastated by fire and the effects of Hurricane Sandy in the Breezy Point section of the Queens borough, New York, Oct. 31, 2012. The U.S. Northeast began crawling back to normal after monster storm Sandy crippled transportation, knocked out power for millions and killed people in nine states with a massive storm surge and rain that caused epic flooding. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)#

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Burned houses are seen next to those that remain in Breezy Point, a neighborhood located in the New York City borough of Queens, after it was devastated by Hurricane Sandy, Oct. 31, 2012. New York City and the sodden U.S. Northeast began an arduous journey back to normal after mammoth storm Sandy swamped coastal cities and cut power to millions. (Adrees Latif/Reuters)#

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Men stand near a boat pushed inland near destroyed homes in Brighton, New York, Oct. 31, 2012. (Adrees Latif/Reuters)#

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Waves break in front of a destroyed amusement park wrecked by Superstorm Sandy, Oct. 31, 2012 in Seaside Heights, New Jersey. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)#

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A rollercoaster that once sat on the Funtown Pier in Seaside Heights, N.J., rests in the ocean, Oct. 31, 2012, after the pier was washed away when superstorm Sandy made landfall. (Julio Cortez/Associated Press)#

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Pat Hershey hammers out nails from a board while cleaning up debris from a beachfront store, Oct. 31, 2012, in Seaside Heights, N.J. A rollercoster that once stood on the Funtown Pier sits in the ocean following Sandy, which caused multiple fatalities, halted mass transit and cut power to more than 6 million homes and businesses. (Julio Cortez/Associated Press)#

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Rescue workers walk past homes destroyed by Superstorm Sandy, Oct. 31, 2012 in Seaside Heights, New Jersey. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)#

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Flood water from Superstorm Sandy is pumped into the ocean from the beach, Oct. 31, 2012 in Seaside Heights, New Jersey. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)#

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A dog named Shaggy is handed from a National Guard truck to National Guard personnel after the dog and his owner left a flooded building in Hoboken, N.J., Oct. 31, 2012, in the wake of superstorm Sandy. Some residents and pets are being plucked from their homes by large trucks as parts of the city are still covered in standing water. (Craig Ruttle/Associated Press)#

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People gather around the remains of burned homes after Superstorm Sandy, Oct. 31, 2012 in the Breezy Point neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. Over 50 homes were reportedly destroyed in a fire during the storm. New York City was hit especially hard with widespread power outages and significant flooding in parts of the city (Mario Tama/Getty Images)#

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Women sit in a bar lit by candlelight in the Lower East Village in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, New York Oct. 31, 2012. New York City and the sodden U.S. Northeast began an arduous journey back to normal after mammoth storm Sandy swamped coastal cities and cut power to millions. (Carlo Allegri/Reuters)#

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People board the NY Waterways ferry against the Manhattan skyline, Nov. 1, 2012 in Hoboken, New Jersey. Hurricane Sandy, which made landfall along the New Jersey shore, left parts of the state and the surrounding area without power including much of lower Manhattan south of 34th Street. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)#

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People walk across the Queensborough Bridge into Manhattan as the sun comes up, Nov. 1, 2012. New Yorkers cope with the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, which left large parts of New York without power and transportation. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images)#

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Shopping carts full of food damaged by superstorm Sandy await disposal at the Fairway supermarket in the Red Hook section of the Brooklyn borough of New York, Oct. 31, 2012. The food was contaminated by flood waters that rose to approximately four feet during the storm. (Seth Wenig/Associated Press)#

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Commuters wait in a line to board buses into Manhattan in front of the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, Nov. 1, 2012. The line stretched twice around the arena and commuters reported wait times of one to three hours to get on a bus. (Seth Wenig/Associated Press)#

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Commuters wait in a line to board buses into Manhattan in front of the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, Nov. 1, 2012. The line stretched twice around the arena and commuters reported wait times of one to three hours to get on a bus. (Seth Wenig/Associated Press)#

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Part of the South Ferry 1 train station wall lays in ruin in the aftermath of superstorm Sandy, New York, N.Y., Oct. 31, 2012. As much as 20 feet of water filled the station platform below this level. (Craig Ruttle/Associated Press)#

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Vice President and Chief Maintenance Officer of New York City Transit and Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA), Joseph Leader, inspects a flooded stairwell down to a platform beneath street level at the South Ferry-Whitehall Subway Terminal in lower Manhattan, which serves the 1, R and N subway lines, following Hurricane Sandy, Oct. 31, 2012. Many New York City subways remain suspended and power in nearly all of lower Manhattan is still out as the U.S. Northeast began an arduous journey back to normal after historic storm Sandy crippled transportation, knocked out power for millions with a massive storm surge that caused epic flooding. (Mike Segar/Reuters)#

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A view of a flooded stairwell leading to a submerged subway tunnel beneath street level at the South Ferry-Whitehall Subway Terminal in lower Manhattan, which serves the 1, R and N subway lines after Hurricane Sandy, Oct. 31, 2012. (Mike Segar/Reuters)#

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Vice President and Chief Maintenance Officer of New York City Transit and Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA), Joseph Leader, and a television crew light up a turnstile in an area that was completely flooded beneath street level at the now partially flooded South Ferry-Whitehall Subway Terminal in lower Manhattan, Oct. 31, 2012. (Mike Segar/Reuters)#

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Morning commuters ride a downtown-bound, westside subway train toward New York's Times Square, Nov. 1, 2012. New York City moved closer to resuming its frenetic pace by getting back its vital subway service, three days after a superstorm. Neighboring New Jersey was stunned by miles of coastal devastation and the news of thousands of people in one city still stranded by increasingly fetid flood waters. (Richard Drew/Associated Press)#

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A woman waits with others to charge electrical devices at a mobile charging station in the devastated section of the Rockaways at the Queens borough of New York, Nov. 1, 2012. New York power company Consolidated Edison Inc reported that it still had about 659,400 homes and businesses without power three days after monster storm Sandy slammed into the U.S. East Coast. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)#

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An officer from the New York Police Department inspects vehicles to confirm that they have three or more passengers before they are allowed to drive over the Williamsburg Bridge into the Manhattan borough, New York, Nov. 1, 2012. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters)#

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U.S. Coast Guard Lieutenant Commander, Bill Walsh, coordinates a rescue mission as coxswain Richard Vidal and navigator Ryan Rose assist during a patrol in New York Harbor, Oct. 31, 2012. Two days after Sandy delivered a record blow, New York Harbor, the delivery point for the world's most actively traded gasoline and heating oil futures contracts, and a vital fuel source for the surrounding urban milieu, remained shut to commercial traffic, with no estimates for reopening. (Brendan McDermid/Reuters)#

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Crews from as far away as Missouri and Illinois gather, Nov. 1, 2012, in a parking lot used as a staging area at the Quaker Bridge Mall in Lawrence Township, N.J. Utility crews continue to work on restoring power to the area after the storm surge from superstorm Sandy left businesses and residents without power. (Mel Evans/Associated Press)#

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People walk by an overturned car in the street in Queens, New York, Oct. 30, 2012 in the aftermath of Sandy. (Michael Schor/Reuters)#

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Trick-or-treaters pass by the remains of a large tree that fell during Hurricane Sandy in the Ditmas Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, Oct. 31, 2012, in New York City. (Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)#

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Boats are strewn among buildings and wreckage from Superstorm Sandy, Oct. 31, 2012 in Sea Bright, New Jersey. The death toll rose to 81 in the United States. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)#

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An athletic field littered with debris after water receded in Hoboken, New Jersey, Oct. 31, 2012. (Adrees Latif/Reuters)#

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A NYPD police officer performs a search in high grasses that were flooded during a storm surge, Oct. 31, 2012, in the Arrochar neighborhood of the Staten Island borough of New York. Sandy caused multiple fatalities, halted mass transit and cut power to more than 6 million homes and businesses. (John Minchillo/Associated Press)#

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Barbara Young digs sand out from her front door, Oct. 31, 2012, Long Beach, New York.The storm has claimed many lives in the United States and has caused massive flooding across much of the Atlantic seaboard. U.S. President Barack Obama declared the situation a 'major disaster' for large areas of the U.S. east coast, including New York City, with widespread power outages and significant flooding. (Andrew Burton/Getty Images) #

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People wait in line for fuel at a Shell Oil station, Nov. 1, 2012 in Fort Lee, New Jersey. The US death toll from Hurricane Sandy rose to at least 98 as New York reported a major jump in fatalities caused by the super storm. Fuel shortages led to long lines of cars at gasoline stations in many states and the country faced a storm bill of tens of billions of dollars. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)#

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Residents attempt to restore order to their street, which experienced heavy flooding and dune erosion due to Hurricane Sandy, Oct. 31, 2012 in Long Beach, New York. (Andrew Burton/Getty Images)#

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Robert Justh drags a hose while attempting to drain a flooded basement, Oct. 31, 2012 in Long Beach, New York. (Andrew Burton/Getty Images)#

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Sand from the beach reaches the windows of a home as a vehicle sits on its side, partially buried in sand, following superstorm Sandy, Oct. 31, 2012, Seaside Heights, N.J. (Julio Cortez/Associated Press)#

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A man and his son look from their window at the flooded street in the borough of Queens, New York, Oct. 30, 2012 in the aftermath of the storm Sandy. (Gil Cohen Magen/Reuters)#

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Men inspect a beach club destroyed by Hurricane Sandy in Sea Bright, New Jersey, Oct. 31, 2012. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters)#

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People walk past a beach club destroyed by Hurricane Sandy in Sea Bright, New Jersey, Oct. 31, 2012. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters)#

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A family walks through a flooded street in Hoboken in New Jersey, Oct. 31, 2012. (Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)#

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Robert Ikladous waits in a line with other vehicles stretching around several blocks to a Hess gas station, Nov. 1, 2012 in Jersey City, New Jersey. Hurricane victims continue to recover from Hurricane Sandy, which made landfall along the New Jersey shore, and left parts of the state and the surrounding area flooded and without power. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)#

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President Barack Obama embraces Donna Vanzant during a tour of a neighborhood effected by superstorm Sandy, Oct. 31, 2012 in Brigantine, N.J. Governor Chris Christie accompanied the president on a tour of damage in the state. Vanzant is a owner of North Point Marina, which was damaged by the storm. (Kevin R. Wexler/The Record of Bergen County)#

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An American flag stands on top of the devastated Rockaway beach boardwalk in the Queens borough of New York, Nov. 1, 2012. New York power company Consolidated Edison Inc hundreds of thousands remain without power three days after monster storm Sandy slammed into the U.S. East Coast. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)#

More links and information

As Recovery Continues, City’s Death Toll Reaches 38 - NYTimes.com, 11/01

Storm Aftermath: Live Updates - NYTimes.com, 11/01

Aerial Photographs of the Damage in New Jersey - NYTimes, 11/02